Top-30 drivers: David Ragan
By SceneDaily Staff Report
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
- TEXT SIZE: Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Reset Text Size
- No Comments. Leave a Comment
- Digg This
- Add to Del.icio.us
- RSS Feeds
STREETER LECKA / GETTY IMAGES /
Latest Headlines
David Ragan won the sweepstakes to replace Mark Martin in the familiar No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford and started the season on a high note at Daytona International Speedway before settling into a position just outside the top 20 for the remainder of the year.
He slipped in the final handful of races to his finishing position of 23rd in the NASCAR Nextel Cup standings after a respectable outing for a first-year driver. Ragan was runnerup in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings on the Cup side and won the honor in the Busch Series.
Ragan, a 21-year-old native of Unadilla, Ga., was a true NASCAR rookie in that he ran his first full season in any of the sanctioning body's three elite series. He competed in 19 Craftsman Truck Series races in 2006, finishing 23th in the standings. He ran two Cup events last season as well. This season in Cup, he earned more than $4.9 million in purses. He also ran the full Busch Series schedule, finishing fifth in the standings.
During the offseason, SceneDaily is taking a look at the top 30 in 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup driver points, and here's how Ragan's season unfolded:
By the numbers: Ragan earned two top-five and three top-10 finishes but had four DNFs over the course of the season, leading to his final finish of 23rd in the drivers standings.
Season highlights: Ragan burst onto the scene in style, finishing fifth in the season-opening, high-profile Daytona 500. He didn't earn his second top-five until the 26th race of the season at Richmond International Raceway but posted a career-best finish of third in that race.
Key setbacks: All of the Roush Fenway Racing drivers struggled in the initial races featuring the car of tomorrow, costing him valuable positions throughout the early months.
Newsworthy moment: Ragan was the subject of much speculation in the preseason as he prepared to take over the successful team formerly driven by Martin and its storied history of success. The young driver took that in stride, never flinching and trying to stay focused on the business at hand. The team gained its own headlines early as owner Jack Roush became the trendsetter in signing on a business partner to help with his Cup organization. The Fenway Sports Group, under the leadership of John Henry, is now a co-owner, and the team became Roush Fenway Racing.
In his words: "This Cup racing, just being fast is about half of it. You've got to learn how to race them, and you've got to learn how to be fast on restarts for the long run .... We can always be better. There are still some things to work on where I need to be better, but that's going to be the difference between finishing 20th every week and 10th every week."
- Mentioned Drivers:
- David Ragan
No Comments
Be the first to comment on "Top-30 drivers: David Ragan". Login or sign up for a free account below to post your comment