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Flat Right-Front Tire Results in Disappointing 37th-Place Finish in Front of Hometown Atlanta Crowd

Hampton, Ga. (March 7, 2010) – A promising day turned around quickly for Ragan at his hometown track of Atlanta Motor Speedway.  Ragan qualified 17th, was fifth on the leader board in final practice, and had a strong UPS Ford heading into Sunday’s race.  Just ten laps into the race, Ragan was solidly running in the top 10 and setting the ground work for a great day.  Unfortunately, during lap 30 while maneuvering a fast and tight- handling UPS Ford around the 1.54-mile track, Ragan brushed the outside wall.  The contact ultimately led to the right-front tire giving out a few laps later, and sent Ragan into the wall causing extensive damage.  The team made the necessary repairs to the UPS Ford while in the garage, and they were able to return Ragan to the track.  Ragan gained five spotson the leader board and ultimately ended the race 37th.

Chilly temperatures are the norm for the Atlanta race weekend, but were very welcomed by the NASCAR community as the only weather issue since in the past, the race weekend has typically been plagued by rain, and occasionally snow.  Qualifying was Friday evening and Ragan went out 17th and qualified 17th.  In happy hour practice on Saturday afternoon, Ragan posted lap times fast enough to claim fifth on the speed charts.  With a top 20 starting position and a fast UPS Ford, the team was ready for 500-miles on Sunday.

From the drop of the green flag Ragan began to pick up positions on the track.  By the first caution on lap four he was up to 12th and reported to crew chief Donnie Wingo that the UPS Ford was a little tight on the exit of the turns.  The field resumed green flag racing on lap nine and Ragan picked right up gaining positions on the track.  The tight handling condition continued to be an issue for Ragan exiting the turns, and unfortunately, handling adjustments on a pit stop were not in Ragan’s future.

Ragan brushed the outside wall, which ultimately led to a blown right-front tire.  Ragan took the UPS Ford to the garage on lap 35 for repairs.  His team jumped into action and quickly began repairing the ride-side nose, fender, quarter panel, suspension, and oil line.  Repairs took well over an hour, but the team returned Ragan to the track in the 42nd position on lap 163 while the field was under caution.  Ragan took the UPS Ford around the track for one lap, then came to pit road so the team could check for a fender rub.  Everything checked out clear and Ragan was set to take the green flag on lap 165 to pick up as many spots on the track as he could. 

Despite being multiple laps down to the leaders, Ragan persevered and gained positions in the second half of the race by making laps while others were off the track.  Late race cautions wreaked havoc on the field, but Ragan continued to make laps and steer clear of trouble.  When the checkered flag flew Ragan was officially scored 37th, 130 laps down to race winner Kurt Busch.

“I just cut a right-front tire going into turn three,” said Ragan.  “I had just touched the wall about four laps earlier and everything seemed to be pretty good.  We still had some good speed in our Ford, and I was just thinking about what to do on the next pit stop and drove in on the bottom of turn three and felt it let go.  I don’t even think I had time to jump on the brakes real hard, but it’s certainly disappointing.  Our car had pretty good speed.  It was pretty fast and we’ll just have to learn from the good things that happened and try to get back out and make some points. This is probably one of the better cars we’ve had in the last couple of years here at Atlanta.  I’m proud of what our UPS team has been able to accomplish in just a few short weeks.  It’s a new team with a new crew chief, and we just have to learn from it.  We’ve got some good tracks coming up on the schedule, so we’ll be ready for Bristol.”

NEXT UP:
OFF WEEKEND: 3/13/ & 3/14

Food City 500
0.533-mile Bristol Motor Speedway
Bristol, Tenn.
Sunday, March 21, 2010

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