For David Ragan, his latest career break is all about the timing.
He started the season driving the underfunded No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, but that team didn’t have the backing needed to keep a car under him for the whole season.
Therefore, when Kyle Busch was injured at Daytona there was nothing to stop Ragan from filling in for Busch in Joe Gibbs Racing’s powerful No. 18 Toyota.
“If I had a commitment from Front Row Motorsports to run the entire season, I wouldn’t have been able to go drive the 18,” Ragan said. “I wouldn’t have jeopardized that full-time schedule (in the No. 34) for sure.”
That deal was short term from the beginning, maybe three months at the most, and just as it was about to end, Ragan got an offer to finish the season in the No. 55 Toyota at Michael Waltrip Racing. He’ll take over that car next weekend at Kansas Speedway.
Brian Vickers, who was driving the No. 55, is out indefinitely after developing blood clots after two starts this season.
“The timing is in my favor to have another seat to fill,” said Ragan, who was fifth-fastest Friday in his next-to-last practice run in the No. 18, which will be driven by rookie Erik Jones next week.
Ragan also had some off-track affairs occur at an opportune time. He recently sold his Ford dealership in Perry, near his hometown of Unadilla, to Robin Loudermilk, the son of Charlie Loudermilk, the founder of Atlanta-based Aaron’s, which sponsors the No. 55 that Ragan is set to drive.
“Timing is so important in everything we do,” Ragan said, adding that teaming with Aaron’s and the connections with the Loudermilks make it “fun to come full circle with them.”
Returning to a top-tier NASCAR team brings Ragan back to where he was in the beginning of his career when he was hired as a 20-year-old rookie to drive the No. 6 Ford for team owner Jack Roush, with sponsorship from Atlanta-based UPS.
He nearly made the Chase in 2008, when he had six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, but barely missed the cut at the end of the regular season and wound up 13th at the end of the season.
He was unable to build on that success, and by 2011 it was clear he was about to be out of a ride. Still he got his first Cup win, at Daytona in July, but it wasn’t enough to keep him on the team.
He moved to the underfunded No. 34 Ford the next season, and in 2013 scored one of the great upsets in NASCAR history by winning the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.
Now he’s back at Talladega with a strong team behind him. He said his career ups and downs aren’t anything unusual in the sport, and he’s been able to remain upbeat while dealing with them.
“There are very few in this sport that can come through like Jimmie Johnson has done and be successful every single season,” he said. “I’ve been able to keep a good attitude all along.
“It’s not like I’m 45 years old and at the end of my career. … I’ve never lost that desire to be a champion and a very competitive person in this sport.
“I’ve got unfinished business to take care of.”
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