Ragan: "Guys will be aggressive" with stage racing at the Brickyard

The iconic speedway first hosted NASCAR competition in 1994 and even though it drew huge crowds for many years, the quality of racing – stock cars running a track primarily designed for open-wheel cars – hasn’t always produced a lot of drama.

NASCAR’s implementation of stage racing into all three national series has generated numerous storylines throughout the races and a multitude of pit strategies.

Ragan, who drives the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports, believes the Brickyard 400 should see some of those benefits as well.

“I think the stage racing has done exactly what we all wanted it to do. It's added some extra drama in the middle of the event; It’s created a little more intensity in the race because it pays out for those top 10 spots and I think is good for the fans, for the TV partners and for the competitors,” said Ragan.

Ragan (for Ford), Alex Bowman (for Chevrolet) and Drew Herring (for Toyota) have been at IMS this week taking part in test for wheel-force transducer cars, which help gather data for simulators.

“For the Brickyard, I anticipate some fuel strategy and different pit sequences to come into play,” he said. “Guys will be aggressive trying to win the race; some guys may be trying to get those extra playoff points.

“So, you’ll have an array of strategies throughout the 400-mile race and I think that makes it fun for the fans to keep up with.”

With waning attendance at the Brickyard in recent years, there has been much talk about possibly moving the NASCAR event to the facilities’ infield road-course.

Next year’s race will continue to run on the oval and the Brickyard will become the final race in the regular season and the last chance for a driver to “win” their way into the playoffs.

Ragan, for one, is glad the race will remain on the historic oval.

“Personally, I enjoy running on the oval, I think that that’s because of my background. I grew up on ovals in the Southeast and you grew up watching the Indianapolis 500,” he said. “I’m kind of an oval guy but, I think it's unique for our Monster Energy Cup schedule to be so diverse.

“We go to the superspeedways Daytona and Talladega. You know Indy, Michigan to short tracks like Bristol and Martinsville and the road courses at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. I like the mix that we have in our schedule now.

“So, my vote is for the two-and-a-half-mile track here.”