David Ragan knows he’s on the hot seat at Roush Fenway Racing, but he’s confident he can handle it

By Bob Pockrass

Sunday, January 31, 2010

David Ragan knows he must back bounce from a disappointing 2009 season to return to Roush Fenway Racing.

Sam Cranston
NASCAR Illustrated

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David Ragan doesn’t intend to be on the hot seat for much of the 2010 Sprint Cup season. But he knows the reality of the situation when a driver enters his fourth year at Roush Fenway Racing, is coming off a disappointing year and entering the final year of his contract.

After finishing 13th in the standings in 2008, Ragan stumbled to 27th in 2009. Another year like that and Ragan might not be back in the No. 6 UPS car in 2011?

Ragan knows questions about his performance and his future are being asked and will become more frequent if he doesn’t get off to a strong start this season. He’s trying not to think about it but isn’t naive to his situation.

“If we have some bad races and we’re struggling where we were a year ago, I’ll have some tough questions to answer,” Ragan says. “But I try not to think about those side of things. If that happens, I’ll be ready to handle it. I’ll be able to take the heat however the heat comes.

“But as a racer, a competitor, as someone who knows how to win, we feel positive we can get the job done. You just go out there and do your job.”

It seems that Ragan is taking a mature approach to the season despite being just 24 years old. Maybe getting ripped by Tony Stewart early in his career makes handling the heat a little easier. Maybe having a great season in his second full year of Cup racing gives him confidence that people still believe in him.

But having a new crew chief in veteran Donnie Wingo and being part of a Roush Fenway organization that believes it has made strides during the off-season is what makes Ragan comfortable and looking forward to 2010.

“I wouldn’t say I’m nervous,” Ragan says. “I would be nervous if things didn’t change from last year. We made changes based on things that didn’t go right or things that went well and tried to improve that. If we were going into this year with the same gut feeling as I had toward the middle or end of last year, absolutely I would be scared.

“But our No. 6 team had a face lift, has a new crew chief, a new engineer. Not only on our 6 team, but Roush Fenway as a whole. Everybody is encouraged.”

Ragan said he needs to win a race. He has made 110 career Cup starts highlighted by three finishes of third. Last year, he won two Nationwide Series races. Winning races is his primary goal, more so than making the Chase or a specific points position.

“I’m not a championship-caliber racer right now – I don’t know how to race for a championship because I haven’t been quite there in the Chase,” Ragan said. “But I know how to win races, and we can win races.”

Ragan’s biggest problem last year was the handling of his car. Ragan and crew chief Jimmy Fennig and the engineers couldn’t get on the same page, Ragan said, making him feel like he couldn’t drive the car as hard as he could without wrecking.

Ragan also says he is to blame as much as anyone for those struggles.

“As I driver, I cannot sit here and say I blame it on the car because I’m part of that equation,” Ragan said. “I am the one that on Sunday morning, when they push the car on to pit road, there’s nobody else except me and the good Lord driving that car. I don’t have a passenger. I can’t switch drivers halfway during the race.

“I don’t have anybody else to look at other than me.”

But when Ragan looks in the mirror, he sees a driver who believes in himself.

“I have got the confidence that I had when I first strapped in a Bandolero car in 1997, that if I can go out and drive the hardest that I can and I’m driving a good race car, I can be as good as anybody on the track,” Ragan said. “Part of that equation is myself, the crew chief, the engine department. It’s such a big pool.

“But I take full responsibility for that car not driving well or things happening because I am part of that puzzle. If I can take that responsibility, work hard on it every day, … if everyone does their jobs from the tire changer to the driver to the engineer to the engine tuner, we can be a championship-caliber team just like anybody in the garage. But first of all, I have to take care of my own red wagon and that’s what I plan on doing.”