David Ragan Qualifies 18th in Pocono

Long Pond, Pa. (July 30, 2010) – David Ragan made his way around the 2.5-mile Pocono Raceway in 53.256 seconds to earn a 18th-place starting position for Sunday afternoons Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500, while Tony Stewart claimed the pole position.  Heading back to Pocono for the second time this season gave the team a leg-up on getting the UPS Ford handling well on the track for Ragan.  Ragan’s qualifying effort was a whole second faster then his best lap in practice, but he still needed more rear grip.  There are two more practice sessions scheduled for Saturday in which the team can get the UPS Ford race ready.  Fingers are crossed hoping the rain stays away on Sunday.           

“We picked up a lot from practice,” said Ragan.  “We really changed a lot on our UPS Ford during practice and it was a good lap.  I don’t think it’s going be in the top five or top 10, but this has been one of the tracks we’ve really struggled at for just speed.  Once they drop the green flag, we usually seem to have a pretty consistent car.  If we could just start in the first half of the field, that would help.”

The Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 will be televised on ESPN Sunday, August 1st with coverage beginning at 1:00 PM.

More Headlines

• Edwards Focused on Winning at Richmond
• Stenhouse Jr. Returns to Richmond with High Hopes
• Erik Darnell 2010 NNS Richmond Advance
• Greg Biffle 2010 Richmond Advance
• Matt Kenseth 2010 Richmond Advance
• Carl Edwards 2010 Richmond Advance