Ragan wins in wild finish at Daytona

David Ragan has won his first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup race and it has come at the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona.

It was redemption for Ragan at Daytona after he was given a late race penalty at February’s 500 for re-start violation.

Despite two heavy wrecks on the final lap, including one that involved Australia’s Marcos Ambrose, Ragan was out front with his Roush Fenway Racing Ford team-mate Matt Kenseth stuck underneath his rear bumper pushing him all the way through to the win.

“This is fun and what a great place to do it – Daytona,” said Ragan.

“I have to thank Matt for sticking with me for the entire race. I have to also thank my team and especially my spotter who did a great job all night. The win is great and the points are really important for us.”

In fact the win is all-important for Ragan. The top-10 drivers after 26 of the 36 races qualify for the Chase for the cup. Then two wild-card spots are held for the drivers that score the most race wins outside the top-10 in points. After the Coke Zero 400 Ragan is 17th in points, but the only driver to have a race win outside the top-10.

The race featured the two-car draft where team-mates in general worked together to drive towards the front. The ability to work together was so important that cars would drop back in the field to find their team-mate and then hook-up to drive to the front.

The other feature was a 100-lap ‘green flag’ run between lap #54 and #158. It was during the final ‘green flag’ pit stop that Ambrose’s chances all but ended when his team-mate A.J, Allmendinger ran out of fuel as he came to the pits. The pair lost a lap and even though a ‘lucky dog’ caution flag came late, it was Allmendinger who was in front of Ambrose at the time and he got his lap back.

Luck then appeared to smile on the Tasmanian as the first attempt of a ‘Green-white-chequered’ finish also saw another caution with a multi-car wreck. So he was able to drive his #9 Ford back around to the rear of the field, but on the lead lap.

On the final re-start Ambrose was running 16th when he was turned by Landon Cassill and appeared destined for a finish in the high 20s. However, another massive pile-up a few hundred metres up the road left a smouldering mess just prior to the finish line and Ambrose limped passed to score a 17th place finish.

Two drivers of note to have tough nights were Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, who was the first car out of the race after a crash, and Carl Edwards who lost points lead to Kevin Harvick after another wreck placed him 37th.

RACE RESULTS: Coke Zero 400 – Daytona

FIN	DRIVER	MAKE	SPONSOR	LAPS	STATUS
1	David Ragan	Ford	UPS “We Love Logistics”	170	Running
2	Matt Kenseth	Ford	Affliction Clothing: Live Fast	170	Running
3	Joey Logano	Toyota	The Home Depot	170	Running
4	Kasey Kahne	Toyota	Red Bull	170	Running
5	Kyle Busch	Toyota	Interstate All Battery Center	170	Running
6	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet	Pepsi Max	170	Running
7	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet	Budweiser Folds of Honor	170	Running
8	Paul Menard	Chevrolet	Quaker State / Menards	170	Running
9	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet	Target	170	Running
10	A.J. Allmendinger	Ford	U.S. Air Force	170	Running
11	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet	Burger King	170	Running
12	Brian Vickers	Toyota	Red Bull	170	Running
13	Denny Hamlin	Toyota	FedEx Express	170	Running
14	Kurt Busch	Dodge	Shell / Pennzoil	170	Running
15	Brad Keselowski	Dodge	Miller Lite	170	Running
16	David Gilliland	Ford	Front Row Motorsports	170	Running
17	Marcos Ambrose	Ford	Dewalt	170	Running
18	Greg Biffle	Ford	3M	170	Running
19	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet	National Guard Heritage / Amp Energy	170	Running
20	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet	Lowe’s Summer Salute	170	Running
21	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet	Caterpillar	170	Running
22	Jamie McMurray	Chevrolet	McDonald’s	170	Running
23	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet	Bass Pro Shops / NRA	170	Running
24	Regan Smith	Chevrolet	Furniture Row Companies	170	Running
25	David Reutimann	Toyota	Aaron’s Dream Machine	170	Running
26	Landon Cassill	Chevrolet	Thank A Teacher Today / Security Benefit	169	Running
27	Andy Lally	Ford	Interstate Moving Services	169	Running
28	Terry Labonte	Ford	C&J Energy	169	Running
29	Travis Kvapil	Ford	Long John Silver’s	169	Running
30	Joe Nemechek	Toyota	AMFMEnergy.com – Pellet & Wood Stoves / Extenze	169	Running
31	Bobby Labonte	Toyota	Kingsford	168	Running
32	Casey Mears	Toyota	GEICO	164	Running
33	Mark Martin	Chevrolet	Carquest / GoDaddy.com	164	Running
34	Robby Gordon	Dodge	Speed Energy	163	Running
35	Martin Truex Jr.	Toyota	NAPA Auto Parts	162	Accident
36	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet	Wheaties Fuel	162	Accident
37	Carl Edwards	Ford	Subway	144	Running
38	Geoff Bodine	Chevrolet	Luke & Associates	143	Wheel bearing
39	Dave Blaney	Chevrolet	Golden Corral	47	Accident
40	Mike Skinner	Toyota	Big Red	5	Wheel bearing
41	Trevor Bayne	Ford	Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center	4	Accident
42	Michael McDowell	Toyota	HP Racing LLC	2	Electrical
43	Kevin Conway	Toyota	Extenze	1	Rear Gear

Driver Standings: Race 17 of 36

RANK	+/-	DRIVER	POINTS	BEHIND
1	+1	Kevin Harvick	586	Leader
2	-1	Carl Edwards	581	-5
3	+2	Kyle Busch	576	-10
4	—	Kurt Busch	570	-16
5	+1	Matt Kenseth	564	-22
6	-3	Jimmie Johnson	564	-22
7	—	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	534	-52
8	+1	Jeff Gordon	519	-67
9	-1	Clint Bowyer	505	-81
10	—	Ryan Newman	498	-88
11	—	Denny Hamlin	495	-91
12	—	Tony Stewart	494	-92
13	—	Greg Biffle	473	-113
14	+2	Juan Montoya	468	-118
15	—	A.J. Allmendinger	467	-119
16	+1	Paul Menard	466	-120
17	+3	David Ragan	457	-129
18	-4	Mark Martin	455	-131
19	—	Kasey Kahne	452	-134
20	+3	Joey Logano	439	-147
21	—	Marcos Ambrose	435	-151