In February David Ragan might have thrown away a victory, but this time he got it right and won the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.
Ragan’s Ford was in the same position on the final restart on Saturday night as he was at the Daytona 500. Back then he changed lanes before crossing the start/finish line and was black-flagged – losing his chance at winning the richest and most prestigious race in NASCAR.
This time Ragan got a push from teammate Matt Kenseth, who finished second, and took the victory, his first in Sprint Cup, which eluded him the last time he raced at the 2.5 mile superspeedway.
“I thought about that actually under that last caution. I said: 'Man, if we don't win this thing, I'm not going to talk to anyone afterwards.' So we were able to win. That does ease the pain from February,” said Ragan.
Two separate 15-car wrecks, which eliminated some of the top cars, set up the final green-white-checkered finish which determined the winner as the race went ten laps beyond the scheduled 160-laps.
Just like the last superspeedway races, drivers raced in two-car tandems and Ragan was no different as he worked with Kenseth for the entire race.
"We made it through the race unscathed. I had actually made a plan with David and we both did what it took for it to work, not necessarily for ourselves, but realizing that the two cars are like one car. We had to treat it like that.
"We both took care of each other’s cars in the position we were in. We raced in front or in back of each other all night every single lap of the whole race and waited for each other after pit stops and did what it took to get the finish.
"It feels good that the plan came together and worked out for us tonight,” said Kenseth.
Joey Logano, who tangled with polesitter, Mark Martin, on the first green-white-checkered flag, finished third.
Martin said it was just a racing accident: “He didn't have a partner and I didn't either. I must have been four inches not ahead of him and I was trying to get in front of him so we could go.
"It was still okay. I felt him touch me and I was trying to save it but then…You know cars were hitting everybody. From there I probably could have saved it, I thought I could save it but cars were just going everywhere."
There were unhappy drivers, too. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was supposed to tandem up with his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, lost the five-time champion at the end during pit stops.
"I'm driving my car, doing what I am told and they decided to do something different. I can't run the whole damn thing from the seat of the damn race car.
"I'm just doing what I'm told out there. I don't know how that affected us, if it did at all. It was just a foolish race," he added.
Johnson answered angry Earnhardt Jr. fans on Twitter: "I didn't leave Jr hanging, you people are crazy. When my crew tells me to pit, I pit. (Crew chiefs) Steve (LeTarte) and Chad (Knaus) sort out the details."
Kevin Harvick, who finished seventh, took the points lead from Carl Edwards who crashed early in the race, returned to the track and finished 37th.
Ragan’s Ford was in the same position on the final restart on Saturday night as he was at the Daytona 500. Back then he changed lanes before crossing the start/finish line and was black-flagged – losing his chance at winning the richest and most prestigious race in NASCAR.
This time Ragan got a push from teammate Matt Kenseth, who finished second, and took the victory, his first in Sprint Cup, which eluded him the last time he raced at the 2.5 mile superspeedway.
“I thought about that actually under that last caution. I said: 'Man, if we don't win this thing, I'm not going to talk to anyone afterwards.' So we were able to win. That does ease the pain from February,” said Ragan.
Two separate 15-car wrecks, which eliminated some of the top cars, set up the final green-white-checkered finish which determined the winner as the race went ten laps beyond the scheduled 160-laps.
Just like the last superspeedway races, drivers raced in two-car tandems and Ragan was no different as he worked with Kenseth for the entire race.
"We made it through the race unscathed. I had actually made a plan with David and we both did what it took for it to work, not necessarily for ourselves, but realizing that the two cars are like one car. We had to treat it like that.
"We both took care of each other’s cars in the position we were in. We raced in front or in back of each other all night every single lap of the whole race and waited for each other after pit stops and did what it took to get the finish.
"It feels good that the plan came together and worked out for us tonight,” said Kenseth.
Joey Logano, who tangled with polesitter, Mark Martin, on the first green-white-checkered flag, finished third.
Martin said it was just a racing accident: “He didn't have a partner and I didn't either. I must have been four inches not ahead of him and I was trying to get in front of him so we could go.
"It was still okay. I felt him touch me and I was trying to save it but then…You know cars were hitting everybody. From there I probably could have saved it, I thought I could save it but cars were just going everywhere."
There were unhappy drivers, too. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was supposed to tandem up with his teammate, Jimmie Johnson, lost the five-time champion at the end during pit stops.
"I'm driving my car, doing what I am told and they decided to do something different. I can't run the whole damn thing from the seat of the damn race car.
"I'm just doing what I'm told out there. I don't know how that affected us, if it did at all. It was just a foolish race," he added.
Johnson answered angry Earnhardt Jr. fans on Twitter: "I didn't leave Jr hanging, you people are crazy. When my crew tells me to pit, I pit. (Crew chiefs) Steve (LeTarte) and Chad (Knaus) sort out the details."
Kevin Harvick, who finished seventh, took the points lead from Carl Edwards who crashed early in the race, returned to the track and finished 37th.