David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion, qualified 35th for tomorrow’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, and even though he’s got a long way to go before getting to the front, he a World Series champion Boston Red Sox paint scheme on board to help him. Ragan spoke about his trip to Fenway Park earlier this week.
DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion – IT MUST BE ENJOYABLE TO MAKE APPEARANCES LIKE YOU DID EARLIER THIS WEEK AT FENWAY PARK. “Definitely. I think that’s probably one of the highlights of this year so far, being able to go watch a sporting event and be able to take part in the pre-game activities. It’s interesting to watch and understand what’s going on and see things from a different point of view than just being a normal fan. We certainly got the red carpet treatment at Fenway this week, so that’s a lot of fun and really enjoyable for all of the guys on the team and the other drivers to just go out and relax.”
THE CAR HAS A DIFFERENT LOOK WITH THE NUMBER ON THE DOOR AND ALL. DO YOU LIKE THE LOOK? “Yeah. Something different is always fun because when you have the same old, same old all the time it gets to a point where you don’t recognize anything different. I think the fans will take notice and I know a lot of people the garage have, so it’s good to have something new, especially when it’s our favorite team.”
YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN ASKED THIS, BUT WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS THE MOST FAMOUS RED SOX PLAYER TO WEAR NO. 6? “Well, I’ve heard a lot of people talk about Bill Buckner, so I guess I’d have to say that. I know the ball rolled through his legs while playing first base. We’ve all seen that highlight and you can’t help but feel for the guy, but nevertheless he was at the top level trying to do what he could do.”
YOU HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO IN THE RACE TOMORROW, STARTING FROM 35TH. WHAT DO YOU THINK? “I think our AAA Ford isn’t that bad. I think it’s an average race car right now. Certainly the way our qualifying draw went and the way the weather worked out yesterday, we didn’t get a good lap. All of the above contributed to a poor qualifying effort and I feel like we’re gonna be able to move up some. We’re better than the cars around us, so it’ll just be a long, hard day. We’ll have to make some pit calls on pit road to try to get us some track position and I’ll have to do a good job. It can be done from back there, so we’ve just got to go work hard and it can be a lot of fun.”
