Green Flag Melee Collects Ragan in Rain-Shortened Race at New Hampshire; Ragan Finishes 38th
June 29, 20098:32 AM
Loudon, N.H. (June 28, 2009) – Another race and another rain out, for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in New Hampshire. Unfortunately for Ragan he wasn’t around at the end of the race to see the skies open up. Rain washed out on-track activity Friday, leaving NASCAR to set the field by points. Ragan started 31st in his No. 6 UPS Ford and spent his day battling a car that didn’t want to turn under throttle. The team adjusted on the UPS Ford throughout the race and made major improvements in the handling, but things came to an abrupt end on the green flag restart on lap 175. The field checked up when the leaders delayed taking the green causing a pile up behind. Ragan went high to avoid the mess, but got caught up in the debacle. The No. 31 spun across the track and Ragan couldn’t avoid him. The contact sent Ragan to the garage where it was determined the damage was too severe to continue resulting in a 38th-place finish. Joey Logano won the rain-shortened event; taking home his first ever win in the Cup Series.
Friday was a wash at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, leaving NASCAR to once again start the field by owner points. The rainout started Ragan 31st, back in the pack at a place where track position is very important. The UPS crew set out on Saturday to dial in the UPS Ford for Sunday’s race. At the end of the two sessions Ragan and crew were confident they had a top 15 Ford.
From the drop of the green flag Ragan battled a car that was loose in the middle, super tight up off the corners and slid the nose under throttle. The first caution of the day came just 15 laps into the race with Ragan back in the 41st position. With nothing to loose Ragan pitted for four tires and air pressure, wedge and track bar adjustments. Ragan’s over-the-wall crew gained him five spots on pit road.
The changes to the car’s handling helped, but Ragan still needed more. Ragan picked up a few spots on the track and was up to 31st when NASCAR threw a “competition caution” due to all the rain the previous day. Ragan pitted for two tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment. Over the next green flag run Ragan reported that the changes had helped, but he still was struggling with the handling.
Ragan pitted a total of three more times for similar adjustments in an attempt to correct the handling on his UPS Ford. His final stop came under caution on lap 171 for two tires and fuel. The UPS Ford was finally handling the best it had all day, but it would be a short-lived success. Ragan was 21st on the green flag restart on lap 175, but the field checked up in front of him as the green flag waved. Ragan checked up and went high, but the No. 31 spun in front of him and Ragan had no where to go except right into him. Ragan immediately took the UPS Ford to the garage, but NASCAR threw the red flag to clean up the mess of everyone involved in the incident. While under the red flag Ragan’s crew surveyed the damage and determined their day was done. Ragan was left with a disappointing 38th-place finish; while Joey Logano went on to win the rain-shorted event.
“From our point of view, they were wrecking in front of us, and our spotter did a good job and he told us to just go high, and I just tried not to run into the guy in front of me, and I think it was [Jeff] Burton, maybe, who came back up the track,” said Ragan. “I just didn’t have anywhere to go. Hindsight is always 20-20, and maybe I would’ve checked up more, but I thought that the top of the track was clear, and as soon as I can see light, all of a sudden it wasn’t clear. We got back to probably as low as 35th or 40th, but then when we were up in the top 20 we could hang with everybody. So, yeah, very, very hard to pass, but that’s just the double-file restarts and everyone running hard for all they could get.”
NEXT UP:
Coke Zero 400
2.5-mile Daytona International Raceway
Daytona Beach, F.L.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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