Five Drivers Who Could Easily Miss Daytona 500 Field

No. 1- No. 34 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford

It’s kind of hard to believe Ragan and his No. 34 team are in a spot where they could miss the 57th annual Daytona 500. The team finished 31st in owner points in 2014 and has been pretty consistent on the restrictor plate tracks throughout Ragan’s tenure at Front Row Motorsports.

However, during the off-season Front Row Motorsports added a third team with driver Cole Whitt. Whitt, who had driven the No. 26 Toyota for BK Racing in 2014, finished 31st in owner points. Whitt decided to move to Front Row Motorsports and the team rewarded him by swapping the points of the No.34 and No. 35 teams from 2014 virtually locking Whitt into the Daytona 500 and making David Ragan have to qualify his way into the field.

The move appeared to make a lot of sense. Ragan was a technicality away from winning the Daytona 500 in 2011 and both of his victories on the Sprint Cup Series tour have come on restrictor plate tracks including the 2013 running of the Aaron’s 499 giving Front Row Motorsports their first ever victory. Whitt, a rookie in 2014, is going to a brand new team and doesn’t have the experience Ragan has on the plate tracks. From an organization standpoint the move made a lot of sense.

However after Sunday’s qualifying Ragan found himself 44th of 49 cars and considering his team is now 48th in owner points from 2014 Ragan needs some of that restrictor plate magic to return or he could be watching the Daytona 500 for the first time since 2006.