David Ragan

David Ragan, No. 34 Santorum for President Ford

Starting Position: 35

Finishing Position: 21

David Ragan and the No. 34 Santorum for President team earned their second consecutive top-25 finish with a solid day and a little Las Vegas luck in the Kobalt Tools 400.

Ragan took the green flag in the 35th position and quickly picked up several spots, telling crew chief Jay Guy he had only minor handling issues in his initial laps.  By Lap 44, he had moved up to 26th, but unfortunately had fallen a lap down on the racy 1.5-mile oval.  The team's first bit of luck came shortly after, when the caution came out on Lap 45 giving Ragan the "Lucky Dog" -- the free pass onto the lead lap for being the first car a lap down.

The team slipped off the lead lap again later in the race, and by Lap 183, was two laps down in 28th.  But Ragan and Guy were ready to do a little more gambling. They used the "wave-around" rule on a Lap-204 caution to return to one lap down and put themselves in line for another "Lucky Dog" pass.  Ragan was in 25th and looking to pick off more positions at the Lap-209 restart.

The dice rolled their way on Lap 254 when a caution came out for the spinning No. 51 car of Kurt Busch and officials awarded Ragan the free pass to put him back on the lead lap.  Restarting in 23rd, he climbed two more positions in the final nine laps to finish 21st.  The No. 34 team also earned a bonus point for leading a lap under caution.  Their effort for the day bumped them six spots in the owner point standings to 30th.

Comments from Santorum for President team driver David Ragan after the Las Vegas race:

"We would've had a better finish if we didn't have to check up behind (Matt) Kenseth (who hit the wall in the final laps).  But overall, it was a pretty good day.  Jay Guy did a great job making calls in the pits, the pit crew had a good day and we just made the most of every opportunity we had out there today.  I think we can improve on this car, so we'll take it back and work on it.  But a lead-lap, 21st-place finish at the first mile-and-a-half track of the season for this team is a good start."

David Gilliland

David Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

Starting Position: 34

Finishing Position: 33

David Gilliland and the No. 38 Front Row Motorsports team started Sunday's 267-lap race in the 34th position, ready to put in a decent run for new associate sponsor 1-800LoanMart.  Unfortunately for the No. 38 team, most of their luck for the day was of the bad variety.

It began just 31 laps into the race, when Gilliland had to pit under green-flag conditions for a loose wheel.  The unscheduled pit stop put him back onto the track two laps down in 41st.  He spent the remainder of the afternoon trying to battle back for position, but also battling an ill-handling car.  With a car that wouldn't allow him to take the fastest line around the track, Gilliland fell five laps down and sat in 37th by the midpoint of the race.

The team's bad luck continued in the second half of the race when Gilliland's Ford Fusion began to overheat on Lap 245, forcing the crew to spend extra time on pit road cooling the engine.  A mechanical issue led to another long pit stop in the closing laps of the race, dropping them nine laps down to finish in 33rd.

Comments from Front Row Motorsports team driver David Gilliland after the Las Vegas race:

"I know Vegas can be about luck and, boy, we sure didn't have any today.  At least not the good kind.  Our Ford Fusion really had the same handling issues all weekend, all three days we were here. And it seemed like no matter what we did to it, we just couldn't make it happy.  I'm a West Coast guy and love coming out to Phoenix and Vegas, but I'll be glad to get to Bristol next week and start fresh." 

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