by Rea White, NASCAR Scene, Special to FOXSports.com

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With six races to go before the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field is set, Ragan is 14th in the series standings, 56 points outside of a berth in the 10-race, championship-determining segment of the schedule. It's been a breakout season for the second-year Cup driver, one in which he's become increasingly consistent and has, on occasion, challenged for a win.

Rea White (NASCAR Scene)

But a spot in the Chase? If Ragan achieves that feat, it will be a surprise for many in the Cup arena.

For the 22-year-old Georgia native, though, it will simply be reaching a goal.

Competing full time in both the Cup and Nationwide series this season, Ragan has proven to be a student of the sport. He's caught the eye of his teammates and competitors with his steady improvement and studious approach. As he prepares to return to tracks for the second time this season — and only the fourth time in his Cup career — he seems likely to only continue to improve.

After finishing 23rd in the series standings as a rookie, most would consider a top-15 run this year an accomplishment, a confidence-inspiring sign of growth.

Ragan, though, hungers for more. Perhaps that's because he's so tantalizingly close to having a shot at the championship. Maybe it's just the type of competitor he is, or the confidence he's developed under the tutelage of veteran crew chief Jimmy Fennig.

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Whatever the cause, one thing is clear: Ragan has his sights firmly locked on the Chase.

"We're proud of where we're at, but certainly we think that we could be a little better," he says of his season. "A few mistakes throughout the year and we would be in the top 10 comfortably, but we've learned a lot this year, and we're really excited about the last 15 or 18 races. Certainly, making the Chase is our number-one priority right now — top-five, top-10 finishes, that's what's going to get us there."

He doesn't plan to pin his hopes on the fate of others. Instead, Ragan looks within his own group and himself. He thinks they have what it takes to make up the ground, regardless of how others perform.

"We can't depend on the other teams struggling, we can't depend on the other teams having mechanical failure or something like that, we've just got to go out and do what we know is right as a team and try to do what we've been doing all year without making mistakes," he says. "I felt like our Fords have been real fast all year, and it's just a matter of showing a little bit of patience and making some good moves on the race track and on pit road. So I feel like we've had a good year. It hasn't been perfect. It's certainly an improvement from last year, but we've got to constantly show improvement and get to where we want to be at."

His season to date includes six top-10 and three top-five finishes. While some of his worst struggles of the year have come at tracks where the races between now and the Chase are scheduled, Ragan has shown that he learns from his experiences and generally improves before return visits to any track. He was 24th at Pocono, site of this weekend's Cup race, earlier this year. The series hasn't been to the Watkins Glen road course this season, but Ragan was 24th on the road course at Infineon earlier this year. At Michigan, though, he was eighth and at California 14th. All of these were improvements over his finishes at the tracks last season. The pre-Chase run also includes Richmond (where he was 17th this year, but third last September) and Bristol (where he was 21st).

As he heads into this final stretch leading up to the championship run, Ragan hopes he can continue to gradually chip into his deficit to the Chase teams.

To do that, though, he and his team don't plan to make any changes. They got to this point in the season by running their own races and focusing solely on their effort.

That formula has proved to be successful for the group, so why alter it now?

"My strategy is not going to change at all," he said. "You can't really go out and force the issue on trying to win races. If we're in position with 50 laps to go or the last fuel run, we're certainly going to take some chances and try to win the race. But from the drop of the green flag to two-thirds through the race, we're just going to do what we know what's right, try not to make any mistakes, try not to hurt ourselves and try to be around at the end."

Regardless of whether he makes the Chase or not, Ragan has made his mark on the series this season. The second-year driver may have entered the season quietly, but he has made his presence felt as a more mature, morecompetitive presence on the track.

So whether he makes the championship field this year or not, Ragan will garner a lot more attention — from fans and competitors — when the 2009 season opens.

"David Ragan, he's unbelievable," teammate Carl Edwards says. "For a while there, it was a given that I was going to be able to finish in front of him, and that's not the case anymore. He's learning. When you look at David and where he came from, the really small amount of experience he has and had before he came into the Cup series, he's doing an unbelievable job. And I think that he's right on track learning-wise. I think he's going to be great."

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Rea White is a writer for NASCAR Scene, which is published weekly, 50 weeks per year. Visit www.scenedaily.com for more information. © 2007 Street & Smith Sports Group.