David Ragan 2010 Preview, Predictions & Odds

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David Ragan 2009 Stats

David Ragan 2009 Recap & Review

When David Ragan sits with his grandkids and reminisces over his racing career, he may skip over the Sprint Cup portion of 2009. Ragan and the No. 6 team were at the bottom of a struggling Roush Fenway barrel, and the results showed it. After beginning the year with a 6th place run in the Daytona 500, he did not score another top 15 until the season’s 9th race in Talladega – another plate race. One of the few bright spots for the young driver shined that same weekend, as young Ragan scored his first NASCAR national touring series win in the Nationwide Series race. Ragan won an additional Nationwide race this year at Bristol in August.

But sans a top 15 here or there, Ragan had a dismal season as he and the UPS team floundered outside the top 25 in points. Ragan’s lackluster runs were magnified by the fact that he almost made the Chase last season, on the strength of six top 5s and 14 top 10s. Chris Andrews, a Roush engineer and former crew chief at Richard Childress Racing and Evernham Motorsports, assisted crew chief Jimmy Fennig for several races midway through the season to help create synergy between Ragan’s feedback and the engineering department — but it didn’t work.

Another point of concern for Ragan was his lack of car control. Ragan regressed in his progress in 2009, making many on-track mistakes reminiscent of his rookie season in ’07. While handling is to blame for much of this past season’s struggles, Ragan has to learn to not overdrive his No. 6 Ford if he wants to be successful when Roush Fenway straightens itself out.

David Ragan 2010 Preview & Prediction

After escaping the dreaded sophomore slump in 2008, when he finished 13th in points, David Ragan seemed primed to make a run for the Chase in his third full season of Cup competition. As it turns out, the slump was simply running one year late, leaving Ragan to spend most of 2009 just fighting to keep his head above water.

Four DNFs and only two top 10s spelled disaster for the driver of the No. 6 UPS Ford, who went the full year without a top-5 finish in plummeting to 27th in the final standings. It was easily the worst performance within the five-car Roush Fenway Racing organization, and car owner Jack Roush knew changes were needed to get this team back to where it once was.

Naturally, a change at crew chief is where Roush turned to try and stop the bleeding. Veteran head wrench Jimmy Fennig, who had been with Ragan since his jump to Cup, was reassigned to the R&D department for 2010 — a move Fennig favored. He gives way to Donnie Wingo, who led Jamie McMurray to a win at Talladega last season before Roush’s No. 26 team closed up shop in November.

The word “fresh” says it all when describing the current problem. Fennig was an old school crew chief in a new school world, where simulations and wind tunnels make a bigger difference than an extra round of wedge. Two Nationwide Series wins by Ragan prove there’s talent behind the wheel, but what he needs is the right chassis underneath him to show it.

Solid sponsorship remains from UPS, although Ragan and the No. 6 team had to endure former UPS driver David Reutimann running circles around them as he finished 16th in points. Whether he’ll outperform the No. 6 team a second time depends on how quickly Ragan’s engineering comes up to speed.

Considering the new crew chief and how RFR struggled as a whole, a trip to the Chase and Victory Lane could be a tall order for Ragan in 2010. But after the most serious slump of his short Cup career, there’s nowhere to go but up.

David Ragan 2010 Predictions

We predict that David Ragan will finish 24th in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

David Ragan Betting & Odds

David Ragan NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship Odds: +10000

David Ragan Betting Trends & Situations

• after finishing worse than 15th, average finish is 21.8
• when racing in February, average finish is 17.4

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