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  • David Ragan Set for a Milestone Year

    David Ragan Set for a Milestone Year

    For David Ragan, 2014 is set to be a year full of milestones, from his 100th Nationwide start to his impending fatherhood, with baby Ragan set to arrive this summer.

    But as is the case for most racers, Ragan is just happy to be back at the track, even if only for some preseason testing in the Nationwide Series.

    “I’m excited for the Daytona Nationwide race,” Ragan said. “I will be racing with the Biagi-DenBeste Racing team.”

    “I wanted to run a few Nationwide races to get back in the rhythm of running up front and having some fun in the Nationwide Series,” Ragan continued. “It’s something that I really haven’t had an opportunity to do in the last year or so.”

    “I didn’t even realize it would be my 100th start so that was kind of interesting as well,” Ragan said. “It’s something that as the years go on, you look back and say, ‘Man it did go by pretty fast.’

    “But definitely the 100th start will be fun to make at Daytona, which is special to me.”

    Ragan will be behind the wheel of the No. 98 Curb Records Ford for his milestone start in the DRIVE4COPD 300, scheduled for February 22nd.

    “The Nationwide team has built a really nice car,” Ragan said. “We tested down in Dayton for a couple days and thought the car had a lot of speed.”

    “We have won a couple of races, a few poles and I certainly want to add another notch in the win column,” Ragan continued. “That would be cool to do in your 100th milestone start.”

    Another milestone that Ragan is hoping to achieve is being able to compete in even more Nationwide Series races with this Biagi-DenBeste Racing team.

    “We are working hard to attract a few more sponsors to run a few more races,” Ragan said. “This is the kind of team that doesn’t run a tremendous number of races so they can do it a little cheaper than a full-time team.”

    “It’s fun and a great opportunity with a Ford Mustang to get back into the Nationwide Series,” Ragan continued. “So, I’m looking forward to hopefully running a few more races with this team.”

    While Ragan is looking forward to achieving more milestones at Daytona in the Nationwide Series, he acknowledges that he will have a few challenges to face getting back into that seat. And while he enjoys racing at Daytona, the track has also presented some challenges along the way.

    “I enjoy plate racing,” Ragan said. “I didn’t enjoy it the first year or two but I got to learn how to do it well.”

    “But Daytona has been a tough track for me,” Ragan continued. “I think I’ve wrecked the last three or four races there.”

    Several of the other challenges that Ragan will face in his milestone return to the Nationwide Series is the new ‘no tandem racing’ rule, as well as all the new, fresh rookie faces in the garage area.

    “I don’t think that NASCAR will even have a chance to police that no tandem rule because of the configuration of the air intake and the radiator package,” Ragan said. “It’s very similar to the Cup Series so the temperatures will be so high that you won’t be able to even attempt to tandem race.”

    “It is just one of those things that NASCAR is adjusting the rules on a bit that I don’t think they’ll have an opportunity to enforce because we can police it ourselves.”

    “Also, I’m trying to get to know some of the new guys out there that I’m racing with,” Ragan said. “That’s why it was important to go and do the test.

    “A lot of the Nationwide guys I know and know of but I haven’t had the opportunity to race with them,” Ragan continued. “I think it’s important to get to talk to them and let them see me in the car so they recognize who is driving it.”

    “That will pay big dividends when we are out there racing for sure.”

    Ragan is also looking forward to achieving new milestones on the Cup side of his career, especially being back in partnership for another year with Front Row Motorsports teammate David Gilliland.

    “Front Row Motorsports has improved year in and year out since I’ve started there in 2012,” Ragan said. “We’ve got a lot of potential now.”

    “Some of our primary sponsors are coming back and we’re excited about that,” Ragan continued. “We’ve worked on our car inventory this off-season and we’ve certainly improved our team.”

    “We’ve got to keep working hard because as the same time we’re improving our team, the teams around us are improving theirs as well,” Ragan said. “We just have to keep our heads up and keep working hard.”

    “We’re excited to get to Daytona, but really excited to get to Phoenix, Las Vegas, Bristol and see where we shake out in those first few races,” Ragan continued. “I’m looking forward to my third year and having some fun with my team.”

    “And if we could slightly improve on our Cup efforts, continue to build relationships with our sponsors and it has a lot of potential to be a milestone year.”

    Ragan’s final, and most important, milestone in 2014 is more personal. He and his wife Jacquelyn are expecting a new addition to the Ragan clan.

    “We are also having a milestone personally as Jacquelyn, my wife, is pregnant and due in June,” Ragan said. “So, this is going to be a big year off the race track.”

    “It’s going to be a fun time but a very busy time,” Ragan said. “But we’re excited and ready to get the year underway.”

  • Michael McDowell Races to California on a Wing and a Prayer

    Michael McDowell Races to California on a Wing and a Prayer

    [media-credit name=”Photo by Jerry Markland/Getty Images for NASCAR ” align=”alignright” width=”218″][/media-credit]NASCAR Sprint Cup driver Michael McDowell is headed across the country, on a wing and a prayer, to Auto Club Speedway for this weekend’s race festivities.

    McDowell will be piloting his No. 98 Ford Fusion for Phil Parson/Curb-Agajanian Racing in California, thanks to a faith-based partnership with the Christian radio network K-LOVE and Curb Records.

    This unique sponsorship mixes McDowell’s passion for his faith, K-LOVE’s commitment to outreach, and Curb Records support of several Christian recording artists.

    “This year, we’ve been fortunate enough to get Curb Records and K-LOVE, a syndicated Christian radio network, to come on board,” McDowell said. “The cool thing about these partnerships is that there are things that I want to be involved, in not just from a racing standpoint but also personally.”

    As with all sponsorship opportunities, the partnership started with an introduction that expanded into a solid relationship. For McDowell, the K-LOVE introduction was made by his friends at Motor Racing Outreach and grew from there.

    “On the K-LOVE side of things, they invited my wife and I to come on the K-LOVE cruise,” McDowell said. “Right before Daytona, they have a Christian cruise, like a music cruise, to the Bahamas.”

    “There happened to be an opportunity where K-LOVE wanted to be involved in NASCAR, not just from the racing perspective but also from the outreach perspective,” McDowell continued. “So, the other partners that came on board with K-LOVE made the sponsorship possible.”

    “It’s cool how it all comes together.”

    The partnership officially started this season at Daytona, where McDowell, working with friend and fellow Christian Trevor Bayne, raced his way into the show.

    “The reach that we had in Daytona was huge,” McDowell said. “I got to work with my buddy Trevor Bayne a lot and we got a lot of exposure.”

    “Because of that K-LOVE has seen a huge response to their sponsorship and message,” McDowell continued. “They will actually have a K-LOVE booth set up in the fan zone at several of the upcoming races.”

    This past weekend in Bristol, McDowell and his team launched a new promotion with his sponsors. The campaign is called “Let It Start With Me” and is dedicated to bringing the gospel message to the NASCAR community.

    “One of Curb Record’s artists No Other Name had a single called “Let It Start With Me,” McDowell said.  “The message behind it is instead of waiting for someone else to do it or get behind a cause, it should start with me.”

    “Let me be the one that goes out and does it.”

    McDowell and his team are now set to head to the other side of the country to race at Auto Club Speedway in California. And he admits that they need prayers to cope with the intense travel schedule, especially with such a small team.

    “You go from Daytona, which got rain delayed so you’re already behind the eight ball,” McDowell said. “We only have five or six guys in the shop so when we lose a day, we lose a lot.”

    “Then we went to Phoenix and Vegas without coming home and then to Bristol,” McDowell continued. “And now off we go to California.”

    “So, it’s pretty crazy.”

    In addition to his faith, McDowell’s family, including his wife and three year old son, are also helping to cope with the rigorous racing schedule. And the driver announced that he has additional plans to add to his brood.

    “My wife and I travel together with our three year old son to all the races,” McDowell said. “For us, we drive to all the races ourselves in the motor home.”

    “My wife is expecting and is due in October,” McDowell continued. “And we are also still in the process of adopting two children from Honduras. That too is an opportunity to share that there are kids out there that need adopted and need a family to care for them.”

    From his family to the race track, McDowell is blending his faith and sponsorship in unique ways that are most personal to him.

    “This is so different from anything I’ve done in the past,” McDowell said. “This is something that I’m passion about, Christian music and outreach in particular.”

    “To be able to partner with other like-minded groups is huge for me,” McDowell continued. “It’s natural and no one has to twist my arm to show up.”

    “For me, this is who I am, what I believe in and what I’m passionate about,” McDowell said.

    “It’s where I want to be with it.”

  • Johnny Sauter: From Runner Up to Running for the Championship

    Johnny Sauter: From Runner Up to Running for the Championship

    [media-credit name=”Photo Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images North America” align=”alignright” width=”100″][/media-credit]Although not as close as Carl Edwards’ loss of the Cup championship in a tie breaker, Camping World Truck Series driver Johnny Sauter had an eerily similar experience. The driver of the No. 13 ThorSport Toyota Tundra came up short by just six points in his bid to win the Truck title last season.

    Yet Johnny Sauter’s runner-up status has served as nothing short of a motivator, enhancing his desire even more to run all out for that most coveted honor in the upcoming 2012 season.

    “I guess the competitor in you will look back on last season as a really good year, winning a couple of races, leading close to 500 laps, getting a couple of poles,” Sauter said. “But ultimately finishing in second place by six points is tough.”

    “Do I feel like Carl Edwards?” Sauter continued. “Look, if you’re second in points it’s great, as long as it’s by fifty points or so.”

    “When it’s one point like with Carl, it’s really tough,” Sauter said. “But six points is also tough to swallow.”

    “You go through the whole season and put your best effort out there,” Sauter continued. “And if you come up six points short, you come up six points short.”

    “I’m just thankful that I have the opportunity to go try it again.”

    Sauter is definitely keeping himself focused on what is really important, including not dwelling on the the past. Plus, Sauter is just plain practical in his approach to racing.

    “I’ve spent a lot of times focusing on the positives,” Sauter said. “There are instances where I could have done things better but I’ve learned from my mistakes.”

    “So, hopefully we can pick up where we left off and make a run of it in 2012.”

    “It’s easy for me,” Sauter said. “I’ve got kids and they like to eat. So, I don’t have an option but to dig hard and race hard week in and week out.”

    “I feel like I’m with the team and the organization where it’s not just about the driver,” Sauter continued. “The team can carry me and it’s a mutual relationship that works really well.”

    “I have all the faith in the world in my crew chief and in my guys,” Sauter said. “So, I see us picking off where we left off and contending for the championship and winning races.”

    “At the end of the day, it’s something that you want to do, so you do it.”

    Sauter credits his confidence in going into the 2012 season with his consistency with his team and crew chief. But he acknowledged that his team is indeed facing a challenge this season in the move from a Chevrolet race truck to a Toyota.

    “It’s actually a perfect time to switch manufacturers in the off season when you have a bit of down time and when you’re re-bodying your trucks anyway,” Sauter said. “We were essentially switched over to a Toyota a week or two after Homestead.”

    “And we were in the wind tunnel and already learning what we needed to do,” Sauter continued. “We were pleasantly surprised that we were good right out of the gate.”

    Sauter is also pleased that his long-time friend and teammate Matt Crafton will be at his side at the track. Additionally, he is looking forward to working with 18 year old Dakoda Armstrong, who will be running for Rookie of the Year honors for ThorSport Racing.

    “I’ve always had a great relationship with Crafton,” Sauter said. “Dakoda is a really good kid. He’s one of those guys that has proved himself already and he seems to be really open to learning.”

    “I see it working well, really well,” Sauter continued. “You throw Kimmel in there with the ARCA team and that’s even better.”

    “We have a lot of changes but a lot of good things working this season and I couldn’t be more pleased with my fellow drivers, crew chiefs and team members. The whole deal is pretty solid.”

    While much in Sauter’s racing life is staying the same, including long-time sponsor Curb Records, the driver is also looking forward to welcoming new sponsor, Hot Honeys Honey-Roasted Chipotle-flavored peanuts, to the fold.

    “Well the Hot Honey Chipotle Peanuts sponsorship is good,” Sauter said. “Let’s face it, this is a sport that’s sponsor driven and takes a lot of money for us to do what we do.”

    “A new relationship with The Peanut Roaster Company is great and I look forward to working with them this upcoming season,” Sauter continued. “It’s fun to see some fresh paint schemes in the garage.”

    “They are very excited to be in the sport and hopefully we can do a good job in representing them.”

    In addition to preparing for his championship run in the upcoming season, Sauter has been busy at home with his family, as well as with his ‘other’ hobby.

    “My hobby is racing,” Sauter said. “I’ve got a late model car that I spend most of my time working on when I have any free time.”

    “I went and raced a couple weeks ago in Georgia,” Sauter continued. “I finished dead last due to mechanical issues.”

    “But it was fun,” Sauter said. “That’s what I do. Anytime I get an opportunity to race, that’s what I do other than spend time with my family.”

    Yet even with his ‘other’ racing hobby to keep him occupied, Sauter admitted to being not only surprised at how fast the off season has gone, but also at how ready he is to get back to the Truck Series track. He is especially excited realizing that his date with Daytona is right around the corner.

    “It’s an exciting feeling for me,” Sauter said. “Everybody that is fortunate to get to drive in one of the top three divisions in NASCAR and make their living doing it, that’s exciting in and of itself.”

    “But to pull into Daytona, with the history of that race track and knowing that at a restrictor plate race that anyone can win that race, it’s an exciting feeling.”

    “But you kind of have to manage your expectations,” Sauter continued. “I’ve been down there and taken out before I’ve even completed a full lap of the race.”

    “So, you take the good with the bad. Daytona is one of those places that can grab you but it’s still an exciting feeling.”

    “My program is solid,” Sauter said. “I love having the opportunity to race with the same group of guys.”

    “Being so close to winning the championship, I feel so fortunate to race another year and ultimately, hopefully, to be the champion.”