Seemingly out of nowhere, David Ragan-in-the-Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup makes sense. Ragan and his UPS team still need to leap a couple hurdles first.
1) He needs to win a points race. Ragan tasted victory for the first time in his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career last Saturday night, winning the Sprint Showdown – his first win of any kind in the series. He followed it up with a solid eighth-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race. A points win would immediately put Ragan in contention for the Wild Card. After race No. 26 at Richmond, the top 10 in points earn a berth in the 12-driver Chase field.
Spots 11 and 12 go to drivers with the most wins, provided they are in the top 20. Ragan has steadily improved this season. His three top 10s already match last year’s total, and his Driver Rating of 77.3 is a 10-point improvement over last year through 11 races (67.3). That’s eighth-largest jump in the series.
2) He needs to get into the top 20. That’s a key wrinkle, and one that’s attainable for Ragan. Currently 11 points out of the top 20, Ragan’s statistics suggest a continued surge. Ragan has a Driver Rating of 71.2 at Charlotte, making the 1.5-mile track his eighth-best track. Michigan, which is three weeks away, is his fourth-best at 77.6.
| 
|