ESPN Sprint Cup

ESPN.com preseason rank: No. 10

2009 Outlook

For a driver who hasn't won a race or made the Chase, David Ragan certainly is garnering a lot of attention these days. Most believe he's on the cusp of greatness, that as soon as that first victory comes, others will follow.

"It's neat to see that we're getting a bit of good press and people are talking about us," Ragan said. "But we've got our focus on goals, and that's the same thing we've done the last two years. We know that we're capable of winning races, we're capable of making the Chase. We've got good race cars, and it's all about me being a smart race car driver and not making mistakes."

Ragan appears to have the intermediate tracks down, as do most of the Roush drivers. He is solid on superspeedways, finishing fifth and third in his past two plate races. Getting his road-course program down will help elevate him into Chase contention.

"I'm going to get out there and practice in any sort of vehicle I can," said Ragan, who has an average finish of 28.7 in four road-course races with no finish better than 24th.

"David is getting more comfortable in them, but he still has a long way to go," crew chief Jimmy Fennig said.

Ragan came a long way from 2007 to 2008, so there's no reason to think he can't.

2008 Review

Ragan was runner-up for rookie of the year in 2007, but he definitely was the most improved driver in 2008. He went from 23rd in points to 13th, from three top-10s to 14 and two top-5s to six. He improved his driver rating from 56.1 to 81.8.

He finished the season with five top-10s in the final eight races and seven finishes of 13th or better. He also led the series in number of laps completed with 10,661, 18 more than series champ Jimmie Johnson.

"You can definitely expect us to pick up where we left off and hit the ground running," Ragan said. "[Last year] was successful, but I think 2009 can be even better."

He has a shot at the title if: He can turn a few of those top-5s and top-10s into victories. The rest is in place.

He won't win the title because: He hasn't found that small missing piece that it takes to win, and it's tough to capture a title without those bonus points.

-- David Newton