Ragan running 14th, 56 points out of Chase

ATLANTA — Ten races into the Sprint Cup season, David Ragan remains solidly in contention for a berth in the season-ending Chase. Entering this weekend's Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway, Ragan is 14th in the standings, 56 points behind Kasey Kahne in 12th place. The top 12 will compete for the title in the final 10 races.

Ragan said on a teleconference this week that he considers himself among the contenders.

"Certainly, I think we have a chance," he said. "It's just a matter of what we do with our chance. We've got to continue to perform like we have. I've got to keep working on not making mistakes inside the race car.

"I think we've got a great pit crew on pit road that we can depend on when I come down. (Crew chief) Jimmy Fennig has been making a lot of the right calls, so things have just been working our way."

Testing at Lowe's, not Darlington

Sprint Cup drivers spent Monday and Tuesday testing at Lowe's Motor Speedway near Charlotte, but they'll go to Darlington this weekend and run on new pavement without the benefit of testing. Some questioned NASCAR's decision to test at Lowe's but not at Darlington, but Richmond winner Clint Bowyer seems to have it figured out.

"I guess (Lowe's Motor Speedway president Humpy Wheeler) is a better salesman or something," he told reporters at Richmond, referring to Wheeler's recent public campaign for the Lowe's test session.

Jamie McMurray was the fastest Tuesday at Lowe's, running a lap at 185.720 miles per hour. Elliott Sadler was fastest overall Monday with a lap at 186.245 mph.

Drift circuit comes to Road Atlanta

Tanner Foust and Sam-uel Hubinette are among the favorites as the Formula Drift circuit visits Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., this weekend. Hubinette won at Road Atlanta in 2004 and 2005 and was runner-up to Foust in '06.

The sport of drifting originated in Japan and migrated to the United States. The circuit that will compete at Road Atlanta is in its fifth year and caters to a younger "import tuner" audience instead of traditional race fans.

"You're basically going sideways and trying to connect with the other driver without interfering with him, but still be as close as possible to him while maintaining as much angle and speed as possible," Hubinette explained.

Drag racers to get exposure on TV

The Speed Channel show "Pinks All Out" will tape an episode this weekend at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga. A test and tune session is set for Friday, and the main event is Saturday. Gates open at 9 a.m. ET, time trials start at 11 a.m., and the elimination rounds begin at 8:30 p.m.

Rick Minter writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.