DAVID RAGAN, No. 18 Pedigree Toyota Camry, Joe Gibbs Racing
How does it feel to return to a track where you have won?
“Any track you can come back to that you’ve won at before is a great feeling. You always relive some of those memories driving through the tunnel and the security guards give you a little extra courtesy if you don’t have a parking pass or something – they’ll let you in a little easier – but, yeah, it’s great coming back to Talladega. This is a race track that’s not too far from my hometown. I remember coming here as a kid watching a few races and it’s obviously a lot of fun to come back here with the No. 18 team. Having Pedigree on the car this weekend is cool – anytime you have a cool paint scheme is a lot of fun. Yeah, it’s been a good run for me for these guys and I think the last race in the 18 car it’s important to try to end on a good note. The last couple weeks have been kind of rough, so it’s going to be important to try to run well and get a good finish and just have some fun. This is a very, very fun weekend watching the ARCA race this evening and the XFINITY race tomorrow and looking forward to a fun race on Sunday.”
How do you weigh the risk versus reward in the final laps at Talladega?
“I think the risk versus reward is a lot more today because it’s so important to get that win and obviously it’s important every week to run as well as you can and get as many points as you can, but if you can get a win it just solidifies your Chase spot and it just makes the rest of your season so much more comfortable and laid back and less pressure. Obviously, on the last lap, you just have to take it – every situation’s a little bit different depending on where you’re at and what probability you have to actually win. You certainly don’t want to do anything foolish and jeopardize tearing up your race car and you don’t want to finish 20th when you could finish third of fourth, but you definitely are very aggressive and all you can think about is winning those final five or six laps if you’re in contention. It’s my job to try to just be in contention there at the end – try to do what we have to do the first 450 miles to be in contention those final few laps.”
Do you wish you were able to continue driving the No. 18 Camry during Kyle Busch’s absence?
“There’s no hard feelings at all and, to answer your question, not really. I think timing is everything and it’s so much more important for me to have an opportunity going forward with a full-time car, with a very competitive organization like Michael Waltrip Racing than it would be for me to run a few more races before Kyle’s (Busch) return. Ultimately, I always knew that this was just going to be a couple of months – a three-month deal – until Kyle gets back and for me the big picture is the entire season and finishing the season and having a real chance at being competitive going forward and having a shot to make the Chase. Ultimately, I hope Kyle is going well and ready to return soon. I know Erik (Jones) will do a great job. He’s a young kid with a great career in front of him and I was there 10 years ago and he deserves a chance and I’m very fortunate that timing was in my favor to have another seat to go and fill and it all worked out.”
What are your expectations for the No. 55 Camry and have you talked to Brian Vickers?
“I have not talked to Brian (Vickers). I do plan on reaching out to him next week just to chat with him a little bit. I did spend a little bit of time and talk to Brian I think at Las Vegas just making small talk when he was back in the car, but I have not talked to him this time around. Our expectations are every high. I think that Clint (Bowyer) has been a little hit and miss the first part of the season just trying to understand the new rules package and those cars to get up to speed, but at the end of the day Michael Waltrip Racing has all the tools and resources that Joe Gibbs Racing has or that Hendrick (Motorsports) or Stewart-Haas (Racing) has and there’s no reason for us not to be able to win a race and have a shot at making the Chase. Certainly, that is our goal going forward. We’ve got a lot of really good race tracks for me, a lot of good race tracks for the MWR bunch – they’re working extremely hard trying to get those Toyotas as competitive and as fast as they can. I’ve just been around the shop for just a few hours and I’m very impressed with what they have going on, but our expectations are really high. We want to make the Chase and we want to win some races and I think that that can be done.”
What role did your mom play in your racing career?
“My mom probably hasn’t gotten thanked enough over the years. It’s always about my dad or my uncle or my family members that have really paved the way from a mechanical standpoint or financial standpoint. Certainly, like in my household today, the mom is what takes care of things while the rest of the family is gone racing. My mom, even though she couldn’t tell you the difference between a lugnut and a carburetor, she loves racing and she’s a big racing fan and a big supporter of David Ragan. It’s always encouraging to have family members love you unconditionally, but also love what you’re doing. My mom hasn’t missed a race that my dad or family will attend and just keeping me in line those days that I didn’t want to go to school or I didn’t want to do other things, she made me stick to what I needed to do as a young kid and continue to go racing at the same time. My mom is a great mom and a good wife to my dad and she’s a good lady.”
Does it feel odd driving for three teams in one season?
“I only drove for two teams my first eight years in the Sprint Cup Series and three in a period of about three months, so it’s been a little weird for sure. Just trying to understand the systems that each of these teams have in place and obviously in January and February we were working so hard just trying to find some financial backing and partners to make the No. 34 team a full-time car this year. Obviously, Daytona is a very important race and so we got that behind us and then the Joe Gibbs Racing deal happened and just trying to meet their people and understand how they do things and their way of running through a race weekend and learning the guys’ names on the team. I think just this weekend I’ve finally gotten everyone’s name down and so that process has got to start all over again, but I tell you the Gibbs organization has been great as far as including me as a part of their team. I’ve had some experience obviously working with Carl (Edwards) and Matt (Kenseth) in the years past, but Denny’s (Hamlin) been a very good teammate and has been really helpful at a lot of tracks that he’s really good at, but going forward the Michael Waltrip Racing guys appear to be the same way as the Joe Gibbs Racing teams. Obviously, I don’t have a lot of experience with Clint and haven’t spent a lot of time with him, but he’s one of the best drivers in our sport today. They’ve got some really, really smart people and I think that process will be pretty good. As far as sharing information, we’ve both had a mutual respect over at Joe Gibbs Racing. Obviously, there are some things that I’ve learned over time that have helped me become a better race car driver and has helped me have a smarter driver IQ, but they haven’t just given me a jump drive with all the information that they’ve got for their Toyotas. MWR and Joe Gibbs Racing, they’re both very involved with TRD (Toyota Racing Development) on what kind of development that they have and they also work on some small projects together, but the last couple of weeks there’s always a time where I knew that I wasn’t going to be in the 18 car and they have some important stuff to protect, but I’m also respectful and honor what they have working and I don’t try to dig. Mutually, it’s been a very good relationship and I can’t describe how good they’ve been to me and how good the M&M’s folks have been to work with. The Interstate Batteries folks have been very welcoming and I feel like I’ve made some really good friends with my few months there.”
What does it mean to you having top-tier teams call you for your services?
“For me, you never lose that desire to be a champion or a very competitive person in this sport. It’s so easy as things change, as sponsors come and go, as young kids come in or as you get older, you can lose that competitive drive a little bit. Certainly, there’s teams in this garage that have the resources and the financial backing to be competitive and win and then there’s teams that don’t. What I’ve seen is NASCAR does an incredible job keeping the playing field pretty dang level that would allow a team like Front Row Motorsports or Tommy Baldwin Racing, BK Racing, Germain Racing to still be competitive at the top level. For me to be able to see the resources and how business is conducted with Joe Gibbs Racing and now Michael Waltrip Racing, it’s really a miracle that some of those smaller teams can be a 15th or a top-10 car on occasion. Kudos to NASCAR for doing an excellent job with the rules and governing the sport in the way they do that allow a young team to try to get its feet wet and be competitive like Front Row Motorsports has. As far as me personally though, I feel like my health has been very good over the years. I’m 29 years old, so I’ve just never lost the drive to continue to get better and work as hard as I can and whatever opportunities in front of me, just try to make the best of it.”
Is there sadness to leave a team that has helped with your career?
“Anytime you leave an organization that you’ve made good friends with, there is. When I left Roush (Fenway Racing), I really hated the set of circumstances that I was departing on. I made a lot of good friends and continued to stay in touch and be friendly with Jack (Roush) and Steve Newmark (RFR) and those guys. I think the same thing goes on here. Life does go on and at the end of the day, Front Row Motorsports was not in a position to put a competitive car on the race track for me each and every week like MWR will be and that’s what’s best for me in order to go out and try to win races and make the Chase for this season, but Bob Jenkins (Front Row Motorsports) and Jerry Freeze (Front Row Motorsports), David Gilliland, Cole Whitt – they’re really, really good friends to me and I’m grateful for that time that I’ve had over there. Mutually, I feel like we both made that team a lot better and we were able to get a win for them and some top-10s and top-fives along the way. We’ve had a lot of fun, but life does go on and we can still be friends, but at the same time I still have some unfinished business to go take care of and that’s the way it is.”
