AAA Sponsors #6 Ford Fusion

AAA and Roush Racing have teamed for the 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup racing series. AAA, the organization that helped pioneer and officiate motorsports in the United States until 1955, is the primary sponsor of Roush Racing's flagship No. 6 Nextel Cup Ford Fusion.

Food City 500-Bristol, TN/ March 25, 2007

 

Started 41st   -  Finished 26th

 

RAGAN BATTLES HIS WAY TO A 26TH PLACE FINISH AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY

David Ragan and the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion

BRISTOL, TN  – David Ragan’s previous experience at Bristol Motor Speedway was limited to two short Craftsman Truck Series races in 2006, so a 500-lap NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series race on the 0.533-mile oval track was quite a bit for the young rookie to take on. 

Not to mention that it was the debut race for the highly-anticipated “Car of Tomorrow” – a new style of car introduced by NASCAR this season.  Ragan rolled off the starting grid in 41st position and crossed the finish line in 26th place.

Unfortunately, trouble started early in the race for Ragan, when he was struggling with an ill-handling race car and fell one lap behind the leaders before the first 40 laps were complete.  On lap 43, Ragan’s luck changed a caution period began and he returned to the lead lap.

Ragan ran on the lead lap until lap 100, when he was passed by the leader as he continued to battle handing problems with his car. 

The AAA pit crew went to work on lap 122, giving Ragan four fresh tires, fuel and making adjustments to help with the handling of his Ford Fusion.  The race resumed on lap 125 and on lap 128 the caution flag flew again when the No. 42 got into the back of the No.6 AAA Ford.  Ragan got turned sideways but made no contact with the wall.

Prior to the next scheduled pit stop, Ragan radioed to his crew chief, Jimmy Fennig, that the handling of his race car had improved, so when he came down pit road on lap 151 only a slight change in the tire air pressure was made before sending him back out in 35th position.

The caution flag flew for the seventh time on the 163rd lap of the race when Ragan spun by himself in turn one.  At this point, Ragan radioed to this team that the adjustments made on the previous stop did not help.

On lap 165, the AAA pit crew gave Ragan four new tires, fuel and made another chassis adjustment.  Ragan reentered the field in 34th position, one lap behind the leaders.

Ragan reported that the handling of the No. 6 AAA Ford was only worsening with every lap.  When the field went under caution on lap 226 Ragan came down pit road for major adjustments to the chassis and tire pressure. 

When Ragan returned to the race track he was running in 32nd place and was two laps behind the leaders – but the adjustments had not helped. 

Finally, two pit stops and three adjustments later he radioed to the team that the car was a little better. It was lap 316 of the 500 lap race and Ragan was in the 21st spot. 

Ragan continued to struggle with the race car throughout the duration of the event; however he was able to battle his way through traffic to the 20th place spot.  On lap 412 the yellow flag came out when debris was spotted in turn four.  Ragan had just slowed his race car down when the No. 48 ran into the side of the No. 6 AAA Ford under the yellow flag, causing damage to the right side of the race car.

Ragan came into the pits two laps later for new tires and reentered the field in 22nd place.  Ragan was now three laps down.

The caution flag flew two more times before the end of the race.  The final caution was on lap 499 when Ragan got spun around on the front stretch causing damage to his right front fender and dropping back six spots.

In the end, Ragan crossed the finish line in 26th place.

“We ran 500 laps here at Bristol and our car was pretty decent at times,” said Ragan.  “We gave up a little bit at the beginning.  I hate that we got spun out there at the end.  It cost us five or six spots.  We’ll see what we can do next week.  We’ve just got to keep working on our [Car of Tomorrow] program.  The AAA pit crew did a great job and we’ll keep getting better.”

Ragan is currently 22nd in the Nextel Cup points standings and is tied with Juan Pablo Montoya for the lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year contest.  He will compete next at Martinsville Speedway on April 1st.  Coverage begins at 1:30PM Eastern Time on Fox and MRN.

 

About Roush Fenway Racing

Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating 13 motorsports teams, five in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup with drivers Matt Kenseth, Jamie McMurray, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; five in the Busch Series with Kenseth, Biffle, Edwards, McMurray, Ragan, Todd Kluever, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Danny O’Quinn Jr.; and three in the Craftsman Truck Series with Edwards, Peter Shepherd, Travis Kvapil and Erik Darnell. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log onto www.RoushFenway.com. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.