2016 plans in limbo, David Ragan working to secure future at MWR
As awkward situations go, David Ragan finds himself in a bit of one as it relates to his 2016 plans.
Filling in for Brian Vickers in Michael Watrip Racing's No. 55 Toyota through the end of the season, Ragan would obviously love to keep a ride with the two-car organization for next year.
At the same time, Ragan also wishes a speedy recovery for Vickers, who has experienced multiple health setbacks in recent years with the latest coming in March when MWR announced he would be sidelined indefinitely after a recurrence of blood clots.
If Vickers comes back next season -- and there's no guarantee that he will -- Ragan could be the odd-man out at MWR. Ragan, however, sees a potential opportunity to remain with the organization fulltime in the Sprint Cup Series even if Vickers gets back in the No. 55.
That opportunity would require the organization becoming a three-car stable -- as it last was in 2013 before the infamous "SpinGate" scandal at Richmond resulted in the departure of longtime sponsor NAPA and forced MWR to downsize to two teams.
"I just do what David Ragan can do," Ragan said on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway in an exclusive interview with FOXSports.com. "I feel like I control my own destiny with this program and going forward. I think if David Ragan puts in 100 percent, if he drives and races smart and doesn't have a lot of mistakes, if we have some good race cars, I think everything's going to be perfectly fine, and certainly from a team standpoint it could be a very good thing if Brian could come back. I know MWR would love to be a three-car team again."
Ragan said he talked with Vickers around the time that he first moved into the No. 55 in mid-May but the two haven't been in touch for several weeks.
"I'm sure when Brian's got some news or he's ready to be around the racetrack some, I'm sure we'll hear from him," Ragan said.
Ragan drove the Daytona 500 for Front Row Motorsports and then spent the next nine races subbing for the injured Kyle Busch in Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 Toyota before getting the call to take over the No. 55 beginning with the race on Mother's Day weekend at Kansas Speedway.
In five races with MWR, Ragan has yet to record a top-10 finish. All but one of those races has been at tracks longer than a mile, where Ragan admits MWR has some catching up to do. The Unadilla, Georgia native believes the organization's struggles have been mostly aero-related and primarily a result of not having enough grip.
"I think we're missing a little something on the high-speed, high-downforce, mile-and-a-half and two-mile racetracks," he said. "I think our road-course program's very competitive, our short-track program is where it needs to be. I haven't run a superspeedway race, so that's still to be determined, but Michigan, Pocono, Kansas, we're just a little bit off."
After just four races with MWR, Ragan got a new crew chief when the organization moved Billy Scott over to Clint Bowyer's No. 15 team and assigned Bowyer's old pit boss, Brian Pattie, to lead the No. 55.
"I didn't really expect that," said Ragan, who finished 35th at Michigan in his first start with Pattie. "It was something that as a company they felt that was a change that could improve our performance a little bit, and it was more than just the two guys sitting on the pit box. Some of the engineers switched around, and some of the process that our crew chiefs, engineering staff goes through on a weekend has been changed a little bit, so that was part of that process to try to make our teams more competitive week in and week out."
Although Ragan knows that only better results will likely lay the groundwork for an opportunity to remain with the company beyond 2015, he isn't letting the uncertainty of his future get to him.
He's been in these kind of predicaments before, not knowing if he would have a ride the next season.
"Every situation you have pressure, and I think that other drivers can feel the same way whether you're a young guy or an experienced older veteran and this may be your last shot, of you're in a contract year, or your sponsor's in a contract year," he said. "I could go down the list, so I really haven't felt in any year that, 'Hey, I'm good for two or three years. I don't have to worry.' Every year there's always been some unique situation where there's been extra pressure, and in my opinion that's the world that Sprint Cup drivers and teams live by, because we don't have any guaranteed contracts, we don't have any union language to fall back on, and so you don't ever take anything for granted whether you're on top of the mountain or you're just starting your climb."
