One of the defining stories of the 2013 season was the popular win by Front Row Motorsports and driver David Ragan in last year’s Aaron’s 499 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway. Fast forward a year later, the team returns to the 2.66-mile superspeedway with the mentality that they can pull off the upset again, despite being classified as an “underdog.”
Knowing the importance of a win this season under NASCAR’s new championship format, Ragan, a Unadilla, Georgia native, insisted that his Bob Jenkins-owned team has what it takes to make it into the playoffs, given the right circumstances.
“Absolutely,” said Ragan of the potential to win on Sunday and likely earn a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
The two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner has every reason to feel that his team can make the unthinkable occur again. He enters this weekend at Talladega with four straight top-10 finishes, all coming with Front Row Motorsports.
“In the back of our minds we do think a little bit about if we can get that win, and that’s not just at Talladega but at any track, you’re in the Chase,” Ragan said. “That’s something we don’t want to be overwhelmed with and really think about that more than we should, but it is something that we think about and I guarantee every other team that has not got a win yet this year, they think about that too. We’ve just got to execute all weekend to try to get to that point.”
Ragan’s 15th trip to Talladega will be adorned by new sponsorship for his team in KFC Go Cup, which spawned to life after his triumph last May.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.
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