Ragan Finishes 34th in Season Finale Ford 400
November 23, 20098:14 AM
Homestead, Fla. (Nov. 22, 2009) – The Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway marks the season finale for the Sprint Cup Series and with the off season ahead everyone looks to get a good finish, especially the Ford drivers at a track they have dominated in the past. David Ragan was the only Ford with the new FR9 engine in his UPS Ford. The engine performed great, but the overall handling on the UPS Ford plagued the team throughout the weekend. Ragan had a solid car in practice, but was not as good in qualifying trim. An early draw at a heat-sensitive track coupled with handling woes left Ragan starting 41st. Ragan made up ground until a jumble on a restart knocked in his left-side fenders. The team had to pit under green for repair, putting the No. 6 Fusion a lap down to the field. From there it was a battle to get back on the lead lap, but a caution never fell when it was needed, and Ragan ultimately ended the Ford 400 34th.
The team was looking forward to a good run at Homestead to build momentum going into the off season, but the bad luck that has plagued them this season continued. In practice on Friday Ragan had a fast Ford in race trim, but it didn’t handle as well in qualifying trim. Ragan had the misfortune of going out second for qualifying at a track where the later draws are definitely an advantage. Ragan did the best he could, but wound up with a 41st starting position. Saturday found the UPS team fine tuning their Ford for the race on Sunday and looking forward to having the new FR9 engine to power them through the 400-mile event.
From the back of the pack Ragan had his work cut out for him, but he slowly began to move forward through the field. Just 30 laps in he had worked his way up to 25th and reported to his team that his Ford was too free in and out of the corners. The team pitted for adjustments under green flag conditions on lap 51 for four tires, fuel, air pressure and a track bar adjustment. The adjustment seemed to help Ragan entering the turns, but he was still experiencing a loose handling condition up off.
A long green flag run to start the race, was followed by a slew of cautions for the field. Ragan took the opportunity to pit for more adjustments, but bad luck struck again on the restart on 162. While running 19th contact with another competitor on the restart pushed in the left-side fenders resulting in a tire rub. Ragan had to come in under green to fix the damage and get new left-side tires. The green flag stop cost valuable time on the track and Ragan quickly went a lap down to the field.
From there on out Ragan continued to adjust on his UPS Ford and put himself in position to be the “lucky dog.” Ragan found himself in position in the closing laps, but the much needed caution never came. Ragan finished the season finale Ford 400 34th, while Denny Hamlin won the event.
“We didn’t have the car handling well enough to be a contender, but the FR9 engine performed great,” said Ragan. “It got great fuel mileage, but our car was pretty free for most of the race. We kept making adjustments that would help a little bit, but we just weren’t able to get the car to turn good in the corners. It’s definitely not the way we wanted to end the season. Our UPS team worked hard all season and they never gave up. I’m really looking forward to next year.”
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