Ragan misses practice chance, but says car will be ready for 'The Rock' Saturday night
Ragan misses practice chance, but says car will be ready for 'The Rock' Saturday night
(FLAT ROCK, Mich. -- August 14, 2014) – David Ragan ran into a little hiccup while getting ready to test at Flat Rock Speedway Thursday afternoon, but that’s not going to be a deterrent for him racing in the ARCA/CRA Super Series 7UP 125 Saturday evening.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup driver raced his late model at Kalamazoo Speedway Wednesday. Although he finished the ARCA/CRA 100-lap event, something broke in the motor. While he transported the car to Flat Rock for a scheduled test, he couldn’t get onto the track Thursday due to the problem.
“It’s okay,” Ragan said. “We have to get the part here. Once that comes in, we’ll fix it and it will be ready to go. It’s fine. I can’t wait to be here for the race.”
Ragan will be at Michigan International Speedway Saturday for practice with his NASCAR Sprint Cup team. When his day ends at Brooklyn, he’ll head to Flat Rock, jump in his super late model and practice the No. 77 machine Saturday’s 7UP 125.
Practice will begin at 3:30 for the ARCA/CRA cars, followed by Figure 8 and Street Stock practice. Time trials begin at 5:30, the autograph session is set for 6:30 and racing begins at 7 p.m.
Ragan is one of a big field of late models expected for the ARCA/CRA points race. Series leaders Travis Braden and Ross Kenseth are on the entry list, as is Todd Gilliland, son of NASCAR driver David Gilliland, who will be signing autographs Saturday.
The all-time ARCA/CRA wins leader, Scott Hantz, will race Saturday. He’s the two-time defending winner of the 7UP 125. Others on the entry list include local resident Dennis Strickland plus Flat Rock outlaw late model winners like Eric Lee and Stan Yee, plus Ali Kern and Brian Campbell. Another entry is J.J. Haley, who earlier this year became the youngest driver to ever compete and win a pole in the ARCA Racing Series presented by Menards.
Gilliland said he and his son are excited about the race.
“We are really looking forward to being here Saturday,” said Gilliand, who is Ragan’s NASCAR Sprint Cup teammate.
Ragan said he was hoping to test at the track, but, his car will be fine.
“It will be fun,” he said. “I love short track racing and racing in front of a big crowd. It’s always exciting to be able to scratch a track off my bucket list of tracks I want to race at and Flat Rock is one of those places.”
The ARCA/CRA drivers will host an autograph session for fans in front of the main grandstand at approximately 6:30 p.m.
In addition to the 7UP 125, the track’s ARCA Praxair Figure 8’s and the DTS Drive Train Specialists Street Stocks will also be in action on the August 16 race schedule.
- By Doug Donnelly, arcaracing.com