Vidovich on standby if Ragan needs Nationwide relief to focus on Cup

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Friday, August 29, 2008

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FONTANA, Calif. – Roush Fenway Racing has Auggie Vidovich on standby in case David Ragan needs to focus on his Sprint Cup car this weekend at Auto Club Speedway.

Vidovich has practiced the Nationwide Series car for Ragan on weekends when the Cup and Nationwide series were at different tracks.

Ragan is 13th in the Cup standings, 12 points behind 12th-place Clint Bowyer for one of the 12 spots in the Chase For The NASCAR Sprint Cup with two races remaining before the field is set.

“We pay attention to the schedule, and certainly we don’t want to give up anything on the Nationwide Series because we’re still fighting for a top-five in points and trying to get some wins,” Ragan said. “But if something were to happen, a rain situation [with a race Sunday] or the schedule gets conflicted in a way, we don’t want to lose any focus on our Cup program.

“We just have Auggie standing here. He has done an excellent job in the races that he has subbed in for me through the middle part of the summer. Having him here is a good plan B if something were to happen, and obviously it doesn’t look like it’s going to rain. But if one car is really struggling or if I have to focus on one car, he is here to help us out.”

Ragan said he is planning on running both Cup and Nationwide practices today.

“I’ve been doing it all year,” Ragan said. “Letting [Vidovich] run one practice and me sitting back, it would probably drive me crazy, and I would end up screwing up even bigger. We’ll keep [doing] it like it’s always done, but in case something were to happen, we want to have a good plan B.”