Current Release: April 28th, 2009 | Vol. XXX Iss. 10

Photo By jordan Bondurant

VWC students watch the  Chase for the Race despite Hanna

By jordan bondurant

jebondurant@vwc.edu

Mother Nature did its best trying to put a damper on one of the biggest weekends in NASCAR s Sprint Series at Richmond International Raceway, billed as  America s Premier Short Track. Tropical Storm Hanna made landfall early morning on Sept. 5, touching down on the North and South Carolina border and barreling its way up the Atlantic coast, causing officials at Richmond to postpone all activities until Sept. 7 with a rare Sprint Cup/Nationwide Series doubleheader.

The sun was finally shining when a crowd of over 100,000 headed for the grandstands on a hot late-summer day. VWC students walked among the crowd thanks to discount tickets available through Rec X. On their way in, fans watched the band Three Days Grace set the tone for the Chevy Rock N Roll 400. Fans enjoyed the short concert as the band played their hits, like  Animal I Have Become and  Pain, before heading off to enjoy the crucial race.

Richmond s race is the final chance for drivers to improve their standing before the final 10 race chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship; only the top 12 drivers in the point standings can win NASCAR s equivalent to a playoff.

David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 Ford, was on the outside looking in going into Sunday s race, 13 points out of 12th place in the standings. Earlier that week, Ragan made an appearance on campus at VWC.

 Well really we just have to run the best race we can, said Ragan.  We can t really worry about how the other drivers are doing and just run as good as possible.

Unfortunately for the promising young Georgian, a crash on Lap 121 with teammate Matt Kenseth put him out of contention. Ragan would finish 32nd for the day, and missed the chase by 56 points.