Drivers are usually defined by their ability to chase speed.
The Coke Zero 400 post-script will show that David Ragan made a tactical mistake as he led the field to green on the final restart late Saturday night. Given a choice to go high or low, Ragan stayed high to block Ty Dillon. The move allowed Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to get a push on the low side and eventually win the race.
By the time Ragan tried to jockey back for position, it was too late. He wound up sixth, a solid finish, but also missed an opportunity to steal a playoff spot as a competitor not afforded the luxuries of driving for one of the super teams.
"My car was better in the middle to the top groove all night long," Ragan said this week, reflecting again on the moment. "I felt like if I had to choose that one lane to try to block, it would be the top lane. But the 17 [Stenhouse] had such a fast run that when I found out he was coming that hard I couldn't get back down to block him.
"I was put in a bad spot and I made a decision there."
But there's a bigger picture here that's important. And if you look at things from that perspective, Ragan had a great weekend.
He hosted Riley Desin, a 15-year-old kid from Central Florida who is a Shriners Hospitals for Children patient. Shriners has sponsored Ragan for three races, and its brand was all over his No. 38 Ford Saturday night. But then there's the personal touch.
Riley spent considerable time with Ragan on race weekend, doing things like taking a ceremonial introductory lap with Ragan around the track and getting to hang out on pit road before the start of the race.
It was a wonderful respite from the circumstances of his life. Riley was born with a genetic condition called hereditary multiple exostoses (HME), which causes irregular bone growth. Physicians discovered growths from nearly head to toe through a full body X-ray when he was just 14 months old. He has endured more than a dozen surgeries to deal with his condition.
Other images shaped his circumstances this weekend.
"I think Riley was a true race fan," Ragan said. "He enjoyed the race and the dynamic of the pit crew in preparing the race car and strategy. He asked some really good questions. You could tell he was engaged. It was great to have such an in-tune mature young man at the race track."
Heading into Saturday's Cup race in Kentucky, Ragan is 28th in points, competing for Front Row Motorsports alongside Landon Cassill.
Given the dynamics, there is always going to be a David-vs.-Goliath feel to the competitive grind.
"We're aware of those odds but I wouldn't say it's frustrating," Ragan said. "We embrace our goal and we know what our realistic expectations are. It would be frustrating if you were on a larger team and under-performed.
"I embrace what Front Row Motorsports is. All of the successful premier teams of today, they all had to start somewhere at some point 15-20-25 years ago. ... That's a part of our sport. Everybody can't be on top of the mountain."
