Ragan scores his first win Getty Images/Rusty Jarrett
For the #6 Roush Fenway Racing team and driver David Ragan Saturday at Talladega was a great day, but it was also pretty bad day. For his teammate #16 Matt Kenseth Saturday was another Talladega race where he was wrecked by his own teammate. While Kenseth left uninjured we are left to wonder how a scary wreck like his will affect him mentally the rest of the season.
Let us start with the good news; David Ragan finally earned his breakthrough victory in the Nationwide series. Many in the NASCAR media and at Roush Fenway have been waiting for this day since the decision to put Ragan into the famed #6 cup and nationwide series car was made two years ago.
For young David this was his first win in 85 career nationwide series starts. Since he will turn the #6 car over to Truck series veteran Erik Darnell next week, his next win should come in the Sprint Cup series. This was Roush’s second Nationwide win in a row and 101st for the team.
Ragan joins a list of; Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, and Carl Edwards who have won races for Roush in NASCAR’s number two series.
Kenseth on the other hand had a wild ride that can be seen here:
While he did ultimately walk away from this wreck unharmed we must wonder if this will affect him mentally. Way back in 1993 Rusty Wallace suffered through one of the worst Talladega wrecks ever and has since admitted that that wreck affected him mentally each and every time he returned to that track.
For Cup drivers like Kenseth, who only race part time in the Nationwide series, this is the ultimate risk versus reward scenario. On one hand track time is always good even when the cars are so different, but the risks involved are great. A few years ago Tony Stewart broke his shoulder blade running the Nationwide race that ultimately led him to have to get out of the car at Dover.
Each team and driver must understand these risks’s and balance that against the rewards of having a driver run in both series. Jack Roush has long argued that he wants his drives in the cockpit as much as possible; he seems to believe it keeps then sharp. However there is the risk that a significant injury may occur, and a risk that a severe mental blow may result for a scary wreck like the one Kenseth suffered.
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