UAW Daimler Chrysler 400
Las Vegas, NV/ March 11, 2007
Started 35th / Finished 37th

RAGAN FINISHES 37TH AT LAS VEGAS DUE TO EARLY RACE SPIN OUT

LAS VEGAS, NV (March 11, 2006) – David Ragan suffered through a long race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway after spinning out and making contact with the wall on lap two of the UAW Daimler Chrysler 400.

The No. 6 AAA Ford rolled off pit road at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 35th position for the start of the 400 mile event. The green flag dropped and Ragan quickly dropped back to 37th position just before loosing control of his AAA machine and backing it into the outside wall in turn two.

Ragan immediately radioed to his team that there was a hard spot in the steering when he turned the wheel to the left. The AAA pit crew tried to repair the mangled rear end of the No. 6 Ford on pit road, but the damage was too significant. Crew chief, Jimmy Fennig ordered that the team take it back to the garage for more extensive work.

After working vigorously to repair the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion, the AAA pit crew sent Ragan back out on track, reentering the field on lap 32 and in 43rd position.

Ragan informed Fennig prior to their second pit stop of the day, on lap 81, that his car was a little free in the dead center of the turns. The AAA pit crew went to work giving Ragan four fresh tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment to help with the handling of his race car.

Ragan later radioed that the adjustment helped a little, but the car was still a little loose through the center and tight up off the corners. Several pit stops were made through out the day but no major adjustments were made, tires and fuel only.

On lap 228 Ragan came down pit road for the final stop of the day. His team gave him four tires and a full tank of fuel which would allow him to make it to the end of the 267 lap race.

After avoiding several other incidents throughout the race, Ragan crossed the finish line in 37th position, still several laps down.

“It was just a bad day for the AAA team,” said Ragan. “I was having some issues with the steering on the first lap and I just lost it. My team did a great job of getting my car back in race condition and getting me back out on the track. I also have to say thank you to my spotter who helped me get through some pretty messy stuff out there and got me to the checkered flag. It is never any fun when you have a day like we did today, but all I can do is try to learn from it so I don’t make the same mistakes twice. My main focus now is on Atlanta.”

David Ragan will compete next in the Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 8th. Coverage begins at 1:30PM Eastern Time on Fox.