By Sarah Handy, Staff Writer
Veteran NASCAR driver David Ragan announced on Wednesday morning that he will retire from full-time NASCAR competition following the 2019 season saying he wants to spend more time with his family.
Ragan currently competes full-time for the Bob Jenkins owned, Front Row Motorsports in the No. 38 Ford.
“I’ve prayed and heavily considered this decision, but for myself and my family, I believe this is the right thing to do. I am a husband and a father to two young girls first, and I am a driver second”, said Ragan.
“To compete in what I consider the greatest series in the world, you need full dedication of your time and focus. My children are growing up quickly, and I want to concentrate my time in being the best father and husband I can be. I feel this is where God is leading my life, and therefore I’m making this decision.”
The 33-year old Georgia native has 457 starts in NASCAR’s premiere series entering this weekend’s Bass Pro Shops NRA Night race from Bristol Motor Speedway with 204 of those starts coming at Front Row Motorsports.
Ragan has two wins in the Cup Series with his first win coming in the 2011 Coke Zero 400 from Daytona International Speedway in the No. 6 UPS “We Love Logistics” for Roush Racing.
When the series visited Talladega Superspeedway for the 2013 Aaron’s 499, Ragan would find victory lane there as well for his second career win in the No. 34 Farm Rich Ford.
Furthermore, the win marked the first for Front Row Motorsports as an organization.
In addition to his two Cup victories, Ragan has earned 15 Top-5s, 40 Top-10s and 2 pole awards heading into this weekend’s event.
Ragan ran 107 races in the NASCAR Xfinity Series over 11 years with two wins, 17 Top-5s, 49 Top-10s and three pole awards.
Both of Ragan’s NXS victories came during the 2009 season at Talladega and Bristol in the No. 6 Discount Tire Ford for Jack Roush.
The veteran driver has spent some time in the Truck Series as well from 2004-2006 making 29 starts with one Top-5, eight Top-10s and one pole award.
Ragan has stated that he is still open to racing part-time in certain races, those being at his own leisure.
“I still love racing. I still have a lot of things I want to accomplish this year and I’ll still be around and hopefully race a little here and there.”, said Ragan.
“I would love to run the 24 hours of Daytona, I would love to go to Eldora and run the truck race. I love the short tracks, some big late model races around the country.”
Ragan is coming off a 16th place finish at Michigan International Speedway last Sunday heading into Saturday evening’s 24th event on the schedule.
.@DavidRagan is on track for his qualifying run. pic.twitter.com/qSyi0vKA6i
— Front Row Motorsports (@Team_FRM) August 16, 2019
Ragan’s No. 38 MDS Ford will roll off the grid 16th in Saturday evenings Bass Pro Shops NRA Night race from Bristol Motor Speedway.
Bristol has been a decent track in Ragan’s Cup career, in the last four races there he has a best finish of 12th in the Spring 2018 race with his worst finish a 21st place result in the Food City 500 this past April.
Overall, heading into tomorrow evening’s race, in 25 starts Ragan has earned 1 Top-10, 4 Top-15s and 15 Top-25 finishes.