David Ragan

David Ragan, No. 34 Scorpion Truck Bed Liners Ford

Starting Position: 21

Finishing Position: 35

David Ragan and the No. 34 team brought a fast Scorpion Truck Bed Liners Ford to Texas, qualifying for 21st position on Saturday night's starting grid.  But like the rest of the drivers, he soon found out his biggest competition was going to be the fierce winds that had been sweeping through the area all day.

The strong gusts, along with the changing track conditions as the night wore on, made the handling of the No. 34 Fusion a bit unpredictable. About 80 laps into the 334-lap event, Ragan told crew chief Jay Guy the car seemed to "do something different on every lap."

The wind proved to provide the biggest issues on the evening, with the race only being interrupted by two caution periods for debris.  At Lap 200, with Ragan in 29th position, the windy conditions took a toll on the team.  The driver reported his window net had broken loose after flapping in the strong gusts all night, bending and finally breaking the clasp that attached it to the car.  He was forced to go to the garage for a quick welding repair and returned to the track 18 laps down in 35th.

The Scorpion Truck Bed Liners team maintained that position on the leaderboard for the rest of the night, finishing 35th and earning a bonus point for leading a lap under caution. 

Comments from Scorpion Truck Bed Liners team driver David Ragan after the Texas race:    

David Gilliland

David Gilliland, No. 38 ModSpace Ford

Starting Position: 35

Finishing Position: 31

David Gilliland took the green flag of the Samsung Mobile 500 in 35th position, ready to get the most out of his No. 38 Ford.  The blue-and-green paint scheme showcased support from ModSpace, United Rentals and Chipewyan Prairie First Nation.  And with Texas Motor Speedway being one of Gilliland's favorite tracks, he was looking to have a good night.

The No. 38 team had their Fusion handling well after much trial and error over the course of the weekend.  But, like everyone else, Gilliland was battling a strong wind that was knocking the cars around the track.  The driver reported to crew chief Pat Tryson that his car was too "free" throughout the first 100 laps of the race, and the No. 38 crew worked on each pit stop to tighten it up.  About one third of the way through the race, Gilliland was in 33rd position and still battling the tough weather and changing track conditions.

With two early debris cautions behind them, the team was then forced to try to gain ground under green-flag conditions for the rest of the race. This proved challenging, as Gilliland reported his ModSpace Ford was strong at the start of a run but became harder to drive as the run wore on. He was able to gain two positions under green in the latter part of the evening to cross the line in 31st.

Comments from ModSpace team driver David Gilliland after the Texas race:

"Those were some challenging race conditions.  The winds just really made it tough.  Our No. 38 ModSpace Ford got better over the course of the weekend and better over the course of the race itself.  But it's tough to make up positions under those long green-flag runs." 

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