Backstretch Motorsports

David Ragan, of whom Roush Fenway Racing teammate Carl Edwards characterizes as “wise beyond his years” won the NASCAR Nationwide Series Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway last night.

The victory was win number 2 in the second-tier series for the Unadilla, Ga. native, the first coming at Talladega earlier this season.

The No. 6 Discount Tire Ford Fusion driver managed a strong restart on a green-white-checkered-flag finish and held off RFR teammate Edwards in what proved to be a relatively quiet final shootout by Bristol standards.

Ragan led the final 56 laps of the event at the .533-mile speedway, but Edwards was the big winner, as he trimmed Kyle Busch’s lead in the series standings from 339 to 248 points. Busch was the victim of an early accident and finished 28th, 59 laps down.

“It was a fun night to drive such a fast racecar,” said Ragan, who chose the outside line for the final restart, as the race went four laps beyond its scheduled distance. “The outside had been great all night. I really struggled passing cars on the bottom.

“I raced with Carl—it was fun racing with a teammate—and I was able to pin him behind a lapped car. I don’t think I would have passed him (otherwise), because he was running that middle groove, and I just couldn’t get around him.”

The race ended under caution because of a wreck on the final lap that froze the running order with Ragan in the lead.

Polesitter Brad Keselowski rallied from an early fender-bender to finish third, followed by Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth.

If Edwards had to lose the race, he was glad it was Ragan who beat him.

“He played me the way he should have,” Edwards said. “He got me behind a lapped car and got me pinned. … I can’t say enough about David Ragan. He’s a great guy.”

Ragan passed Edwards for the lead on Lap 199 of 254 and held the top spot through a caution for debris on the frontstretch on Lap 243. That set up the two-lap dash to the finish.

A dramatic wreck on Lap 52 forced Busch to give back much of the gains he made in the Nationwide standings last week when Edwards wrecked on Lap 3 of last Saturday’s race at Michigan International Speedway.

Busch had just passed Harvick for the lead and was barreling out of Turn 4 when Bristol rookie Chase Austin, with a tire down on his No. 07 Chevrolet, pulled down the track into Busch’s path. The resulting violent collision sent Busch’s Toyota hard into the frontstretch wall. Reed Sorenson’s Chevy also was collected in the wreck.

Busch climbed from his car and disappeared into his transporter, as NASCAR red-flagged the race for more than 15 minutes for track cleanup. It was a kinder, gentler Busch who emerged some 10 minutes later.

“I saw a slow car up high, and he came right across the nose, right in front of me,” Busch said. “I didn’t know where to go except where I was going. I had Harvick on my outside, and he was able to miss it. Pretty unfortunate there that we got caught up in that mess.

“The (car) was awesome—it was good, it was coming right to the front. Got all the way up there and was taking the lead, but mistakes happen sometimes—I’ve made plenty. We’ll go on and get them next week.”

NASCAR Race Number 24
Unofficial Race Results for the Food City 250 - Friday, August 21, 2009
Bristol Motor Speedway - Bristol, TN - .533 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 254 Laps - 135.382 Miles - Purse: $1,415,642

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 9 6 David Ragan Discount Tire Ford 254 190 5 125.8 $50,545 Running 1 56
2 2 60 Carl Edwards Save A Lot Ford 254 175 5 131.1 $37,350 Running 2 51
3 1 88 Brad Keselowski Degree Chevrolet 254 170 5 119.0 $40,293 Running 3 43
4 11 33 Kevin Harvick Rheem Tankless Chevrolet 254 170 10 130.0 $28,775 Running 2 91
5 4 16 Matt Kenseth CitiFinancial Ford 254 155 96.5 $24,650 Running
6 26 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 254 150 96.3 $32,018 Running
7 3 29 Clint Bowyer Holiday Inn Chevrolet 254 146 109.5 $24,110 Running
8 13 15 Michael Annett # Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 254 142 71.5 $30,238 Running
9 43 98 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Ford 254 138 85.0 $22,150 Running
10 19 26 Michael McDowell # Fischer Honda Dodge 254 134 71.7 $29,143 Running
11 41 32 David Reutimann Dollar General Stores Toyota 254 130 78.9 $21,700 Running
12 25 61 Matthew Carter Specialty Racing Ford 254 127 77.7 $30,168 Running
13 10 5 Ryan Newman Fastenal Chevrolet 254 124 100.1 $21,900 Running
14 30 28 Kenny Wallace US Border Patrol Chevrolet 253 121 70.6 $27,903 Running
15 37 87 Mike Bliss NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 253 118 69.0 $28,608 Running
16 17 27 Jason Keller Kleenex/Food City Ford 253 115 81.4 $27,823 Running
17 8 66 Steve Wallace USfidelis Chevrolet 253 112 76.9 $27,778 Running
18 33 72 Benny Gordon VSI/Samuel & Sons Ford 252 109 53.5 $21,565 Running
19 20 62 Brendan Gaughan # 5 Hour Energy ES Chevrolet 252 111 5 90.0 $30,198 Running 1 10
20 40 81 Sean Murphy D.H. Girffin Companies Dodge 252 103 54.4 $28,158 Running
21 22 40 Scott Wimmer Westerman Companies Chevrolet 251 100 74.0 $27,593 Running
22 38 23 Ken Butler # Aaron’s Dream Machine Chevrolet 251 97 45.6 $27,548 Running
23 42 34 Tony Raines Long John Silver’s Chevrolet 250 94 44.6 $28,238 Running
24 5 99 Trevor Bayne Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 250 91 74.9 $27,453 Running
25 39 24 Eric McClure Hefty/Food City Ford 249 88 40.1 $27,543 Running
26 32 73 Derrike Cope FlipNBags/EZPCBackup.com Dodge 236 85 44.8 $20,860 Running
27 6 12 Justin Allgaier # Verizon Wireless Dodge 226 87 5 98.7 $27,268 Running 1 2
28 15 18 Kyle Busch NOS Toyota 195 84 5 65.4 $20,755 Running 1 1
29 7 20 Brad Coleman BigSpot.com Toyota 177 76 83.2 $27,188 Running
30 16 11 Brian Scott Ridemakerz.com Toyota 162 73 71.6 $27,443 Accident
31 18 77 Peyton Sellers SFP Chevrolet 161 70 53.7 $20,635 Accident
32 23 01 Danny O’Quinn Jr. Sun Drop Chevrolet 137 67 60.5 $27,058 Accident
33 21 09 John Wes Townley # Zaxby’s Ford 133 64 49.1 $27,038 Suspension
34 36 52 Brad Teague Scag Mowers/Greg’s Pizza Chevrolet 79 61 36.7 $20,550 Ignition
35 12 1 Reed Sorenson Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet 52 58 66.6 $20,535 Accident
36 27 07 Chase Austin Dynamic Technology Chevrolet 51 55 43.9 $26,983 Accident
37 14 10 Kasey Kahne McDonald’s Toyota 30 52 63.6 $20,495 Overheating
38 29 49 Mark Green GetMoreVacations.com Chevrolet 25 49 31.7 $26,923 Brakes
39 28 47 Coleman Pressley ConstructionJobs.com Toyota 23 46 36.0 $26,898 Overheating
40 31 78 Kevin Lepage Derrike Cope Inc. Dodge 13 43 35.0 $20,405 Ignition
41 24 05 Casey Atwood 31-W Insulation Chevrolet 12 40 32.9 $26,848 Transmission
42 34 91 Terry Cook # MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 3 37 30.4 $20,355 Brakes
43 35 90 Johnny Chapman MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 2 34 28.8 $20,314 Ignition
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 110,000, David Ragan won the Food City 250, his second NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field: #07 (missed drivers meeting); #47 (driver’s choice).
Failed to Qualify: (6) 96 Dennis Setzer, 0 Kertus Davis, 70 Shelby Howard, 31 Travis Kittleson, 42 Scott Lagasse, Jr #, 89 Morgan Shepherd.
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 49 Mins, 27 Secs. Average Speed: 74.216 MPH Margin of Victory: Caution
Caution Flags: 9 for 60 laps: Laps: 7-11 (#16 accident turn 2 [None]); 30-35 (Debris [24]); 39-47 (#12 accident turn 3 [61]); 54-58 (#1, 07, 18 accident frontstretch [Red Flag: Lap 53, 15:45] [None]); 65-69 (#20 accident turn 3 [23]); 139-145 (#01, 33, 99 accident frontstretch [11]); 164-176 (#11, 77 aciddent frontstretch [32]); 244-252 (Debris [62]); 254-254 (#12, 40, 66 accident frontstretch [None]).
Lead Changes: 10 among 7 drivers: B. Keselowski 1-35; J. Allgaier # 36-37; B. Keselowski 38-44; C. Edwards 45-48; K. Harvick 49-51; K. Busch 52; K. Harvick 53-140; B. Keselowski 141; B. Gaughan # 142-151; C. Edwards 152-198; D. Ragan 199-254.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) K. Busch 3,900;(2) C. Edwards 3,652;(3) Brad Keselowski 3,597;(4) J. Leffler 3,353;(5) J. Allgaier # 2,843;(6) S. Wallace 2,785;(7) J. Keller 2,727;(8) M. Bliss 2,713;(9) B. Gaughan # 2,649;(10) M. Mcdowell # 2,608.
Coors Light Pole Award : Brad Keselowski, #88 (120.566 mph) Featherlite Most Improved Driver : Matt Carter, #61 (14 Places)
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Brad Keselowski, #88 Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Jason Leffler, #38
Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Michael Annett, #15 Sunoco Diamond Performance : David Ragan, #6
WIX Filters Lap Leader : Brendan Gaughan, #62 (10 Laps)
Next Race: Aug. 30, 2009 - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve