Ragan set for first outing in Gibbs Toyota at Atlanta

HAMPTON -- David Ragan came into last week's Daytona 500 fighting to compete and not knowing how many races he would have a chance to run this year.

This week, he is piloting one of the top cars on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Ragan, of Unadilla, was tabbed this week to substitute for Kyle Busch in the No. 18 M&M's Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing after Busch was injured in last Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

Ragan, who came back from a qualifying race crash to finish 17th in the Daytona 500, faced a year with limited sponsorship.

Earlier this week, he got the call from Joe Gibbs Racing to substitute for Busch beginning with Sunday's race at the Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Suddenly, talk shifted from making races to winning races and qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

For Ragan's part, he's staying grounded.

"Let's not count our chickens before they're hatched," Ragan said following Thursday's test session at the Hampton, GA track. "That's a great scenario that, if it played out, would be a lot of fun and something cool to talk about, but Atlanta Motor Speedway is obviously the next race."

Thursday's practice session gave Ragan his first experience behind the wheel of the JGR Toyota. He was 15th fastest in the first session with a lap at 187.019 mph and 19th fastest in the second session with a lap at 186.178 mph.

Ragan said the scenario that moved him behind the wheel of the No. 18 happened quickly Monday and Tuesday.

"Our situation at Front Row this year was a little iffy on whether we were going to be able to run the entire schedule," Ragan said. "We had some good sponsorship with some of our partners, CSX and KFC, for the Daytona 500, but I got a call from one of the management at Joe Gibbs Racing Monday afternoon and they just asked if I had any interest in talking to them. They had heard that I wasn't committed, a firm commitment for the full, entire Sprint Cup Season, so I told them that I would have some interest if we could get all the parties to mutually agree to a package that would benefit us all."

The opportunity could be huge for Ragan, who started his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career with Roush Fenway Racing, scoring a win in the 2011 Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway. But the ride went away at the end of the year. Since then, he has piloted the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, where he scored an unexpected win at Talladega Superspeedway in 2013 for the under funded team.

The importance of the chance to drive for JGR is not lost on Ragan.

"It's an unfortunate situation where their guy is injured, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to get into one of the premier rides in our sport for a little while to kind of see where I stand in my career as a driver," he said.

Ragan said his team was a little surprised when he went to them with the opportunity to substitute for Busch.

"But when you look at my situation, and not knowing exactly what our schedule is going to look like this year, as a race car driver, I had to look at my career and my opportunities, and this was something that I couldn't let pass."

Ragan also said he thinks the No. 34 team can benefit by letting their driver go out and race with a top tier team.

"They're gonna push me to be a better driver," he said. "I'm gonna learn a lot, I'm going to work hard and I'm going to be a better driver behind the wheel of whatever car I'm driving this fall, next season, the following season."

And just what does JGR have the Front Row doesn't?

"They've got a good stash of M&M's in the hauler," Ragan said. "That's always a plus."

WDUN will have live PRN Radio coverage of this weekend's action at Atlanta Motor Speedway, beginning with Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race, beginning at 1:30 p.m. on 102.9 FM. Then on Sunday, it's the second race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, the QuikTrip 500, beginning at 12 p.m. on 102.9 FM and at 1 p.m. on 550 AM.