Although they didn’t have the finish they wanted at Pocono, more misfortune by the drivers in front of them in championship points helped the Front Row Motorsports team climb closer into the top-25. Ragan trails Casey Mears by only three marks for 28th and Kurt Busch, who missed the event, by 35 for the 27th position. Michigan is an opportunity to get closer to their goals.
Ragan has a pair of top-10 finishes and a career best effort of third in 10 career starts at the two-mile oval.
Comments from Front Row Motorsports driver David Ragan Heading to Michigan:
“We had a good car at Pocono, but couldn’t get our lap back after losing a tire early in the race. But, we actually gained on the guys around us in points. We left Pocono a bit ahead of where we were before even if the race didn’t turn out the way we wanted. Sometimes it’s luck, but I think this is case where we kept fighting and proved that we’re a pretty strong organization.
“Ford has a strong reputation at Michigan and it would be great to get them a respectable finish in their home state. Looking back at the stats at this track, and having the experience of racing a Ford there for a number of years, they are winners at this track. It shouldn’t surprise anyone to see the blue oval in victory lane and hopefully our team can be right in the mix.
“I’m interested in seeing how the track’s new surface fairs this weekend. I can’t remember the last time we’ve raced on two freshly repaved racetracks back to back. I anticipate seeing a big pickup in speed as we did at Pocono. We’ll go in early and try to lay down a lot of rubber and open up two or three grooves. That will help us put on a good show for everyone.”
Comments from Front Row Motorsports Crew Chief Jay Guy on Michigan:
“Racing on repaved racetracks always poses a challenge for us as crew chiefs. You don’t really have anything to look at in terms of notes, because it is hard to anticipate how much the track is going to change. I think we are going to see some really fast lap times for the second week in a row. Our challenge will be to make adjustments as the track takes on more and more rubber throughout the weekend.”
“The ARCA cars are racing at the same facility as us again this weekend. We saw at Pocono how much of a challenge it can be for the teams and drivers when the two rubber compounds work against each other. The track we qualified on at Pocono was slicker than anything we raced on in our five days there. Fortunately this weekend, the Nationwide cars qualify between the ARCA race and our qualifying session, so the laps they put on the track should help the overall grip level to improve by the time we go out.”
FRM PR