Race 2 Win: Auto Club 500 Notes

Nextel Cup Series

RAYBESTOS® ROOKIE CONTENDER DAVID RAGAN HAULER CHAT FOR THE AUTO CLUB 500 NASCAR NEXTEL CUP SERIES RACE AT CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2007, PAGE 3.

Notes:

Ragan was the Raybestos Rookie of the Race in the February 18 Daytona 500 at Dayton (Fla.) International Speedway. Ragan finished fifth, his best effort in three NEXTEL Cup Series starts. His best previous finish was 25th last fall at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.

Ragan earned a $5,000 bonus from Affinia Group as part of the Raybestos® Rookie Magnificent Seven program. The Raybestos Rookie of the Race normally pays $1,500 but that increases to $5,000 for the Daytona 500 and races at Las Vegas (March 11), Martinsville, Va. (April 1), Darlington, S.C. (May 12), Sonoma, Calif. (June 24), Joliet, Ill., (July 15) and Bristol, Tenn. (August 25).

Ragan holds a seven-point lead (17-10) over Juan Pablo Montoya in the Raybestos Rookie standings entering the Feb. 25 Auto Club 500 at California Speedway.

THE STREAK: A Raybestos Rookie has finished in the top 15 in 37 consecutive NEXTEL Cup races.

DAVID RAGAN, No. 6 AAA INSURANCE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FORD: HAVE YOU HAD A CHANCE TO ENJOY YOUR GOOD RUN AT DAYTONA? “A little bit. I flew out to California Wednesday morning and we’ve been doing stuff from Wednesday on. We had a good time around the shop Monday morning, a breath of fresh air almost. We’ve got to put things into perspective. We’ve got 35 more races and like Jimmy [Fennig, crew chief] says, Martinsville pays the same amount of points as Daytona does. It’s a great start for the year. We’ve just really got to keep our focus. It’s so easy to lose our focus here in this top level of auto racing. It means a lot to the AAA team to have a good start and that’s going to add a little bit of pressure to keep up.”

DID YOU HAVE ANY KEEPSAKES FROM THE DAYTONA RACE? “I’ve got a cool surfboard that I got from Raybestos for winning the Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors. I don’t have time to go surfing but I’ll keep it. It’s lying in my den right now. A lot of family was down there and I think that was probably the most special thing. I really can’t keep anything from the experience other than just a lot of good pictures and stories and obviously having my parents and aunts and uncles down there. That probably meant as much as anything.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY INTERESTING STORIES ABOUT THE 500? “You’re sitting back there riding and I haven’t made a ton of green flag pit stops. I’ve got make one in the truck series and maybe just one or two in the Busch Series. So we’re getting ready to make our first green flag pit stop and it’s the Daytona 500 and I’m like ‘Man, I’ve got to watch somebody. I’ve got an idea of where to slow down but I really don’t know exactly how to do this’ I didn’t want to lock up my brakes and slide through the grass and it worked out perfect where I believe [Jeff] Gordon was right in front of us there. He was a couple cars in front of us and we were going to pit with him so I got to come down pit road and downshift somewhat simultaneously with him. I think that helped me a little bit and kind of broke the ice on having to make a green flag pit stop.”

JEFF BURTON HAS SAID THAT A YOUNG DRIVER HAS TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE RACE YOU’RE IN IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RACE THAT YOU’RE IN BUT IT’S NOT THE LAST RACE YOU’LL BE IN. THAT MUST BE A CHALLENGE. “Jack Roush told me last year, I was out trying to somewhat prove myself and got into some trouble and I was fast but I tore up some cars, and he said ‘You know, you’ve got the job already. You’re not going out trying to get someone to notice you. Now, you’ve got to keep the job and be smart.’ Now we’re looking at 15-20 years down the road where when I was 16,17,18 years old you’d try to go out and do something spectacular so someone would recognize you. Now you’ve got to go about things in a little bit different perspective. Now we’re here, I’ve got the job; I’m in with great people now. I’ve got to do things a little different so I’m still here 15 years from now.”