A weekend off? Not for David Ragan

  

  
Not a good Sunday in Atlanta for David Ragan....maybe a leisurely run at Caraway will take the edge off (Photo: Getty Images for NASCAR)

  

   By Mike Mulhern
   mikemulhern.net

   Just how tough is David Ragan?
   Well, some NASCAR drivers may be taking time off during this rare off-weekend, but Ragan is going to try his hand at Modified racing, in Sunday's 150 at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C.
  At Atlanta Ragan had an oil leak Friday, changed engines, started at the rear of Sunday's field, and had nowhere to go but forward, which he did admirably, despite an "unruly" race car.
  Sunday's Atlanta 500? Well, Ragan managed to pull out a 19th. "Compared to where we started, it was a good day for our team," Ragan says.  "It's not where we wanted to be, but we did the best we could.
   "We didn't lose a lot of points but we didn't really gain any either."
   Ragan is 22nd in the points.
   At least that's better than Travis Kvapil and Bobby Labonte did – blown engines Sunday.
   Bill Elliott, making one of the few starts the Woods are making this season, got caught up in a Sam Hornish spin, crashed and finished 36th.
   "It looks like he got it loose and overcorrected and went into the wall," Elliott said. "Instead of trying to hold it up against the wall….when he came back across I was committed."
   The Woods and Elliott will next run the Texas 500 April 5th.  
   Meanwhile, Matt Kenseth managed to hang on and finished 12th, good enough for fifth in the Sprint Cup standings heading next week to Bristol.
   Kenseth echoed most drivers: "We weren't very good all day.  
   "We short-pitted (pitting early), which actually kept us one lap down instead of two laps down.  That was a big part of us getting our lap back.
   "But we just ran really terrible.  
   "Then I ran out of gas at the end and lost all of our track position."