NASCAR driver David Ragan buys Perry car dealership

A Georgia race car driver not only drives a Ford on the track, now he owns a Ford dealership in Perry.

NASCAR driver and Unadilla native David Ragan bought the Wayne Morris Ford dealership in early September and renamed it David Ragan Ford. His father, Ken Ragan — a NASCAR driver in the 1980s and 1990s — is general manager of the dealership.

Ken Ragan said he encouraged his son to buy the dealership.

“It was a good opportunity,” he said. “I told him it was a good investment.”

On Tuesday, David Ragan not only was visiting the dealership in the afternoon, but was expected to make an appearance at the Georgia National Fair in the evening. Then back home to Charlotte for the beginning of race week, Ken Ragan said. David Ragan races his UPS Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

“(David Ragan) will visit as his racing schedule permits,” he said. “He plans to have other race car drivers visit” the dealership in the future.

The Ford dealership includes a 15,000-square-foot building with sales and service of new and used vehicles.

Currently, the business doesn’t have a body shop.

“That might be something we look at down the road,” Ken Ragan said.All 18 former employees were retained and five more people have been hired, he said.

The company will continue to take applications at the dealership, and would especially like to find applicants who have experience with Ford.

“We have plans for growth, but we have to get our arms around what we have now,” he said.

“We have to build up our service department and certainly will build our sales up. We need to put some inventory on the lot — you have to have product to sell it. In the not-too-distant future, we would like to put up a new building.”The dealership might display some of David Ragan’s race cars within the next five years, Ken Ragan said.

This is not the first dealership the elder Ragan has operated. He was a Chevrolet dealer in Unadilla in the 1980s, he said.

Ken Ragan and his wife, Beverly, are in the process of moving from Charlotte to a house they bought on Main Street in Perry.

It’s a homecoming for them after being away about 20 years.

They are both from Perry, graduated from Perry High School and they have a lot of family in the area.

“We are excited about being here,” Ragan said. “We will work hard to grow this business, and we are looking forward to a lot of years here.”

This story was originally published October 13, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "NASCAR driver David Ragan buys Perry car dealership."