Ragan wins Daytona crash fest

Date published : 03 Jul 2011 - 06:07:57

David Ragan claimed his maiden NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in a close and wild finish on Saturday night at Daytona.The Roush Fenway racer was hooked up all race long with his team-mate Matt Kenseth, who pushed him for most of the race in their two-car tandem as the technique prevailed once again on the new smoother surface of the 2.5-mile oval.Ragan led the field on the second attempt at a green-white-chequered finish after contact between Joey Logano and Mark Martin ignited a multi-car accident involving at least 11 cars, causing the fifth and final caution of the night.As the green flag waved for the last time Ragan and Kenseth were quick to gain momentum, with Logano pushed by Red Bull's Kasey Kahne looking to be their main challengers. However the Ford duo were unstoppable in the end as others lost momentum and chaos unfolded behind them in two separate incidents that involved at least 15 cars between them after the white flag was displayed.Ragan's first victory gave Ford's Roush-Yates engines a Daytona sweep this year, following Trevor Bayne's victory in the season-opener, where Ragan's team-mate Carl Edwards finished second. It was also revenge for Ragan, who back in February got penalised for jumping the penultimate restart while trying to quickly pair up with Bayne at the front of the field in the decisive stages of the race."There's no better place to win your first race than Daytona, it couldn't be any better," said Ragan after his maiden Cup victory was achieved at the 163rd attempt."We've been so close so many times and finally we're here. Daytona means a lot. It is a special race and we're very fortunate that first win here."Matt pushed me to the finish line. The Roush Yates horsepower was great. There's not a better night to win. This is awesome."Daytona 500 winner Bayne and former points leader Edwards were among the first to be out of contention for victory, Bayne getting turned around while trying to draft with Penske's Brad Keselowski as soon as lap four and eventually retiring with massive front-end damage, while Edwards spun and crashed backwards against the inside wall on lap 23 as a result of contact with his team-mate Greg Biffle, who was committed to pushing him all race long as Kenseth was with Ragan.Edwards' car was badly damaged in the incident and fumes from the exhaust caused extreme heat inside the #99 Ford. He finished the race several laps down as his team tried to repair damage in the pits and isolate the driver from the heat and the gases as much as they could. Edwards' 37th place finish has lost him the lead in the points, with Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick moving up to first in the standings after finishing seventh.Logano - who survived the carnage that unfolded from his contact with polesitter Martin - crossed the line third pushed by Kahne, while Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch was fifth ahead of Jeff Gordon, the Hendrick driver also surviving the spin that caused the penultimate caution three laps from the scheduled end when Kahne moved up on the banking ahead of him and made contact.Juan Pablo Montoya finished ninth despite crossing the line against the wall after his Earnhardt Ganassi team-mate Jamie McMurray lost control and crashed into him following contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr. The Colombian was one of 25 different race leaders and worked all night long with McMurray before the final sprint on the last lap.Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger rounded out the top 10, recovering from being a lap down after a delayed final stop. He got the free pass on the penultimate caution and made the most of the chaos on the final lap of the race to pick up positions at the flag.Results - 170 laps:Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford 2h39m53.000s 2. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford + 0.059s 3. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota + 0.150s 4. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota + 0.208s 5. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota + 1.090s 6. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 1.276s 7. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 1.533s 8. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 1.634s 9. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 3.611s10. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford + 5.096s11. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 6.317s12. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota + 6.465s13. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 6.466s14. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge + 9.419s15. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge + 9.420s16. David Gilliland Front Row Ford + 11.347s17. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 12.467s18. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 13.843s19. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 13.844s20. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet + 17.109s21. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet + 28.508s22. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 29.140s23. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 34.364s24. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet + 39.819s25. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota + 41.937s26. Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet + 1 lap27. Andy Lally TRG Chevrolet + 1 lap28. Terry Labonte FAS Lane Ford + 1 lap29. Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford + 1 lap30. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota + 1 lap31. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota + 2 laps32. Casey Mears Germain Toyota + 6 laps33. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet + 6 laps34. Robby Gordon Gordon Dodge + 7 lapsRetirements: Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 162 laps Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet 162 laps Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 144 laps* Geoff Bodine Baldwin Chevrolet 143 laps Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 47 laps Mike Skinner Germain Toyota 5 laps Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 4 laps Michael McDowell HP Toyota 2 laps Kevin Conway NEMCO Toyota 1 lap* Running again at chequered flag