As he prepares to run nearly 200 miles per hour around Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, David Ragan has vehicle safety on his mind and intends to make it top of mind for NASCAR fans, too. Ragan’s No. 34 Ford will once again promote the message of SaferCar.gov, the vehicle safety website established by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The online one-stop shop provides vehicle safety ratings, information on auto recalls, air bags and child safety seats, and other safety resources.
The blue and yellow scheme last adorned Ragan’s Ford Fusion at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, where the Front Row Motorsports driver finished sixth. Ragan has a history of success at Texas also. He has earned two top-10 and six top-15 finishes and one pole at the 1.5-mile oval.
Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 will be Ragan’s 14th Sprint Cup career start at the Fort Worth, Texas, venue.
Comments from SaferCar.gov team driver David Ragan heading to Texas:
“This will be the second race back this month for SaferCar.gov. We had them with us at Talladega where we had a top-10 run, so we’re hoping for another good weekend. We want everybody to be aware of this important website that carries a ton of great information about vehicle safety. It provides crash-test ratings, information on recalls and child safety seats, and lots of other information to help fans and their families be safe when they’re on the road.
“Texas has gotten pretty rough. The asphalt is abrasive and wears out. It’s more like Atlanta than Charlotte, where we just raced a couple weeks ago. You can go really fast for a few laps, but the speeds drop off a lot. It’s a fun, fast track and it’s still fun to qualify there. It’s got a pretty good aging process. It slows the cars down throughout a run and you can move around. It has some bumps and dips here and there, which make it a challenge for crews and drivers to get figured out. It’s a tough racetrack, but we always look forward to it. It’s kind of the last fast mile-and-a-half racetrack of the year, so we definitely want to run well.
“Our set-ups on this new Generation-6 car have changed a lot over the course of the season. We constantly learned a lot throughout the summer months, going to flat tracks like Indy and Pocono, then going back to places like Charlotte, Chicago, Kansas. So, we have learned a lot and evolved the set-up some. It will be interesting to go back, knowing what we raced in Texas in April, but we’ve changed a lot. It will be important for the team to get a good practice day to see where we’re at.”
FRM PR
