David Ragan and Family Turn Road Rally Scavengers for Good Cause
While David and Jacquelyn Ragan are busy with the racing season, as well as preparing for the birth of their first child, they are both doing something a bit unique, turning into road rally scavengers for a good cause.
The couple are serving as honorary co-chairs for a unique event, the Race for Research, a three-day road rally and scavenger hunt, that will raise money for the LuMind Foundation and for Down syndrome cognition research.
This is the first-ever event of its type and will be held from June 16th to June 18th in Charlotte, starting at the Richard Petty Museum and ending at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. A total of 25 two-person teams will drive their own cars, negotiating various stops and finding certain pictures and items in the scavenger hunt along the way.
“A lot of these charitable organizations and foundations, they have golf tournaments and different dinners and galas, but I thought when we were asked to be part of their fundraising campaign that we should do something a little different and tie it into the NASCAR community,” Ragan said. “So, the Race for Research concept was dreamed of. It’s a great concept bringing in some of the great NASCAR venues and tying it in with the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”
“It’s not really a race against time but it’s more a race to get certain pictures and do a little scavenger hunt along the way,” Ragan continued. “They’ll have a little map and a ‘to do’ list and they’ll have to snap a picture with someone or get a piece of memorabilia item from a stop.”
“That will make it fun.”
For Ragan, this issue is personal as his brother Adam was born with an extra chromosome: Trisomy 21 or Down’s syndrome.
“I’ve got a brother that is a couple years older than I am that has Down’s syndrome,” Ragan said. “A lot of people in the NASCAR community know who Adam is and they see him around. He’s a very friendly guy.”
“He has a great life and lives with a disability so it’s great that the Down’s Syndrome Research and Treatment Foundation, who just recently changed their name to LuMind Foundation, is trying to raise awareness and raise money for cognitive research to understand more about Down’s syndrome and to understand more about living with and growing older with Down’s syndrome, as well as the complications you may have,” Ragan continued. “It’s a great group of folks. They really spend a lot of time and effort on making kids’ and adults’ lives with Down’s syndrome have a better quality of life.”
“Adam’s a great example of doing well,” Ragan continued. “And obviously my NASCAR connection, having a lot of fans and a lot of friends and others in the industry that may have a child with Down’s syndrome works.”
“So, it feels good.”
Ragan also feels good and is very excited about the variety of stops along the way in the Race for Research. And whether the participants are NASCAR fans or not, he also sees the event as a way for all to get up close and personal with the sport that he so dearly loves.
“They are going to have a lot of great stops along the way,” Ragan said. “They start off at the Richard Petty Museum at Level Cross. Then they are going to the Childress Winery, Bowman Gray Stadium, Martinsville Speedway, Woods Brothers Racing, Bristol Motor Speedway, Hickory Motor Speedway, Front Row Motorsports, Dale Earnhardt Museum, Earnhardt Tribute Plaza, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Roush Fenway Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports, the NASCAR R&D Center, Hendrick Motorsports and then end it at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.”
“I think they’ll be able to take a little bit from every stop,” Ragan continued. “They’ll have a lot of fun and get to meet some great personalities. They’ll get to shake Richard Petty’s hand and meet a couple of the NASCAR Hall of Famers.”
“I think that if there are any NASCAR fans that are part of the road rally, that they will get a kick out of it. But if they’re not a NASCAR fan, they’re going to get a pretty good behind the scenes look at our sport and we may convert a few fans over.”
Ragan acknowledged that the event has a limited number of participants, especially since it is the first year. And he is grateful that they have almost reached their goal of teams participating in this unique fundraising event.
“We’re about to that point of being at our limit of participants,” Ragan said. “We’re going to have 20 to 25 teams. This being the first year, we wanted to keep a controlled number just so we can make sure everyone has a good time and it runs as planned.”
Ragan has formed his own team, Team Ragan, for the event and has been busy raising money himself. In fairness to all of the competitors, however, he has decided to race with his own vehicle and not take the Front Row Motorsports No. 34 Taco Bell Ford on the hunt.
“Our team, Team Ragan, we’ve set a goal to raise $10,000,” Ragan said. “We’re about there and it’s been good so far. We’ll have some stickers and decals on our car to showcase all the sponsors and donors.”
“I’m using my own car,” Ragan continued. “It would be a little unfair to use my race car. I’ll probably just drive our Ford F150.”
Ragan, his wife and team will be joined by the rest of the road rally scavengers at the wrap up event at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, the final stop of the Race for Research event. This will also be the opportunity for the Ragans to remind all about the reason for the Race.
“At the NASCAR Hall of Fame, we’re going to have a little lunch and we’ll award the winner and recognize the people that did well,” Ragan said. “This being the first time, they wanted someone that was involved in the NASCAR community to take the helm and really try to be proactive in spreading the word out about the event and kids, guys and gals with Down’s syndrome.”
“I think it’s worked out well. And obviously having an older brother that has Down’s syndrome gets a lot of attention. It’s a neat feeling to be a part of something that can be fun like this.”
And while Ragan looks for victory at the track every weekend, for him taking the checkered flag in this event has even greater meaning.
“It’s good to give back to folks that are working hard to make the quality of life of kids and adults with Down’s syndrome better,” Ragan said. “Our parents worked hard to get Adam good schooling and gave him a lot of good opportunities to learn about some of the skills that we take for granted sometimes.”
“But there are some families out there that don’t have that luxury,” Ragan continued. “Maybe they are single parents or they are busy working or their financially not stable enough to do that.”
“So, if we can give back and if the LuMind Foundation can work hard to come up with some medication or different drugs to help the effects of Down’s syndrome for kids as they get older to make their quality of life better, that would be a big victory.”
For more information on the Race for Research or to donate to a team, visit www.dsrtfRaceforResearch.org.
Could Jimmie Johnson make it three-in-a-row at Pocono? Absolutely
There once was a time a of couple weeks ago when everybody kept questioning when Jimmie Johnson would win this year to secure his spot in the chase. That question is now a forgotten thought as the driver of the No. 48 Kobalt Chevrolet won the Coca Cola 600, before winning last weekend at Dover International Speedway for two straight.
So could Johnson make it three-in-a-row? Absolutely positively.
For starters, Johnson won the race last June at Pocono Raceway when teammate Kasey Kahne ran into mechanical issues. Johnson led 128 laps to score the victory after starting from the pole spot. In 24 starts at the tricky triangle, Johnson has three wins, 10 top-fives and 16 top-10s.
Pocono is not a race that s part of the final 10, so some wonder why the 48 has been successful there as they normally focus efforts towards Chase tracks. The reason – it’s crew chief Chad Knaus’ favorite track.
“I’ve said it time and time again, Pocono is one of my favorite racetracks,” he commented. “I think it’s a lot of fun. It’s very difficult. So from a driver standpoint, this is definitely a tough racetrack. From a Pocono standpoint, it’s definitely difficult crew chief’s tough track, so I’m looking forward to getting there.”
While most tracks have four corners, Pocono is a triangle – containing three different corners. As a result, it makes it difficult for the crew chief to set the car up so that way it is solid all the way around.
Even if this weekend wasn’t Pocono, the chances of Johnson being successful are high. It’s also known that when the 48 team gets on a roll, that roll lasts for a while as they are able to knock off a series of top-five finishes in a row. Beyond that, Johnson has won four races in a row previously.
Perhaps the bigger question to ask would be – why has it taken this long for Johnson to get on a roll?
Knaus admitted that the No. 48 team got behind early this year compared to other teams as they did not do as much homework as say Penske Racing or Stewart-Haas Racing due to focusing on their sixth championship. Though being behind brings forth only one thing – motivation.
“We’ve worked really hard,” he commented. “The one thing I’m really impressed with at Hendrick Motorsports is when we do get behind, which we feel like we’ve been just a pinch behind this year, everybody digs down really, really deep and they work hard, from the pit crew, from the guys that hang the bodies to the guys that build the chassis to the guys that build the engines and they try to find an advantage.
“When we do finally start to hit our stride, all those things that everybody worked on starts to culminate, and we can get out there and really start to make things happen. I think we’re seeing a lot of the fruit of a lot of people’s labor right now at the racetrack, and definitely looking forward to getting to Pocono.”
Road America’s Top-3 Finishers Speak Out Against Racing in Downpour
No celebrations followed Sunday’s Pro Superbike Race Two at Road America. Instead, the podium finishers used the unconventional indoor trophy presentation and press conference to express their disapproval of the AMA’s decision to keep bikes racing during a downpour.
The press room, crowded with race teams, journalists and some apparently apprehensive AMA officials, also served as the substitute winner’s circle. Unlike the usual outdoor celebratory vibe, the room held a silent tension that wasn’t broken until race winner Josh Hayes opened his mouth to criticize the race officials’ disregard for rider safety.
“When I came up the front straightaway and saw the white flag, it kind of set on me,” Hayes said. “‘My god, they’re really going to make me ride this thing around another lap. Are they not watching this? Are they not seeing what’s happening right now?’”
“It was pretty sketchy,” third place Yoshimura Suzuki rider Roger Hayden said. “I don’t know who was making the calls there at the end, but they definitely didn’t have rider safety first.”
“They want to fly us all over the country and look at tracks for track safety,” Hayden continued, “but they want to make us run in a downpour on slicks.”
Hayden also questioned why AMA declared a wet race but did not allow the mandatory practice laps to riders. He received no answer.
Hayes won the race by a considerable margin, but that didn’t make the final laps any easier for him. In first gear, he navigated the wet uphills, downhills and corners while frequently looking back to check that his gap to second place was still safe. While Hayes successfully steered around the course, several other riders didn’t fare so well, losing their bikes in the wet patches.
Hayes commented that at one point as he approached his lapped teammate Cameron Beaubier, he watched the rookie hit a wet patch and crash. Had Beaubier not been there, Hayes said, it would have been himself hitting that same patch and going down.
SIC/Motul/Fly Racing’s owner/rider and second place finisher David Anthony spoke less on the subject than Hayes and Hayden, but his opinion was clear. “Bad decision by AMA,” Anthony said. “They really need to step up their game.”
When trophies were presented to the top finishers, they each briefly smiled for mandatory photos, and then retook their seats in a matter of seconds.
Despite the onslaught of questions and comments, the riders received few clear answers to their questions regarding the rulebook.
The controversial call came in the same weekend that two riders, Bob Price and Karl Harris, died in crashes in normal racing conditions in the 2014 TT Isle of Man races.
