Ragan Expects Another Test of Tires at Texas

STATESVILLE, APRIL 1, 2014 – David Ragan, driver of the No. 34 Taco Bell Ford, comments on racing at Texas Motor Speedway:”The only other mile-and-a-half that we’ve run to date is Las Vegas, and it doesn’t wear the tires as much as Texas does. Lap times are very similar, very fast, but tire wear is a lot different at Texas. You wear it a lot more. So that is something that we will focus on and make sure our engineers have a good game plan for it.

“Texas is a very, very fast racetrack. And with age, it’s gotten a little better. You can still bust off a 196- or 197-mile-an-hour lap, but then you slow down to the low 190s when you’re at a race pace and you’re moving around. It’ll be a good test to see what we’ve learned and how we’ve made our cars better from the first few races of the year. Pit crews are very important, too. You’ve got to have good stops because you’re going to take four tires all day long.”
JUST THE FACTS: Ragan has 14 Sprint Cup career starts at Texas Motor Speedway … He has one pole (2011) and two top-10 finishes at Texas … His best finish at the 1.5-mile oval is seventh (2011).

Did you know? @DavidRagan is a former pole winner at @TXMotorSpeedway (2011). #NASCAR

About Front Row Motorsports

Front Row Motorsports is a race-winning organization competing in the NASCAR’s premier Sprint Cup Series, fielding the No. 34 of David Ragan, the No. 38 of David Gilliland and the No. 35 Ford.  The team is owned by Bob Jenkins and is headquartered just outside of Charlotte, N.C.  FRM was named to INC Magazine’s “INC 5000” list in 2012, recognizing the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. The team’s partnership base is representative of more than $200 billion of the U.S. economy and includes organizations such as Ford Motor Company, CSX Transportation, Love’s Travel Stops, Farm Rich, Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s. Visit teamfrm.com.