David Ragan finally a Sprint cup winner

Last night, David Ragan redeemed himself for his mistake that cost him the Daytona 500 in February. Last night, we saw the two-car drafting again. It proved to be helpful and hurtful. Both Trevor Bayne and points leader Carl Edwards were two of the drivers who fell victim of the tow-car draft. Bayne suffered the most after contact with drafting partner Brad Keselowski, sending Bayne into the outside wall after further contact with the 33 car of Clint Bowyer, who crashed on the last lap. Carl Edwards had gotten spun out by teammate Greg Biffle, getting enough damage to take out the crush panel.

For people who don’t know, the crush panel is on the car to prevent the exhaust from the car to go inside the car. Without the crush panel, your whole car will fill up with carbon monoxide. Most cars have blowers which blow cool air into their helmets. Those blowers have carbon monoxide filters. Carl Edwards didn’t have a blower in his car. Without that blower, Carl potentially put his health in danger while driving the racecar.

Most of the race was pretty uneventful. We saw a lot of lead changes and two-car drafts, seeing Ryan Newman up front the most. When you look at the two-car drafting teams, you saw the obvious team-ups like: Kahne and Vickers, Ragan and Kenseth, Logano and Kyle Busch, Harvick and Menard, Bowyer and Burton; and then we saw some not so obvious team-ups: Hamlin and Newman, Stewart and Gilliland, Keselowski and Biffle (both lost their drafting partners early), Kurt Busch and Smith. In the final laps, both Joey Logano and Kasey Kahne had lost their drafting partners, so what did they do? They teamed up together. They did fairly well considering that they finished 3^rd and 4^th, respectively, with Kahne pushing Logano to the finish.

Some people still don’t like the two-car draft. I think it makes for more exciting racing instead of all 43 cars under a blanket. Two-car drafting allows you to make up time on the track fast. Look at Mark Martin and Jeff Gordon. With about ten laps to go, they were deep in the field. A handful of laps later, they were both in the top-ten, fighting to get the lead. They both crashed out though. See? Exciting racing!

David Ragan was there from the drop of the green flag to the checkered. He raced like a veteran and he won, with the help of teammate, 2003 NASCAR Cup champion Matt Kenseth. Matt pushed him to the victory, just like David would have done for Matt if the roles were reversed and in the Nationwide race the night before, Joey Logano getting the push from teammate Kyle Busch.

David has had so much heartbreak and he has struggled the last few years, but with this win, I think David saved his job. UPS is in a contract year and if David doesn’t perform, UPS may not come back. I think this win will help propel David farther and help keep UPS on board for a few more years. With his win, David is squarely in the top 20 in points and has the second wild card spot for the chase.

Congratulations David! You earned it!

Is 2011 the year for the first-time winners?

The two biggest races in the Sprint Cup series were won by drivers that had never won a Cup race before. Is 2011 the year for the first-time winners?

Trevor Bayne, in his second cup start, won the Daytona 500 in the famed Wood Brothers 21, who up until then, hadn’t won a race in 10 years. You could consider Trevor Bayne is a rookie sensation, but after that win, his season hasn’t been stellar. If you look at the Nationwide Series, Trevor was surging until a mystery illness sideline the surprise 500 winner for six weeks. He is in his first race since April right now as I write this.

Regan Smith, who would have won a race back in 2008 if it weren’t for the double-yellow line, won the Southern 500 at Darlington. The race was dominated by Red Bull Racing’s Kasey Kahne. Smith, who drives for Furniture Row Racing, the only Cup team that isn’t based in North Carolina, but in Denver, Colorado, was at the right place at the right time to win the race.

If you even look at the Nationwide series, 2010 Nationwide Series Rookie of the year Ricky Stenhouse Jr., got his first win at Iowa.

If you look at all of these first time winners this year, there is something similar about them. It’s not the team the won for. It’s not the age of the drivers. It’s the driver who finished 2^nd to them. That guy? Carl Edwards. The Sprint Cup Series points leader.

On to what this blog is really about. Who will be the nest winner in the Cup series? Instead of doing the way I usually do to ask questions, I used one of the newest things on Facebook. I asked a question. I only had three options. David Ragan, Marcos Ambrose, and AJ Allmendinger. The results were tremendous. After 78 answers, the results were in. With a whopping 48 votes, David Ragan is pretty much everyone’s picks to be the next first-time winner.

A regular in the Cup series since 2007, David Ragan has had a roller coaster of a career. His sophomore season was a stellar one, finishing 13^th in points, being the high non-chaser in the final points. The next two seasons, however, weren’t as good. 2011 is a make-or-break year for the Unadilla Georgia native. This year, David earned his first career pole at Texas, a race that his teammate won, and earned his best career finish of second last week at Charlotte. Everyone has been saying ‘When will David Ragan break into Victory Lane?’ Here’s what some people said on why they picked David Ragan:

Cindy Huffaker

David Ragan...so much better this year....he's shown he's more than ready to be in VL

Steph Piech David has more experience in a stock car and I feel that he's got a stronger team and better equipment!

Gina Marie Navarra well since Roush Fenway is doing really good right now, why not Ragan? :)

Devin Bachman ragan mis i am picking ford kiss ass there and he win there would be sweet for jack there rouch racings rules there

Matt Kacar I chose Ragan because he has been fast all year long and he’s coming close to winning finishing second in last night race

Coming in second with 18 votes, Australian Marcos Ambrose has had his ups and downs as well. His first full season in the cup series was 2009. He’s been very competitive since then. In 2009, Marcos Ambrose finished 3^rd at Sonoma and 2^nd at Watkins Glen, road courses which are considered his best track. In 2010, after Kasey Kahne announced his departure from Richard Petty Motorsports, Marcos was named the driver for the 9 car. In the 2011, Marcos has been a factor at the end of most, if not all, of the races this season. Here’s what some people said about Ambrose:

Ashley Marie Shafer I picked Marcos Ambrose cuz I think he is doing great and I see him getting his 1st win when they go to a road course!! =) (If he doesn't screw up again like last year)
Melissa Goodwin I think that he is going to win this year at Sonoma

Eric Carlson I think if Hamlin doesn't win at Infineon, then it will be Marcos Ambrose that wins there. As long as he doesn't do what he did last year when he shut the engine off and could not get it restarted because he was on the hill and Jimmie Johnson passed him and won

The last driver in the poll was AJ Allmendinger with 12 votes. Starting his career with a generally new team, Red Bull Racing, Allmendinger’s start to his career wasn’t a very good one. After being dropped by Red Bull Racing, Allmendinger bounced around race teams until being picked up by Richard Petty Motorsports for the 2010 season. Now in 2011, AJ, like his teammate, has been running very well. (I would attach things people said about Allmendinger, but no one posted anything)

Will the poll hold true? Will David Ragan be the next first-time winner? Where will he get his first win? Only time will tell if anyone or all of these drivers get their first win in the Cup Series.