The storylines coming into this race for David Ragan were all about redemption. The mistake in the final laps of the Daytona 500 for changing lanes before crossing the start finish line cost him the chance at the win.
Saturday night though it was a different story for Ragan and one that ended in victory lane. Ragan was stuck like glue to his partner Matt Kenseth all day long. The two worked well together and when it came down to it the two teammates ensured that Roush Fenway Racing would be taking home the trophy.
Ragan now sits 17th in the points and according to Ragan he should be higher in the points then where he is at.
“Yeah, we feel like we've been a player for the Chase all year. Kind of disappoints me being 17th. We should be 13th in points. So we've got a lot of work to make up. We've got good tracks coming up. So I'm happy about the win. We should be higher in points than that.”
Coming into Daytona he only had two top five finishes and four top 10 finishes.
On multiple occasions he had cars capable of running in the top five but poor pit stops or getting caught up in someone else’s wreck saw Ragan 20th in the points.
With his win he is putting himself in position to make the Chase. If the Chase were to start this week Ragan would be in and Tony Stewart would be out.
Ragan’s focus is on making the Chase but the team needs to find some consistency. They don’t have much room to work with as the points are as close as they have been all season.
Denny Hamlin in 11th has a 56 point edge over Joey Logano in 20th. Hamlin has one win so unless Ragan or Brad Keselowski score additional wins and are in the top 20 he should make the Chase.
Ragan though still has an opportunity to work his way into the top 12 and even top 10. He is only 38 points behind Hamlin and is just 41 points behind Ryan Newman in 10th.
Following the race he was asked if this win quiets some of the critics his response was “I wasn’t ready a few years ago, but Jack Roush gave me a chance and this is all we needed. We’ve been so close so many times and finally we’re here. I can’t thank UPS enough for standing behind us. We’re here and we’ll enjoy it. We’ll enjoy it Monday and Tuesday and then we’ll go back to work for Kentucky next week.”
Ragan is in the last year of his contract with UPS and there has been much speculation on whether or not UPS will stay with Ragan.
Ragan knows expectations have been high for him both set on by himself and his owner Jack Roush but Saturday nights win didn’t save his ride with RFR; it saved his season.
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