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Talladega could get new driver in Chase

3 min read

TALLADEGA, Ala. – David Ragan’s surprise victory last season at Talladega Superspeedway gave his fledgling Front Row Motorsports team a taste of the potential inside the organization.

Back at Talladega to defend his win, the stakes are far greater Sunday.

Should Ragan win again this year, the victory could be worth a spot in the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup championship field.

Under new Chase qualifying rules enacted this season, drivers can become eligible for NASCAR’s 10-race championship format with a victory as long as they are ranked inside the top-30 in the standings. Although there have been no surprise winners this season, Talladega is the lottery ticket that can change the fortune for one lucky driver.

“In the back of our minds, we do think a little bit about if we can get that win,” Ragan said. “That’s something we don’t want to be overwhelmed with and really think about that more than we should, but it is something that we think about it and I guarantee every other team that has not got a win yet this year they think about that too.

“In the closing laps of Sunday’s race, I guarantee the top six or eight or top 10 guys that are in contention for the win, they’re going to be thinking about that Chase berth if they can cross the finish line first.”

There have been seven winners through the first nine races of the season, with Kevin Harvick and Joey Logano leading the pack with two victories each. But the list of drivers still looking for the win that could put them in the Chase is long and distinguished.

Six-time and defending series winner Jimmie Johnson hasn’t been to Victory Lane yet, and neither has Matt Kenseth. The two raced each other down the stretch for the Sprint Cup title last season and combined to win 13 of the series’ 36 races.

Fans’ donations send Wise to Talladega: Josh Wise made it to Talladega Superspeedway the new-fashioned way.

A movement started on the online site Reddit by a 16-year-old fan using the digital currency Dogecoin generated a sponsorship for Wise’s No. 98 Ford Fusion in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race.

Wise learned about the effort through another social media site, Twitter.

“At that time I didn’t really know what Dogecoin was,” Wise said Friday. “I had heard of Reddit but I hadn’t been on there much. It was easy to kind of dismiss it at first because it was like, ‘Well yeah, they might have like 10 or 15 people want to help us raise sponsorship but I doubt they’re going to be able to raise the full amount to sponsor us.’

“Five or six days later, they had met the goal of $55,000 to sponsor us and we had a sponsor for Talladega. It was pretty cool.”

Teen Denis Pavel of Niles, Ill., had noticed Wise’s mostly unadorned black car having a strong run at Bristol before finishing 23rd. He thought of past fundraisers he’d seen on Reddit, and helped pave Wise’s road to Talladega. Phil Parsons Racing also let Reddit users vote on a paint scheme for Wise’s car.

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