David Ragan turned in a solid 18th place finish in his first outing in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for the injured Kyle Busch. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/NASCAR via Getty Images
David Ragan went into Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, GA looking for a solid finish to kick off his tenure in the No. 18 M&M’s Toyota.
Mission accomplished.
The Unadilla, GA driver, who is filling in for the injured Kyle Busch, finished 18th in his first outing in the Joe Gibbs Racing Camry. Ragan had moved up from his 17th starting spot, and at one point was racing in the top 10 before a series of long green flag runs cost the team the opportunity to adjust to changing track conditions.
“I was really thrilled,” Ragan said. “The first 100 laps of the race, our M&M’s Crispy Camry was fast, had speed and track position means a lot at any race and as we fell back a little bit and I think it was a snowball effect. We just really probably were a little behind on our adjustment and that’s probably just my inexperience with these guys and being a little timid on making a few adjustments.”
The early morning rains that hit the Atlanta area didn’t work in Ragan’s favor. Starting with a clean race track, as rubber built up on the track’s surface, the car became loose, meaning the No. 18 team had to chase the set up on the car.
“We had some good speed, but we had lost too much ground,” Ragan said. “All in all, a good weekend. We learned a lot, brought the car back in one piece, but we can run better than that. I felt like we had a good, solid top 10 car and things just didn’t shake out.”
Ragan said he’s very encouraged moving forward.
“We’ve got some really good guys and so our first weekend – kind of knock the rust off all of us and I’ll be able to get back and debrief a little bit and hopefully have a little calmer week. These guys didn’t know who has going to drive the cars until Tuesday night. I think this week will go a lot smoother and looking forward to Las Vegas.”
Jeff Gordon’s demolished car is towed back to the garage area after he was caught up in a lap 258 crash. Photo by David Weikel
Not The Day Gordon Was Hoping For
Jeff Gordon looked hoped he could go out in his final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with a bang. But the bang he went out with was not what he intended.
On lap 258 of the 325 lap race, Gordon was caught up in a multi-car shunt that was triggered when Denny Hamlin’s car got loose coming off turn two, making contact with Ryan Newman and Jamie McMurray. McMurray’s car then made contact with Gordon, sending the No. 24 hard into the inside backstretch wall.
To make matters worse, Gordon hit right where the SAFER barrier ends on the backstretch, making contact with the concrete retaining wall and destroying his Chevrolet in the process.
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“I am very frustrated with the fact there are no SAFER barriers down there,” Gordon said. “I knew it was a hard hit. I was like ‘man I can’t believe…’ I didn’t expect it to be that hard. Then I got out and I looked and I saw ‘oh wow big surprise I found the one wall here on the back straightaway that doesn’t have a SAFER barrier.
“I don’t think we can say any more after Kyle’s (Busch) incident at Daytona. Everybody knows we have to do something and it should have been done a long time ago. All we can do now is hope they do it as fast as they possibly can.”
The crash relegated Gordon to a 41st place finish in his final appearance at the track that he made his first Sprint Cup series start at back in 1992. That on the heels of his 33rd place finish in the season opening Daytona 500 means the four time series champion is mired back in 36th in points early in the going.
Brett Moffitt brought the No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota home in eighth place in his one-time outing as a substitute for Brian Vickers. Photo by Kevin C. Cox/NASCAR via Getty Images
Moffitt Makes The Most Of Substitute Stint
With all of the attention placed on David Ragan’s first outing in the Joe Gibbs Toyota, lost in the shuffle was the fact that Brett Moffitt was making a one time substitute start in the No. 55 Aaron’s Toyota for Michael Waltrip Racing at Atlanta on Sunday.
Team owner Michael Waltrip piloted the car at Daytona in place of Brian Vickers, who is still on the mend from heart surgery. With Vickers ready to return next week at Las Vegas, Moffitt was tabbed to take the controls of the No. 55 at Atlanta.
Moffitt did more than just fill the seat, however. In just his eighth career start, the 21-year old finished eighth at Atlanta, even leading a lap at one point.
For the young Iowan who has competed on the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East and had only seven Sprint Cup starts on his resume going into Sunday’s race, it could be the most important finish of his career.
“This is truly amazing,” Moffitt said afterwards. “We showed good speed all weekend long. We just couldn’t bust off a quick lap on fresh tires and we kept adjusting on the car during the race. It wasn’t where we needed it to start and I kept learning how to be more aggressive on the restarts and use other people’s air to benefit me.
“I can’t thank Michael Waltrip Racing, Toyota and Aaron’s enough for this opportunity. Definitely learned a lot out there. Wish I could be in the car more often.”
It’s not clear when Moffitt will be back in a car on the Sprint Cup tour. He currently serves as a test driver for MWR, but after his showing on Sunday, his phone could start ringing with opportunities.
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