David Ragan on Michigan: ‘The Fast Cars Are Still Going to be Fast’

By: Zach Catanzareti, Staff Writer

Despite the rising expectations for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway, David Ragan enters raceday with a more realistic approach.

Driving for a long-time mid-pack team of Front Row Motorsports, Ragan is kept honest in regards to an aero package’s effect on the litter guys. With pack racing and drafting becoming key factors throughout on 1.5-mile tracks or greater in 2019, Michigan is anticipated to be the closest.

Qualifying 24th, his Front Row teammates line up 23rd and 26th, respectively. For Ragan, he expects the competitive hierarchy of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series to stay intact even at a place like Michigan.

“It’s the same opportunity we have every week,” he said. “I don’t think there is any advantage to running at Michigan in a big pack. Fast guys are still going to be fast, middle-of-the-pack guys are still going to be middle of the pack and slow cars are still going to be slow.”

The “Great Equalizer” may apply to superspeedway races, but does not apply to Michigan, said Ragan.

“That’s a good talking point that people have used,” he said. “It’s OK for Daytona and Talladega but the equalizer… we’re still going to qualify 25th and the [Nos.] 4, 22 and 18 are still going to be in the top five. Fast cars are still fast.”

For Ragan, the difficulty will come mid-pack where the “wake” of the cars makes it troublesome to make ground.

“It’s like riding on a lake — if you have one boat, it’s really smooth. When you have 40 boats, you have waves going everywhere,” Ragan said. “That’s how it is in the middle. You’ve got air going over you, around you, sideways, pushing air around. It’s inconsistent, sometimes it’ll push your car this way and some laps that way.”

Finishing a season-best 15th two weeks ago at Charlotte, Ragan is hoping to keep the momentum going and will be aiming for the high line at Michigan.

“It’ll be a challenge but it‘ll be a learning curve every corner of every lap,” he said. “Generally, the outside is always better because you don’t have anyone on your outside. If you’re outside by the wall, you ave consistent air flow on your outside.

“When you’re so aero-dependent and your grip is all derived from aero grip — majority of it, 75 percent — any time you have inconsistencies in that, it makes it different.”