While other Chase bubble drivers struggled to overcome adversity Saturday night in Richmond, David Ragan knew what he had to do and did all he could to accomplish that goal.
NASCAR At Richmond: David Ragan Comes Up Short In Chase Wild Card Race
A win for Ragan would have guaranteed a Chase wild card spot, and throughout the night he ran in contention for that win. Yet as the laps clicked away and Kevin Harvick drove away with the victory, a bad pit stall seemed too much to overcome as Ragan recorded his first top-5 since his win in Daytona.
A solid run for the Roush Fenway Racing team, but not good enough to qualify for the 2011 Chase.
“Ultimately, we just didn’t have the best of pit stalls and there were guys cheating the system on pit road. We lost, it seems like, a spot or two on each stop,” he said. “Our guys were doing great, so a combination of pit road and just the cautions at the end kind of hurt us.”
Now outside the Chase field, Ragan said his goal is to win races, finish 13th in points and “kind of stink the show up” over the next 10 races.
"We had goals to win a race, sit on poles this year and, obviously, make the Chase, and we did all of them except the Chase," he said. "We can still have a good year. We can still come out and win a few races. I'd much rather win a couple of more races, finish 13th in points than be dull and finish 10th (in points)."
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