For Ragan, a gutsy effort comes up 77 points short

RICHMOND, Va. -- The urgency was evident in the tone of Jimmy Fennig's voice.

"Work on the back panel! Work on the back panel!" the crew chief commanded to his pit crew over the radio, as men in red, white and blue firesuits scrambled about the No. 6 car. In what at the time was a tight race for the final spot in NASCAR's championship Chase, every second was precious. So they yanked away damaged sheet metal and patched holes with tape and sent the vehicle back out onto the racetrack to try and hunt down what would have been the unlikeliest of title berths.

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David Ragan

Chevy Rock & Roll 400

Official Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
2.	Tony Stewart	Toyota
3.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
4.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
5.	Mark Martin	Chevrolet
6.	Jeff Burton	Chevrolet
7.	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
8.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
9.	David Reutimann	Toyota
10.	Kurt Busch	Dodge
12.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
19.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
32.	David Ragan	Ford

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And they almost made it. David Ragan spent much of Sunday's storm-delayed event at Richmond International Raceway either on or very near the Chase cutoff point, sparring with Clint Bowyer in a two-man duel where at times the difference was a single point. But after rallying to make up a lost lap and using pit strategy to make up lost track position, Ragan's battered and bruised Ford began to slip to the rear of the field and take his Cinderella Chase dreams with it.

The final result was a 32nd-place finish that left Ragan 77 points behind Bowyer, who persevered to hold on to the 12th position and earn his second consecutive playoff berth. The Roush Fenway Racing driver actually would up in 14th place, eight markers behind Kasey Kahne, the only other driver who entered the day with a mathematical chance of earning a Chase spot -- but who, like Ragan, will now use the final 10 events of this season to prepare for next year.

"It's very disappointing," Ragan said. "I felt like the first 100 or so laps, we had a top five-car and the [No. 6] Ford seemed to be pretty quick. It just seemed to turn a corner sometime after Lap 100 there. We didn't have the speed. We brought out that one caution and seemed to have poor track position and the car really fell off on the long run. We'll have to get it back and check things over and see if anything crazy happened, but a good effort by the team and certainly this one race doesn't dictate how our season has gone. We've got 10 more races to try and get a win and certainly to finish 13th in points is our goal now, but running back there 30th and 25th, you don't deserve to make the Chase running like that."

Although Kahne had a chance coming in, he was never able to mount much of a threat. Although he finished ninth and ran in the top 20 for much of the race, Bowyer and Ragan were usually ahead of him, and he was stuck in 14th position in the standings until the No. 6 car began to fade in the final 60 laps. For Kahne, it has to be a disappointment -- he's one of only four drivers to win multiple events this season, and now he's missed the playoffs four out of five years. His elimination also leaves manufacturer Dodge without a representative in the Chase. (Continued)