David Ragan

Ragan after the 2019 Steven Universe Future 400 presented by Ford at Homestead Miami Speedway

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**David Lee Ragan** is an American professional stock car racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Pepsi Cup Series, driving the No. 15 Ford Mustang for Rick Ware Racing. Ragan is also an analyst for NASCAR on Fox on *NASCAR Race Hub*.

## Career

### 2006: First Starts

In 2006, Ragan was announced to drive Roush Racing's sixth entry, the no.06 Ford in three races for the 2006 season with fellow Roush driver, Todd Kluever. The plan was that Kluever would take over the no.6 car beginning in 2006 and Ragan would eventually move up the Pepsi Cup when a ride becomes available.

Ragan made his debut in the 2006 Dover 400 at Dover International Speedway, however 46 laps into the event, Ragan crashed, causing him to finish 49th. Ragan would later return at Martinsville, and was able to finish 25th completing all 500 laps ran that day. In the following race at Atlanta, Ragan ran mostly mid pack throughout the event and ended up finishing 27th, four laps down.

One week later, Ragan returned once again, this time, driving the no.60 Ford for No Fear Racing. However he finished 47th after the engine gave out at the halfway point. Ragan then returned again for the finale at Homestead driving for No Fear once again, finishing 32nd seven laps off the pace.

### 2007: Rookie Season

Todd Kluever was originally scheduled to drive the No. 6 car in 2007, but due to lackluster performance in the Mnt. Dew Series, Roush Racing decided to put Ragan in the car full-time.

Ragan began his rookie year with a fifth place finish in the 2007 Daytona 500, after dodging a massive pile up coming off turn four on the final lap. Despite the top five, Ragan was unable to finish in the top ten until the twenty sixth race of the year at Richmond after finishing third. Ragan would also nab a top ten at Homestead with a tenth place run. Ragan scored two top fives, three top tens, eleven top twenties, an average finish of 24.5 and a disappointing 23rd in points. Despite it, he still won Rookie of the Year.

### 2008: Improvements

Ragan's sophomore year was drastic improvement. After finishing 49th in the Daytona 500, Ragan finished 14th at California, followed by a 7th place run at Las Vegas. After a streak of struggles with only two top twenties, Ragan got his first top five of 2008, finishing 4th in the Aaron's 499 at Talladega. Ragan then had an incredible 2008 season, scoring five more top 5's and 14 Top 10's, finishing 13th in points.

### 2009-2010: Declining in performance

In 2009, Ragan's powerful performance unraveled horrendously with only two top tens with a best finish of 6th in the rain shortened 2009 Daytona 500. After finishing 27th in points, this culminated in the no.6 team's crew chief, Jimmy Fenning being replaced by Donnie Wingo for 2010.

In 2010, Ragan only got three top tens with a best finish of 6th at the 2010 Aaron's 499 at Talladega and finished 24th in points at season's end. Later in the year, it was announced that Ragan would be replaced by Jamie McMurray beginning in 2011.

### 2011: Penske Racing

After being replaced by McMurray in the 2011 season, Ragan needed to find a ride for the season. Ragan luckily found one at Penske Racing to drive the no.12 Dodge, however going into the season the no.12 team was lacking sponsorship, with Penske saying that the 12 car would run with the intent of running only as long as sponsorship would allow. Verizon would sponsor the 12 team for the Daytona 500 that year.

Ragan began the year almost winning the Daytona 500, but he got penalized for moving lanes before he crossed the line on the restart with two laps to go, and placed 14th. Four races later, Ragan scored two top tens at Martinsville and Texas, and his first pole at Texas. After finishing 39th at Talladega, Ragan scored his first top five of the year after finishing 4th at Richmond. One week later, he won the Sprint Showdown at Charlotte Motor Speedway, passing Brad Keselowski with two laps to go. He would then go on to finish second in the 2011 Coca Cola 600.

He won the Coke Zero 400 on July 2, 2011, for his first career Pepsi Cup win after getting a late push from former-teammate Matt Kenseth. He was eligible to compete in the "wild card" to get himself into the Chase for the Pepsi Cup. After bad finishes a few weeks before the final race before the Chase at Richmond, he finished 4th but was 54 points away from 13th to put himself into a Chase position. He closed out the year in 23rd.

At the end of the 2011 season Penske closed down the no.12 team after no sponsorship could be found for 2012. Because of this, Ragan was once again a free agent.

### 2012-2014: Front Row Motorsports

In January 2012, Ragan signed with Front Row Motorsports to drive the No. 34 Ford for the team in 2012. However things got off on a bad start when Ragan was collected in the first crash and caution on lap 2 of the Daytona 500, finishing last. Nine races later, Ragan would achieve his first top ten of 2012, with a 7th place showing in the 2012 Aaron's 499 at Talladega. Ragan would also finish 4th at the fall Talladega event. Ragan finished 28th in points.

Despite this, Front Row Motorsports announced that Ragan would return to the 34 for the 2013 season. He started the season wrecked at the Daytona 500 (along with his two other teammates, David Gilliland and Josh Wise) and had no finish better than 20th in the first nine races until he finished 20th at Richmond. In the following race at Talladega, Ragan started the green–white–checker restart in 10th-place. On the last lap, teammate Gilliland was able to help push him past Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, and Carl Edwards to win the race. This was his first win with Front Row Motorsports and the team's first Pepsi Cup win, as well as the first NASCAR win for his sponsor for that race, Farm Rich. The 34 team improved more in 2013 earning sixteen top-25 finishes including the win, a 12th-place finish at the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, and a sixth-place finish at the fall Talladega race. However, three consecutive engine failures during the Chase dropped Ragan to finish 28th in points once again. Later on, Ragan would continue his driving duties in the no.34 for 2014.

However 2014 ended up becoming a bad year for Ragan, not finishing in the top 20 until the 2014 Dunder Mifflin 400 at Pocono, when he finished 18th. He would then finish in the top twenty again at both Pocono and Watkins Glen later in year. Later on, Ragan got his first top-10 finish on a non-restrictor plate track with Front Row Motorsports in the 2014 Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 at Martinsville Speedway by gambling on track position with 5 laps to go in the race. It was his first top-10 of the season and came with a paint scheme paying tribute to the late Wendell Scott, who had also driven the number 34. Ragan finished 32nd in points.

### 2015: Multiple Rides

Ragan returned to Front Row Motorsports in 2015. Ragan's owner points were given to new teammate Cole Whitt, but Ragan raced his way into the Daytona 500, finishing 17th in the race.

But then the following week at Atlanta, Ragan was then suddenly tabbed to drive Joe Gibbs Racing's new no.19 Toyota as a part of JGR's program to have the no.19 team rotate between drivers throughout seasons. He finished 18th in his first start with JGR. He then raced in the following eight races where he recorded a 5th at Martinsville and picked up two top twenties.

However before the race at Kansas, he was released from JGR in exchange for Erik Jones to make his official Pepsi Cup Debut. But in time for the race at Kansas, he was able to take over Micheal Waltrip Racing's no.55 Toyota, replacing Kenny Wallace who drove the no.29 Toyota for RAB Racing that weekend before he took over JGR's no.19 for the season.

Ragan finished 33rd in his debut with MWR. He then raced in the remaining of the 2015 season with MWR, and racked up only nine top twenties, finishing 27th in points. After 2015, MWR closed their doors, knocking Ragan out of his ride.

### 2016: BK Racing

On January 19th, 2016, it was announced Ragan would drive full-time for BK Racing's no.23 Toyota Camry in 2016.