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Ragan overcoming critics in solid rookie season

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Darnell99Fan
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« on: October 26, 2007, 01:36:03 pm »

Fight for survival
~SI.com

Ragan overcoming critics in solid rookie season
Posted: Thursday October 25, 2007 2:16PM;
Updated: Thursday October 25, 2007 2:16PM
   




 
Juan Pablo Montoya has received more press, but David Ragan has quietly kept pace in the Rookie of the Year race.

 
It happens every year. Young phenoms are taken from the safety of NASCAR's lower levels and rushed into the Nextel Cup before they are ready. More often than not, the talent washes out with career-damaging consequences.

Among the recent examples are Casey Atwood and Jason Leffler. David Stremme could be added to it if he doesn't find a deal for next year. And A.J. Allmendinger is a good candidate if he doesn't make a Talladega-sized step forward next year.

They're all drivers with talent, but none had developed it sufficiently to compete in the grinding, week-by-week cauldron of Cup. Another year or two in NASCAR's Craftsman Trucks or Busch would have made them better prepared and greatly increased their chances of sticking in the top tier.

David Ragan seemed headed for the arrived-too-soon list going into this season. When Jack Roush chose him to replace Mark Martin in the No. 6 Ford, one national television Cup analyst said, "I didn't see that coming at all." Few did.

Roush invests heavily in driver development and believes ardently in promoting from within his large organization. Todd Kluever had been the Rookie of the Year in Trucks in 2005 and ran the entire Busch schedule in '06, finishing 17th in the points. Danny O'Quinn was Rookie of the Year in Busch in '06, finishing 19th in running 33 of 35 races.

Ragan? He had one top-five in 19 Truck races in '06, driving the No. 6 that Martin was winning races with, and had a total of seven Busch starts without a top-10 from '04-06. It's a record that offers nothing to indicate why Ragan was promoted over teammates Kluever and O'Quinn.

Roush thought Ragan, only 21 years old, had more upside and his development would be better served driving in Cup. Kluever and O'Quinn haven't had their shot at Cup, but Roush's forward-looking evaluation of Ragan appears to have legs.

With four races remaining, including Sunday at Atlanta, Ragan is a respectable 22nd in the points. The Roush Fenway driver is second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings to Juan Pablo Montoya, trailing 231-212 in the complicated scoring system. Montoya has been the top finishing rookie in 14 races, Ragan in 13.

Ragan's most impressive drive was at Richmond in September. He was running ninth for a restart with 50 laps to go and drove up in 44 to third. Ragan was challenging Tony Stewart for second at the checkered flag. A career-best third would just have to do.

"The AAA Ford Fusion was good since we unloaded and [it was]a lot of fun to be able to unload with some notes from the last race and then be able to be fast in the race," Ragan said. "We had good pit stops and everything just worked out good. We've had some good cars this year. But for pit stops to go right, for us to not have any mistakes on restarts, several things have just got to go right and it was just a good night."

Ragan also was fifth in the Daytona 500 after starting last. He doesn't have another top-10, but has seven top-15s and 13 top-20s. There is a modicum of consistency there that shows the promise of cracking the top-10 more frequently when the No. 6 returns to those tracks next season.

Ragan had only two Cup starts prior to this season, both in 2006, and neither had gone well. He crashed out of his debut at Dover after completing 46 laps. That was before Roush had announced Ragan would be moved to full-time Cup. The first race following the promotion, at Martinsville, was an unmitigated disaster, as Ragan was involved in two multi-car crashes and a solo spin. He went a lap down each time, but with the Lucky Dog, eventually finished on the lead lap in 25th. Neither NASCAR nor Tony Stewart was fooled by it. The plan had been for Ragan to drive the three 1.5-mile tracks remaining, but NASCAR wouldn't approve him for them. Stewart called Ragan "a dart without feathers."

Critics followed by lambasting Ragan's talent and experience and Roush for thinking he could drive in Cup. But Roush stuck with him.

In addition to his Cup schedule this year, Ragan also has driven the full slate in Busch, where he's fifth in the points and leading the RoY race over Marcos Ambrose, 215-191. Going into Saturday's race at Memphis, Ragan has three top-fives and eight top-10s in Busch.

Ragan has never won a national-level NASCAR race, but he thinks a win in either Cup or Busch is possible this season.

"That's certainly a goal," Ragan said. "You'd hate to go through a whole year and not win a race. Certainly we've had some great runs this year and we just want to try to contend for wins."

Ragan probably isn't quite ready to win, but his performances this season have proven he belongs in the Nextel Cup. He's emerging from a crucial, make-or-break season on his feet and moving forward.

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Highflying9916
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« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2007, 03:11:16 pm »

Thanks for posting  Smiley
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