NASCAR's David Ragan
by CHRIS DICICCO
To quote NEXTEL Cup driver Robert Pressley, a family friend of the Ragan family "It��s like there��s a blood line down here with the Ragans and racing. They��re good. And whether you��re in Legends, or Busch, or NEXTEL cup, they take everything serious and that��s exactly right. If you take it serious, you��re going to be successful.�� David Ragan, son of famed Ken Ragan, was born on December 24, 1985 in Unadilla, Georgia. The 6��s father is a former Winston Cup journeyman so it does not faze NASCAR enthusiasts that the younger Ragan has the same fire for racing as his father. Ragan is currently the director of 600 Racing and was a former NEXTEL Cup driver. During his career, Ken Ragan, made 50 Cup starts from 1982 to 1990. Ken Ragan also made five Busch Series starts in 1982 and 1983.
The younger Ragan started racing when he was 11 years old at the Atlanta Motor Speedway in the Bandoleer Series in 1997. He has been blessed with an extremely fruitful career ever since then. When he was 12 in 1998, he went on to win the National Champion Bandoleer Bandits division under the sponsorship of Rudy��s Farm. At the Atlanta Motor Speedway, he came in 2nd in the Thursday Thunder Series and won 12 Bandoleer features. From ages 13 to 14 (1999-2000), Ragan won the National Champion in the Bandoleer Yu-Guns division, he came in 1st at the Wendy��s Summer Shootout at the Lowes Motor Speedway, managed to grab 19 Bandoleer wins, competed in Legends Cars, won the Young Lions division for the state of Georgia, the Semi-Pro Championship at Atlanta Motor Speedway, purchased Nascar Goods Dash car and won 17 Legend Car features. For someone so young, Ragan achieved a lot in the short span of two years and went on to get more for himself. He gained experience working in Cam Strader��s Goodys Dash shop while on the tracks, he also worked on #6 NASCAR��s Goodys Dash car. On several occasions, he tested the Dash car. Later on, Ragan and Strader��s team worked on two NASCAR Late Models that was used by Ragan in 2002 during his first NASCAR series division. He continued to help Strader in the NASCAR Goodys Dash, Busch and ARCA events and raced ten Legends events at Lowe��s Motor Speedway.
By the time he was 18 and eligible for NASCAR divisions, he had driven for Mark Martin, won the ��King of the Oval�� thunder Roadster series championship with the national title. Ragan became the youngest driver during Speedweeks in Daytona and he proved his nettle after getting a best finish of 2nd at the subsequent ARCA/Remax series at Kentucky Speedway. He gained a lot of experience when he qualified to compete in eight NASCAR Craftsman Truck events the year he reached the minimum age limit.
Even though he was a terror on the tracks, Ragan��s family made sure he was doing well in school. Ragan was a student at the Eagle��s Landing High School which subsequently led him to a place in the UNC Motorsports Engineering program. He balanced both his professional and student life immaculately. Besides his father, Ragan looks up to Mark Martin on the track. He regards Martin as a mentor who has along the way, given him advice especially when he was preparing for his shot in the Scotts truck.
As Ragan matures and becomes more experienced on the NASCAR tracks, he is building a sound reputation on the tracks and he keeps looking forward to the next race. He has father, Ken Ragan, with him during all his races as Ken Ragan is also his manager. They share a tight bond, one that is cemented with the love of racing.
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