Ragan wins at Daytona

Ragan redeems himself at Daytona with 1st win

The Associated Press

David Ragan (6) crosses the finish line ahead of Matt Kenseth (17) to win the NASCAR Coke Zero 400 auto race at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. on Saturday. (John Raoux/Associated Press)The Daytona 500 was one big could've, would've, should've for David Ragan.
With a chance at redemption, the 25-year-old hardly needed a reminder on late-race procedures.
In his return to Daytona International Speedeway, a little over four months after a late-race gaffe in the season-opening Daytona 500 cost him what would have been a life-changing victory, Ragan stayed calm when he found himself out front on the final restart of Saturday night's race.
With teammate Matt Kenseth on his bumper, their spotter tried to warn Ragan to stay in his lane on the restart, the error he made that led to his crushing penalty in February.
"I was on Matt Kenseth's radio that last restart and his spotter mentioned it, and I said 'You don't have to tell me, so don't even say it,' " Ragan said. "That kind of lightened the mood. Everyone was so tense there at the end."
Kenseth pushed Ragan for the final two laps as Ragan cruised to his first career Sprint Cup win in 163 starts.
"I told him, 'I'm not going to leave you and try to pass you,' " said Kenseth, "because I knew that one of us weren't going to win. So that was a plan to work as a team all night and it just so happened he was in front at the end. Both of us were kind of unselfish all night and worked together really well."
It helped Ragan atone for the Daytona 500, when he was black-flagged for passing too early on the restart and slammed his steering wheel three times with his fist. After finishing 14th, he said "It'll take us a long time to forget this one. The sooner we can win one, the sooner we can forget it."
Now he feels a whole lot better.Read more: