David Ragan’s first NASCAR Sprint Cup win came at a good time. After making 162 starts in the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford Ragan was on notice that sponsorship could become an issue at season’s end. With a push from teammate Matt Kenseth, the Georgia native lead a 1-2 sweep at Daytona Saturday night.  The Daytona victory has turned Ragan’s season around and could very well provide him a spot in the 2011 Chase for Sprint Cup.

VICTORY LANE
David Ragan – Redeems his team and himself with his win after his mistake at the Daytona 500.
Kevin Harvick – Takes over the points lead for the first time this season.
Joey Logano – Has scored 80 points over the last two weeks, one less than Jeff Gordon
THE GARAGE
Carl Edwards – Average points for the last five races is down to 27.2.
Storyline that we will remember: David Ragan winning at Daytona after his late race penalty in the Daytona 500.
Storyline that we will forget: Jimmie Johnson drops three spots in the standings, after his 20th place finish.

Power Rankings
(Rankings will be based off of who is running the best, with an emphasis on the last several races but having respect for the duration of the 36 race schedule. Last Week’s Rankings can be found in parenthesis.)
1.    (1) Kevin Harvick – Leads the Points Standings, has 3 wins on the season.
2.    (5) Matt Kenseth – In the last 7 races he has finished 1st, 14th, 6th, 8th, 2nd, 14th, 2nd.
3.    (7) Kyle Busch – Has scored the most points the last 9 races.
4.    (3) Kurt Busch – Is only second behind Gordon in points scored the last 5 races with 193.
5.    (8) Jeff Gordon – Has scored 195 points the last five races, only behind Kurt because Kurt is 4th in points.
6.    (2) Carl Edwards – Has scored 27.2 points the last 5 races.
7.    (4) Jimmie Johnson – Has finished 2 out of the last 3 races 20th or worse.
8.    (10) Denny Hamlin– has scored 40 points the last 2 weeks after his 47 point win at Michigan.
9.    (6) Clint Bowyer – Has had 3 DNF’s on the season.
10.    (9) Dale Earnhardt Jr. – Never really had a chance with the way these cars now draft.
11.    (NR) Joey Logano – Only 5 drivers have score more points over the last 5 races all are in the Top 8 in points.
12.    (NR) David Ragan – This win puts him into one of  the Wild Card spots in the Chase standings.

Driver of Week – Kevin Harvick – with his 7th place finish he has now taken over the points lead over Carl Edwards.

Stat of the Week: With David Ragan’s win, Brad Keselowski now has to outscore Ragan by 30 over the next nine races to get the wild card spot while also making up 12 over 20th place.

Last Week’s Prediction Results: Clint Bowyer – Finished 33rd after being involved in an accident on lap 164.

Prediction for Kentucky: The driver with the best history at Kentucky is Joey Logano so he is my pick to win this week.

Question of the Week: Who will be the two wild card spots in this year’s Chase for the Cup?

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