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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Countdown to Daytona - Young Guns
Among the relatively inexperienced drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, several showed flashes of brilliance last season that could translate into race victories...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted January 27, 2009   Harrisburg, NC
David Ragan finished 13th in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points in 2008, the highest finish of any driver to not make the Chase. (Geoff Burke/Getty Images Photo)
Editor’s Note: This is the second of 10 stories in SPEEDtv.com’s “Countdown To Daytona” preview of the upcoming 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season.

While the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series already has an established hierarchy of superstar drivers, every season there are young guns challenging the old bucks and 2009 will be no exception.

Countdown to Daytona - Radical Change

Among the relatively inexperienced drivers in the series, several showed flashes of brilliance last season that could translate into race victories or perhaps even a spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Here are four drivers to watch in 2009.

DAVID RAGAN — After suffering through the slings and arrows of a typically humbling rookie season in 2007, David Ragan emerged has one of the sport’s true rising stars last year, as he did everything but put his Roush Fenway Racing No. 6 Ford Fusion in victory lane or the Chase.

Ragan finished 13th in Sprint Cup points in 2008, the highest finish of any driver to not make the Chase. He also managed six top-five and 14 top-10 finishes, with his best results being third-place runs at both Michigan International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway. Tony Stewart claimed Ragan as his pick for driver of the year, citing his quantum leap in performance last year. Heady stuff for a rookie driver from Unadilla, Ga., who turned 23 years old on Christmas Eve.

This season, Ragan and his savvy veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig both return to the No. 6, along with a new sponsor, UPS. Add it all up and there’s no reason to think Ragan won’t win his first Cup race and make the Chase in 2009. In fact, no less an authority than Dale Jarrett called Ragan a lock for the Chase.

“I wouldn't be surprised to win any race that's on the schedule this year besides Sonoma and Watkins Glen, any oval track race,” said Ragan. “We've had speed. It's just all about not making many mistakes and being a smart racer. I say absolutely, I agree with Dale that we control our own destiny as far as making the Chase.”



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