David Ragan (Ronda Greer Photo)

David Ragan returned to the seat of the No. 6 Scotts Miracle-Gro Ford F-150 needing to come home with a solid finish. After posting decent practice times and a 19th place starting position, Ragan felt confident that his crew had brought a truck capable of finishing in the top-10. Knowing one of the longest races of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule was ahead, Ragan knew that exercising patience would be crucial to making the night a success.

Ragan paced himself early on, feeling out his No. 6 Ford and giving feedback to his Scotts crew for what he would need to continue his progress to the front. Crew Chief Mike Beam took advantage of an early caution to bring the No. 6 Scotts Ford to pit road and make changes to help an aero-tight condition when Ragan was stuck in traffic.

Ragan continued to pick off positions as he could, getting closer and closer to the top-10. By lap 50, he had worked himself up to the 12th position when the caution flew for an incident involving the No. 75 truck. Ragan brought the No. 6 Scotts Ford to pit road for service and a slight air pressure adjustment to help him better navigate traffic. Ragan was blocked on his pit exit by the No. 04 truck, but was able to get back on track without losing a position, as he restarted the race on lap 55 in the 12th spot.

By lap 70, the No. 6 made its first appearance inside the top-10, and was recording lap times a half-second faster than the trucks in front of it. Ragan continued to ride, but took advantage of a caution at lap 100 for final service to his Ford. "Let's not change a thing," said Ragan. "It's very drivable, it's neutral in the corners, let's just leave it alone."

Ragan restarted in the sixth position, and held his ground over the course of the ensuing long green flag run. A late caution, due to the No. 60 truck spinning out, would have the race extended to a green-white-checkered finish. Ragan inherited the fifth position from the spin, and looked to be in position to record a top-five, but lost three spots on the restart when he was forced off the low side of the racetrack, resulting in an eighth-place run. For Ragan, it was best career finish and his first career top-10.

"It was just a pleasure to drive this Roush Racing Scotts Ford F-150. These guys do an awesome job and they can win week in and week out, and I've just been trying real hard. We had an awesome truck tonight. I just needed five or six laps to get going and that last restart killed us. We were real loose to start off a run. Mike Beam, Mark Martin, Jack Roush and everybody that gave me this opportunity, I can't thank them enough for sticking by me. It feels good. I haven't felt this good in a long time. I'm glad to finally finish one of these things and build a little bit of momentum. I really like Michigan. I'm back in the No. 50 truck next week, and I just have to say thank you to Scotts, Jack Roush and all of those guys for helping me out. We're just happy to be here and happy to come home in one piece. This is what I need and what these team guys need too."