Ragan provides a thrill ride for teen
Time with fan makes up for missed chance
On auto racing
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Drivers are usually defined by their ability to chase speed.
The Coke Zero 400 postscript will showthat David Ragan made a tactical mistake as he led the field to green on the final restart late Saturday night. Given a choice to go high or low, Ragan stayed high to block Ty Dillon. Themove allowed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to get a push on the low side and eventually win the race.
By the time Ragan tried to jockey back for position, itwas too late. Hewound up sixth, a solid finish, but he also missed an opportunity to steal a playoff spot as a competitor not afforded the luxuries of driving for one of the super teams.
“My carwas better in the middle to the top groove all night long,” Ragan said Tuesday morning, reflecting again on the moment. “I felt like if I had to choose that one lane to try to block, itwould be the top lane. But the 17 (Stenhouse) had such a fast run that when I found out hewas coming that hard I couldn’t get back down to block him.
“Iwas put in a bad spot and Imade a decision there.”
But there’s a bigger picture here that’s important. And if you look at things fromthat perspective, Ragan had a greatweekend.
He hosted Riley Desin, a 15-year-old boy fromCentral Florida who is a ShrinersHospitals for Children patient. Shriners has sponsored Ragan for three races, and its brandwas all over hisNo. 38 Ford Saturday night. And then there’s the personal touch.
Riley spent considerable time with Ragan on race weekend, doing things like taking a ceremonial introductory lap around the track and getting to hang out on pit road before the race.
Itwas awonderful respite fromthe circumstances of his life. Rileywas born with a genetic condition called hereditary multiple exostoses (HME), which causes irregular bone growth. Physicians discovered growths from nearly head to toe through a full-bodyX-ray when he was just 14months old. He has endured more than a dozen surgeries.
Other images shaped his weekend circumstances.
“Rileywas a true race fan,” Ragan said. “He enjoyed the race and the dynamic of the pit crew in preparing the race car and strategy. He asked some really good questions. You could tell hewas engaged. Itwas great to have such an in-tune, mature young man at the race track.”
Heading into Saturday’s Cup race inKentucky, Ragan is 28th in points, competing for Front Row Motorsports alongside Landon Cassill.
Given the dynamics, there is always going to be a David-vs.-Goliath feel to the competitive grind.
“We’re aware of those odds, but Iwouldn’t say it’s frustrating,” Ragan said. “We embrace our goal and we knowwhat our realistic expectations are. Itwould be frustrating if youwere on a larger team and underperformed.
“I embrace what Front RowMotorsports is. All of the successful premier teams of today, they all had to start somewhere at some point 15, 20, 25 years ago. … That’s a part of our sport. Everybody can’t be on top of the mountain.”
Deal or no deal? Spoiler Alert! OK, not really.
Danica Patrick is on shaky ground with Stewart-Haas Racing. Just do themath. Her contract is not locked in for next season. Meanwhile, Patrick is 29th in points and has yet to post a top-5 finish in 171 Cup starts.
Kurt Busch also isn’t locked in, but assuming there are no sponsorship hiccups, his performance will be an asset, not a deterrent, in keeping him around. Busch, theDaytona 500 champ, is 14th in points.
“Contracts are signed— and expire— at all different times,” team founder Gene Haas told motorsport.com. “It’s hard to say when one person’s contract is going to expire because there are options and things like that. I think that’swhy they call it silly season. We kind of start looking at whatwe want to do. The drivers do the same thing. Sponsors do the same thing.
“In order for all the pieces to fall into place, you have to take all three parties— you’ve got to take the drivers, the owners and the sponsors and see if you can’t align all the stars up and get them to agree on something.”
Stay tuned as the regular season and playoffs segue intoNASCAR’s “silly season.”