David Ragan finishes third, continues push toward Chase

JIM UTTER

The Charlotte Observer

Sunday, Aug. 17, 2008

David Ragan continued his charge toward his first appearance in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, finishing third and matching his career-best finish.

That moved him to within 26 points of Denny Hamlin, the driver currently occupying the 12th and last spot in the Chase field.

Ragan and Clint Bowyer have 2,709 points apiece. Ragan, however, has two top-five finishes in his past three races, while Bowyer has two finishes of 20th or worse in that span.

"We had good speed, our pit crew did an amazing job all race long and that's what it takes," said Ragan, who briefly held the lead late in the race after electing to stay out rather than pit.

"It definitely would have been great to win, but you don't want to take any unnecessary risks and take out a top-five finish and finish 20th or something."

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