NASCAR Cup

Regan - Ford interview 2010-11-30

This Week in Ford racing November 30, 2010 David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion, will begin his off-season from Sprint Cup racing by participating in the Snowball Derby, a 300-lap super late model stock car race held annually at the ...

Published: Dec 2, 2010, 2:32 PM

Copy link

Share on Viber

Add as a preferred source

This Week in Ford racing
November 30, 2010

David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion, will begin his off-season from Sprint Cup racing by participating in the Snowball Derby, a 300-lap super late model stock car race held annually at the half-mile Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. The race has been contested every year since 1968 and is always run on the first weekend in December. Ragan talked about his plans for the Derby, the car he built for the race and what his other off-season plans are.

FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW THE HISTORY, WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SNOWBALL DERBY ALL ABOUT? "The Snowball Derby is the biggest late model race in the country. They will have 75 or 80 cars for the Super Late Model race and another 50 or so for the Two-Barrel race. The best of the best have been down there and have won it. A lot of guys from Rusty Wallace to Darrell Waltrip to basically everybody that has raced short tracks before have gone down and raced and won the snowball. I have never been down there, and I have built a late model car over the last off -season just to go race around the Southeast and I thought, 'Heck, let's go down here and run it.'"

THIS RACE HAS BECOME PRETTY POPULAR WITH CUP DRIVERS RECENTLY WITH KYLE BUSH WINNING LAST YEAR, WHAT IS THE APPEAL? "We are all racers and we want to go race with the best of the best. We don't get a chance to run every weekend like a lot of these guys do. The first Cup off weekend in December there is usually no racing going on, so this is the perfect time of year to go race. It is the best of the best of short track racers down there. It is going to be a challenge. If it was going to be a cake walk I don't think anybody would want to go down there. It is a tough race. For me, it is all about learning something else, being competitive and seeing what I've got. By no means do I think we are going to go down there and win just because I race a Sprint Cup car. These guys will probably teach me a lot."

YOU MENTIONED BUILDING YOUR OWN LATE MODEL FOR RACING, WHAT EXACTLY DID YOU BUILD? "It is a straight rail late model car. It is a Ford with a 700 horsepower, 358 engine in it. It is similar to our Cup cars. The race cars only weigh 2,700 pounds, so it is about 500 pounds lighter than what our Cup car is. The cars are fast, they are hard to drive, but they look cool. Our Fusion that we will take down there is sporty and slick and it is going to be fun. I am teaming up with Richie Waters, who is a great late model racer and the crew chief for Aric Almirola on the Craftsman Truck side and he will help me out a lot. It is fun, but we all are competitive and want to win."

ASIDE FROM THIS RACE, WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS YOU MAKE SURE YOU TRY TO DO IN YOUR SHORT OFF-SEASON? "The biggest thing is to spend time with my family. So much over the racing season they are always second or third. Anytime I can spend some time with my girlfriend or go back home to Georgia and spend a few weeks seeing my grandparents really means a lot. Once Daytona rolls around we are testing and I just don't get a chance to see them. If I get to see them for a few weeks around Christmas and make sure I don't miss out on any good Christmas gifts, that is a good off-season. If I get a chance to go race or go on a trip or do something else, it is a bonus."

YOU GOT TO TAKE A LAP AROUND DAYTONA IN A PRODUCTION CAR AFTER THE REPAVE, WHAT ARE YOUR IMPRESSIONS OF IT? "Daytona is going to be very smooth, three or four wide racing now. It is going to be a different mentality than we have thought about there in the past. Daytona has always been about handling and managing your tires but now it is going to be all speed. I can't wait to get down there and make a few laps. The track looks great. Kudos to those guys that can lay that pavement two-and-a-half miles and it is perfect. It is going to be fun."

-source: ford racing

We want your opinion!

What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?

Take our 5 minute survey.

- The Motorsport.com Team

Read and post comments

Share Or Save This Story

Copy link

Share on Viber

Previous article Series notes on Jimmie Johnson 2010-11-29

Next article Champion's Week, day one report

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

View More & Comment

Latest news

Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

1 h

Tom Cruise interested in racing ARCA car, per NASCAR CEO Steve O'Donnell

Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

4 h

Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction

William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix

NASCAR Cup

NAS NASCAR Cup

Charlotte II

5 h

William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix

Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring

IndyCar

Indy IndyCar 5 h

Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring

Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.

From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.

You have 2 options:

Become a subscriber.
Disable your adblocker.

Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here

Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page

Manage Alerts