David Ragan

David Ragan, No. 34 Barrett-Jackson Ford

Starting Position: 27

Finishing Position: 30

David Ragan finished 30th Sunday in a race where his car seemed to have a split personality, reacting very differently in different situations.

Ragan started 27th in the No. 34 Barrett-Jackson Ford on a cold and blustery day at Kansas Speedway.  Like many other races in this season's Sprint Cup Series, the day would prove to be full of long, green-flag runs and few cautions, providing few opportunities to advance through the field.  But Ragan and crew chief Jay Guy felt like they had their Ford Fusion at a good starting point for the day and were ready to adapt as needed to stay competitive throughout the 267-lap event.

Unfortunately, the task of moving up the leaderboard became even more challenging after the No. 34 ran out of fuel just as Ragan was about to make his first pit stop of the day.  He eventually coasted into his pit stall on Lap 48 for a fresh tank of fuel, tires and a chassis adjustment, but fell two laps down doing so under green-flag conditions.

In a race that only saw three yellow flags and very little attrition, the team concentrated on making the car handle as well as possible to advance when and where they could.  Ragan was now back in the 30s on the leaderboard and looking for his car to move better through the turns and gain some grip on the exits.  But the team found themselves making changes - and then undoing them - when the car reacted differently when Ragan was in traffic versus when he was in clean air.

Once as far back as 37th, Ragan and the Barrett-Jackson team climbed back to finish just inside the top-30 mark.

Comments from Barrett-Jackson team driver David Ragan after the Kansas race:    

David Gilliland

David Gilliland, No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford

Starting Position: 22

Finishing Position: 27

David Gilliland finished 27th in Sunday's STP 400 in a Front Row Motorsports Ford that had found good speed all weekend.  Like his teammate, Gilliland's biggest challenge was adjusting to changing track conditions and how his car reacted over a long, green-flag run.

The No. 38 team started 22nd after its best qualifying effort of the year.  In the early part of the race, Gilliland reported his Ford Fusion was tight-handling through the turns and that his splitter was hitting the track.  The team went to work on the issues on each of its first three pit stops, but by Lap 104 they had slipped back to 31st.  But with each adjustment, the No. 38 Fusion's handling gradually improved, and quick work by the MHP Pit Crew helped pick up spots on pit road.  By a Lap-140 restart, Gilliland was up to 26th.

As the day wore on and the sun came out, the track conditions seemed to change. And by Lap 200, Gilliland was reporting his car was "tighter than it's been all day."  In their final pit stop of the day, the team made a green-flag stop on Lap 233 for fuel, tires and an air-pressure change, and returned to the track in 28th.  He picked up one more spot in the final 34 laps to finish 27th.

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

"Our car was actually the best car we've had at a track like this this year.  Pat (crew chief Pat Tryson) and the guys did a really great job on it all weekend.  We made some improvements during the race, and the pit crew was just knocking out great stops all day.  We were just a little too tight.  I couldn't run the same low line that a lot of the other guys were running.  But the weekend as a whole was a good step forward for this team." 

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