David Ragan to Front Row Motorsports: David Ragan, who spent the past five seasons driving for Roush Fenway Racing, will drive for Front Row Motorsports in the Sprint Cup series in 2012. An official announcement is scheduled for early next week, sources said. It remains unclear which team Ragan will drive for at Front Row, which fielded Ford teams last season for #34-David Gilliland and #38-Travis Kvapil [and a limited schedule with the #55].(Charlotte Observer)(1-14-2012)

 

I'm glad hes driving for Ford!!!

 

UPDATE: Front Row Motorsports will follow up its best season in the team's young history by bolstering its line-up for 2012, adding race winner David Ragan to drive the #34 Ford in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Front Row veteran David Gilliland will build off an impressive 2011 season, returning to the team behind the wheel of the team's second entry, the #38 Ford. Ragan joins Front Row after completing a 2011 season that delivered his first Cup win (Daytona International Speedway in July), two poles, and four top-five and eight top-10 finishes. The 26-year-old Unadilla, Ga., native is already a NASCAR veteran, first joining the national stock-car ranks at the age of 18 and quickly ascending to premier-level Sprint Cup racing. His #34 team is locked in to the starting line-up entering the 2012 season, including a guaranteed starting spot in the prestigious Daytona 500 next month. Gilliland returns for his third season with Front Row and his seventh in the Cup series. The 35-year-old Riverside, Calif., native will return to the #38, the number he drove as a Sprint Cup rookie as well as the car he drove in his first season with Front Row. The #38 team is also locked in to the field entering 2012. Last season, Gilliland raced his way to a third-place finish in the Daytona 500 to start off an impressive 2011 run, in which he proved to be a force on superspeedways and road courses. Sponsorship for the Front Row Motorsports entries is being finalized and will be announced soon.(Breaking Limits/Front Row)(1-16-2012)

 

And that's the end of the road for Ragan.

 

I think David Ragan will be one of the big surprises in 2012. I would not be surprised to see David win at least two Sprint Cup races in 2012. Without having the pressure to try and get into the Chase, David can focus on winning races.

 

I'll be surprised if he finishes in the Top 30 in standings.

 

Its the Dave & Dave Show! Winning!

 

I agree!

 

I would not be too concerned where David places in final points standings. Now is the time for David to go for the win in every race. David needs to either win em or watch em. Secondly, his team may not even go to the far away races. Therefore, he would most likely not finish very high in points.

 

Front Row will compete in all 36 races with both #34 and #38 teams.

Ragan wasn't able to win at Roush, one of the top NASCAR teams in the history of NASCAR, he's not gonna win with below-average team like Front Row.

 

FR seems to be trying to build itself up a bit. While no great success, Ragan's an established name they can try to sell to sponsors.

 

Tsk Tsk Zoran. you must have forgotten about the two wins David Ragan got last year with Roush. David won the July race at Daytona and won against some top drivers to win a no points qualiying race. Two wins for the year. Look at how many racers who did not win. FRM has good equipment for 2012 and more experience. They will be a force in 2012.

 

Didn't Kenseth push him to the win and Daytona and in an interview after he said he "owed him one"?

 

"Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while".
In this case, during 2011 season, a blind squirrel would be Trevor Bayne, Regan Smith, Paul Menard and yes, David Ragan.

If it was up to me I would've fired Ragan a long time ago. He just doesn't have what it takes to drive for Roush.
He had plenty of chances to show his talent. He spent 5 years with Roush and what does he have to show? One win in a race where all that matters is to have somebody to bump-draft with?
Jack Roush should've replaced him a long time ago with somebody else ... if Jack has done so, maybe that #6 would still have a sponsor.

 

Regan Smith was no blind squirrel. He consistently was one of the fastest GM teams for most of last season. The Hendrick and RCR teams took their turns at being fast, but did not show strngth all season long. Regan Smith demonstrated that a smaller team can out think the larger teams. David Ragan rarely makes mistakes and can propel Front Row Racing to the front of the pact. Look for David Rsagan to make a big impact on the Sprint cup scene in 2012.

 

maybe he will sniff the front of the pack at the mile and halfs and get to front at the restrictor tracks ( but then again who doesn't) but doubt you will see him at the shrt tracks. Look I liked David, met him and got his auto. I follow Kenseth right now, followed Jarrett from '98 until he dumped Ford and started my nascar haul back with Ernie ervan and yates. He got the short end but he is on a hard road, once you get knocked down it low quality rides the writing is on the wall, you have to face it, even Johnson couldn't make those cars win IMHO. Hey remember Benson, sound like Ragan..does to me.

 

Yet he had only 5 Top 10s in 36 races ... Hmmmmm ...

 

David Regan now has a ride he deserves. You have heard the last of him and he is lucky to have a job in a cup car period imo.

 

You all are underrating the abilities of David Ragan. If you look at last season, you will see none of the Roush drivers had a really good year. The Roush cars were frequently very fast during the first third to half of most races and then just faded towards the end of each race. In order to have a good 2012 season, the Roush team has to figure out how to have their cars fast at the end of the race when it counts. No disrespect to Roush, but that was what prevented Biffle, Kenseth, and David Ragan from winning more races in 2012. The problem is Roush does not have enough teams to provide feedback to quickly improve the performance of their cars. Hendrick has had the advatage of being associated with more GM teams to maintain an advantage.

 

None of the Roush drivers had a really good year?
Well, Edwards was tied for the 1st place and Kenseth finished 4th.
In fact, Kenseth said that his 2011 car was the best one he ever had - including the championship (2003) car. And Kenseth would've probably finished 3rd if Vickers didn't crash him twice over the last 4 races of the season.

Other Ford's teams had a great year too. Petty got his first win with Ford (and first win overall in 3 years) and Wood Brothers got their first win in 10 years.