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Ragan Gets Caught Up in Last-Lap Incident Resulting in a 17th Place Finish at Talladega

Talladega, Ala. (November 1, 2009) – Restrictor-plate racing at Talladega produces high speeds and side-by-side racing, all of which make for unexpected surprises throughout the race.  Ragan and crew anticipated a great outing since they had the new FR9 engine in their UPS Ford.  Practice on Friday went well for Ragan, but the rains came Saturday forcing NASCAR to set the field based on points.  Ragan started 28th in his UPS Ford and spent the entire race jockeying for position on the track.  Ragan was as high as second and just as quickly as he was forward found himself back in the pack.  A fast UPS Ford helped, but towards the end Ragan was hung out of the draft dropping him back in the field.  The new engine generated great horsepower, but without drafting help you can only go so far at a restrictor-plate track.  With the caution-filled closing laps Ragan kept his UPS Ford in one piece despite spinning through the front stretch grass and managed not run out of gas while others did to earn a 17th-place finish.

The field took to the track Friday afternoon for two practice sessions and Ragan found himself with a fast UPS Ford in both drafting and qualifying runs.  Unfortunately Ragan never got a chance to qualify.  Mother Nature once again made an appearance at the track, washing out qualifying on Saturday and forcing NASCAR to set the field by points.  The rainout put Ragan 28th for the green flag on Sunday afternoon.

From the drop of the green flag Ragan hovered around 20th and was in the 21st position when the first caution of the day came out just five laps into the race.  Crew chief Jimmy Fennig called Ragan down pit road for fuel and to add tape to his grill and sent him back out on the track.  The field took the green on lap nine and Ragan cracked the top 10 just nine laps later. 

Next up for the field were green-flag pit stops.  Ragan came in for service on lap 48 while running in the ninth position.  His crew gave him four tires and fuel and sent him on his way.  Two laps later the caution flag came back out for a spin on the track and when the field cycled through and took the green Ragan was fourth.  As restrictor-plate racing goes his time in the front was short-lived, as Ragan got shuffled out of line and found himself back in the pack. 

The middle part of the race was much of the same for Ragan and crew.  On lap 138 the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin blew up on the front stretch bringing out the fourth caution of the day.  Ragan pitted for four tires, fuel and a tear off.  One lap later as the field was given the one-to-go signal Ragan came in to top off and Fennig told him he was good to go the rest of the way.  Ragan restarted 21st on lap 144, was up to second on lap 150, just to be hung out and drop back to the middle of the pack.  Ragan made his way forward again just to have the same thing happen again and drop back. 

The caution came out again on lap 184 with Ragan running 18th for a multiple-car accident on the track.  Ryan Newman’s vehicle went tumbling down the front stretch, trapping Newman upside down inside.  Luckily safety workers were able to upright the vehicle and Newman emerged unscathed.  While cleanup was taking place the field was red flagged.  The incident set the field up for a green-white-checkered finish.  Ragan could sense he was running out of fuel so Fennig brought him down pit road for a splash of fuel before taking the green flag.  The field took the green flag only to have multiple cars run out of fuel on the same lap, causing an accident with one lap to go.  Ragan got collected in the melee and spun through the grass in front of the grandstands.  The race ended under caution with Ragan finishing 17th, while his Roush Fenway teammate Jamie McMurray won the event, earning his first victory of the 2009 season.

“Our UPS Ford was pretty fast, but we were just at the mercy of everyone around us,” said Ragan.  “It was just kind of a terrible race today in general.  There was a lot of single-file racing.  I know it’s exciting there at the end, but what happens is NASCAR slows these cars down, they’re too easy to drive and everyone just gets kind of crazy.  It’s a shame to tear up a lot of good race cars like that for kind of being stupid, but that’s restrictor-plate racing.  I’m glad we only have to do it three or four times a year.” 

NEXT UP:
Dickies 500
1.5-miles Texas Motor Speedway
Fort Worth, Tex.
Sunday, November 8, 2009

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