Ragan surprises all with last-lap pass for 'Dega win

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- For David Ragan, his first victory in one of NASCAR's top three touring series took a long time coming -- 196 races combined.

When it came, there was a bittersweet aspect to the win (watch video).

Aaron's 312

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	David Ragan	Ford
2.	Ryan Newman	Chevrolet
3.	Joey Logano	Toyota
4.	Tony Raines	Chevrolet
5.	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Chevrolet
6.	Jason Leffler	Toyota
7.	Jason Keller	Ford
8.	Scott Lagasse Jr.	Toyota
9.	Brad Keselowski	Chevrolet
10.	Kyle Busch	Toyota

• Complete Results

In a wild scramble at the finish, Ragan beat pole-sitter Ryan Newman to the stripe to win Saturday's Aaron's 312 at Talladega Superspeedway, but the victory came at the expense of teammate Matt Kenseth, who barrel-rolled and slid on the roof of his No. 16 Ford after contact from Ragan's No. 6 sent him out of control on Lap 105.

In a green-white-checkered-flag finish that took the Nationwide Series race three laps past its scheduled distance of 117 laps, Newman led Dale Earnhardt Jr. with one lap remaining. Contact between those two cars as they came off Turn 4 gave Ragan his opportunity, and a push from third-place finisher Joey Logano sealed the win (watch video).

"I was kind of content with a top-five," said Ragan, who restarted fourth for the final two laps. "No one seemed to be able to really run on the outside and really push hard. I've got to give credit to Joey Logano. He helped me out -- an old Legends Car buddy.

"I just kind of saw beating and banging there with first and second and said, 'What the heck? Let's jump to the outside and see what we can make of it.'"

Ragan and Newman rubbed fenders right before the finish line, and Ragan's No. 6 Ford crossed the stripe .030 seconds ahead of Newman's No. 33 Chevrolet.

"I knew Junior was coming," Newman said of the final half-mile. "I blocked, and he got me sideways. I really didn't expect the 6 to come that fast, but I guess he had someone pushing him."

Tony Raines ran fourth to post his best series finish since 2005. Earnhardt came home fifth, followed by Jason Leffler, Jason Keller, rookie Scott Lagasse Jr., Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch (watch video). (Continued)