DAVID RAGAN – No.6 UPS Ford Fusion – HOW HAVE YOU ADJUSTED TO THE NEW CAR AND THE WAY IT FEELS? HAS IT GOTTEN LOOSER? “I think from my first experience in one of the COT cars you could get it however you wanted it, it was either uncontrollably loose or uncontrollably tight and I guess more people are comfortable with it tight and that’s what they choose to do. I think the development is still going on to get a better handling car, but I don’t really know how the old cars drove, so I don’t have a good history to base my opinion on, but I feel like we’ve had some races last year that our car was perfect and I couldn’t ask for anymore. It was very comfortable and easy to drive, and then we had some races that it was dramatically loose and tight, but that’s the way any race car is with a hard tire and when you’re going that fast. I think if you’ve got a super late model on soft tires, certainly that’s real easy to drive, but it is what it is. I don’t necessarily think about how the car is in general, I just know what we have to work with and how good of a job we’re doing.”

IS THE BATTLE GETTING GOOD FORWARD BITE OFF THE CORNER? “It depends on what race track you’re at. Yes, at some race tracks that is a problem, but at others it’s not a concern at all. I think anytime you have a 3400-3500 pound race car with 800-plus horsepower that’s gonna be an issue. We’ve made good strides with our Fords to handle better and we don’t really pay attention to one issue, we try to work around everything.”

HOW ARE YOU DEALING WITH INCREASED EXPECTATIONS THIS YEAR? “I’ve thought about that a little bit and certainly in years past no one really mentioned anything or didn’t expect us to do well, so I think the last two years we’ve done what we expected to do, and I think in the upcoming season we expect to do a little bit more. It’s neat to see that we’re getting a little bit of good press and people are talking about us more than in years past, but we’ve got our focus on our goals and that’s the same thing we’ve done the last two years. I don’t think it’s gonna affect us any. We know that we’re capable of winning races, we’re capable of making the chase. We’ve got good race cars and it’s all about me being a smart race car driver and not making mistakes and having a little bit of luck along the way. We know what we can do and it’s just a matter of going out and doing it.”

Continue reading “Driver Q&A: David Ragan”

Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin, at least, know where they’ll start next Sunday’s Daytona 500.

Joe Gibbs Racing announced Monday that it has signed 17-year-old Matt DiBenedetto to its driver development program.

The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA) is excited to welcome Kevin Schlesier as exhibits manager, and Michele Leopold as registrar and collections manager for the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

MATT KENSETH – No. 17 DeWalt Ford Fusion – HOW DO YOU STOP JIMMIE JOHNSON? “I’ve been really happy for Jimmie and Chad to win three in a row. Really, I think they’ve earned it every year and they’ve deserved it. They’ve figured out how to win in every different situation that they’ve been put in and I think they’re the best out there. As a competitor, you always want to see the best team win, even if that’s not you. That’s kind of how I’ve always been. I always like seeing the fastest car win the race, not the car who milked it on fuel mileage and maybe didn’t have the fastest car. It’s the same with winning a championship. Even though the system is different than it was before, as a racer you still want to see the team win it that has been the best car overall for the season. I think it would really be hard to say Jimmie hasn’t been the best car for the last four or five years at least.”

THERE SEEMS TO BE THREE TIERS OF TEAMS OUT THERE NOW. WILL THAT CHANGE THE QUALITY OF RACING? “Everybody has a different opinion on it. Some people think if they get all the cars the same speed, that’s gonna be the best racing you have. In my opinion, it’s about the worst racing you can have. I think the racing was good last year and I think it will be better this year. I think if you get a bigger separation from first to last, in my opinion, it makes the racing better. I think if there’s 15 cars on the lead lap at the end of the race and there’s a caution with 50 to go, you’re gonna see a lot more strategy and you’re gonna see better racing for the win. When there are 30 cars on the lead lap, everybody is gonna do the same thing because they’re scared of losing all that track position. I think it’ll make it better. I think when there’s more of a spread in speed, it makes passing easier and makes you be able to run side-by-side and catch a slower car and pass them. When everybody is almost the same speed and you get behind somebody, even if you’re a tenth or two better and you get aero-tight and can’t pass anybody it just kind of changes the racing. My hope is that no testing and the teams changing around a little bit, I think it will spread the field out a little bit and you’ll maybe see some different winners and more passing. I think maybe you’ll see a better race. That’s just my opinion. I don’t know, but that’s always the way I’ve looked at it.”

Continue reading “Driver Q&A: Matt Kenseth”