David Ragan, driver of the No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion, is in fifth place in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings heading into Sunday’s race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Ragan, who started the season with a career-best fifth-place finish in the Daytona 500, is the only rookie among the top 10. Sunday’s event will mark Ragan’s fifth career start at the Cup level.

DAVID RAGAN – No. 6 AAA Ford Fusion – YOU WERE FIFTH IN POINTS AFTER DAYTONA, AND REMAINED FIFTH AFTER CALIFORNIA. HOW IMPORTANT WAS IT TO YOU TO BACK UP THE START TO YOUR SEASON? “It was very important. I feel like the California run was a better run for us than the Daytona run. Certainly, at Daytona you have to be in position to be there for the end, and we were in position and anything could’ve happened. We could’ve finished 15th as easy as we finished fifth. At California, we were realistically a top-15 car. We ran strong throughout the race, and I really am more proud for the team than I am for myself after the California run than Daytona.”

WITH TWO STRONG FINISHES, HOW DO YOU THINK OTHER DRIVERS IN THIS SERIES NOW PERCEIVE YOU? HAVE YOU EARNED SOME RESPECT? “It’s going to take time. Just two races that we popped out of the box and surprised a few people, that’s not going to do anything. You might ask me that question, maybe, after the July Daytona race, but it’s going to take some time. I got to race with some guys out in California, we had a great time racing with each other, and I think as the year goes on and we race with some different people, you know, it’s going to be a hard process all year to be one of the guys, that they all you. We’re not worried about that, we’re going to take care of our ownselves, and that will come with time.”

THIS NO. 6 CUP TEAM DID NOT RACE LAST WEEK. DO YOU THINK THAT COULD BREAK THE TEAM’S MOMENTUM, OR DOES THAT NOT REALLY MATTER? “Well, I got to race last week down in Mexico. I had the most fun I’ve had, probably in the last year or two. I feel like everything’s lovely and we we’ve got a great car for this weekend. We’re not going to sweat it if we go out and qualify 20th or 25th, we know we’ve got a good car. We’re here to race. I’ve got caught up in trying to be the fastest in practice sometimes, and try to sat on the pole and stuff like that, and tore up some race cars, so we’re here to take it easy, and then the last 100 laps, that’s when we’re going to race.”

THE FIRST TWO CUP RACES THIS YEAR HAVE BEEN WON BY A DRIVER WHO WON THE BUSCH RACE THE DAY BEFORE. HOW TRANSFERABLE IS INFORMATION FROM THE BUSCH CAR TO THE CUP CAR? “The biggest thing for me is just making laps. We come to these tracks – and, yeah, we got to test here a few weeks ago – but I’ve been here one other time and a lot of these guys have been here five, 10 years, since the place opened, I guess. So, the big thing for me running the Busch car and the Cup car is just getting a chance to make laps. And that makes myself a better race-car driver. I know the No. 6 Discount Tire team can win races and I know our AAA team can win races, it’s just a matter of myself jelling with the crew chief, and the more laps I make, the more comfortable I am, the smarter I can be, and that’s the big difference in running Cup and Busch versus just the Busch car.