David Ragan

David Ragan (born December 24, 1985 in Unadilla, GA) is a stock car racer who drives for Roush Fenway Racing in the #6 UPS Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, as well as the #6 Discount Tire Company Ford in the Nationwide Series, in which he was the 2007 Rookie of the Year. He has also competed in ARCA and the Camping World Truck Series.

His father, Ken Ragan, is a former Winston Cup journeyman.

Ragan graduated in 2004 from Jay M. Robinson High School in Concord, North Carolina.

Ragan is one of a handful of drivers who wear their blood type on their firesuit; his blood type is O positive.^{[citation needed]}

He has also been quite vocal on the positives of the online social networking media for NASCAR.^[1]

Early career

Ragan made his Truck debut at the age of 18 at Texas Motor Speedway in 2004 for Fiddleback Racing, finishing twentieth. He ran nine more races that year, finishing nineteenth twice. He also ran one Busch Series race that year for Sadler Brothers Racing, achieving a thirty-first place finish at the Ford 300. In 2005, he ran three Busch races for Day Enterprise Racing, his best finish being a 36th-place finish at The Milwaukee Mile. In the ARCA series, he won his first race at Lanier National Speedway.

Roush Fenway Racing

In 2005, Ragan was also featured as a contender on Roush Racing: Driver X.^{[citation needed]} Despite concerns from Roush executives about his trait as being outspoken, Ragan won a ride in the Craftsman Truck Series. In 2006, Roush originally intended Nextel Cup regular Mark Martin and Ragan to split duties in the #6 Scotts Miracle-Gro Company Ford F-150. Ragan would run the #50 Ford in several races that Martin was also scheduled to run. He made his debut in the John Deere 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and started on the pole in his third start, when qualifying was rained out, but struggled in his four starts, crashing twice and never finishing on the lead lap.^{[citation needed]} He scored his first career top-ten at Texas Motor Speedway, where he finished eighth, then had four consecutive top-tens, and won his first career pole at O'Reilly Raceway Park. He made his first Busch Series start at California Speedway, replacing Danny O'Quinn in the #50 World Financial Group Ford Fusion. He qualified for his first Nextel Cup race at Dover International Speedway driving the #06 3M Performance Ford Fusion. Ragan got his first win at the 2009 Aaron's 312, when he made a last second pass on Ryan Newman for the win after Newman had made contact with Dale Earnhardt Jr.^{[citation needed]}, and got his second at the '09 Food City 250 in Bristol.

Sprint Cup

On October 11, 2006, Roush Racing named Ragan as the full time driver for 2007 in the #6 AAA Ford Fusion, replacing long-time driver Mark Martin.

Ragan attempted to run the remainder of the 2006 schedule under the #60 No Fear Racing banner (a Roush-affiliated team that receives its equipment from Roush), as the #06 team was limited to running a maximum of seven races under NASCAR rules limiting the maximum number of teams one owner can have.^[2], and the 06 team had already attempted six races in 2006. He did not make a race in the 60. During the closing parts of the season, Ragan was restricted from running 1.5 mile ovals due to a poor performance at Martinsville Speedway where he was involved in several incidents and drew the ire of several of his fellow Sprint Cup competitors, including Tony Stewart, who called him "a dart without feathers."^{[citation needed]}

His first start in the #6 AAA Ford was the 2007 Daytona 500, where he finished 5th. He finished 3rd in the Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond, his best finish to date, and he finished runner up to Juan Pablo Montoya for Rookie of the Year. He also competed in a full season in the Busch Series, finishing 5th in points, and was named Rookie of the Year. Also, Ragan suffered more accidents than any other driver with 26 in 2007.^{[citation needed]} He improved to fourteen top-tens in 2008 in Cup, and finished thirteenth in points. At the end of the year, AAA left his team, and the United Parcel Service became the new sponsor.

Community Service & Outreach

Ragan has partnered with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency to promote Ready Georgia, a state-wide campaign aimed at better educating Georgians on how to properly prepare for disasters. Ragan has a profile on the campaign's website listing what he keeps in his ready kit.^[3]

Ragan has also done PSAs via the UPS Racing site on safe driving for teens, a program known as UPS Road Code.

References

External links

• Official website
• UPS Racing
• Ragan's NASCAR stats