Checkered Countdown: Top-Five Talladega Finishes
No. 5 Teammates David Ragan and David Gilliland work their way through the field to get a one-two finish (2013).
Restrictor-plate races are always a huge opportunity for smaller teams to get good finishes or even wins sometimes. That’s exactly what happened at Talladega in 2013: in the closing laps the two Front Row Motorsports teammates Ragan and Gilliland were running nose to tail in the middle of the pack. During the last lap, as the leaders were blocking each other they gained positions and then found an opening to get to the front.
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Ragan was dictating the moves to overtake the other drivers, Gilliland was propelling him forward. They moved from the middle of the pack to the lead in half a lap. Then the driver of the #34 just had to block a move coming from Carl Edwards and win the race. Gilliland finished second. It was the first win for the team and the second of Ragan’s career.