Ragan to attend road course class at Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. -- Nextel Cup Series rookie David Ragan will make his first-ever visit to Infineon Raceway on Friday, working with instructors from the Jim Russell Racing Schools.

Ragan, who has limited road-racing experience, has never traversed the twists and turns of Infineon Raceway's 10-turn, 1.99-mile road course. He'll be coached by Mark Wolocatiuk, the lead instructor of the Jim Russell Racing Schools. Wolocatiuk has coached stars like Tony Stewart, Kasey Kahne, Casey Mears and Bill Elliott, over the years. The Jim Russell Racing Schools has been based at Infineon Raceway since 1996.

"I'm definitely looking forward to the road courses," said Ragan, whose limited experience on road courses includes legends cars testing in Atlanta and Virginia. "You've got guys like Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon who are veterans and they make it look easy. I just want to get some track time and become familiar with it so I'm better prepared when we come out there in June."

Ragan will drive the serpentine circuit in one of the school's open-wheel cars, and there is the possibility of testing an American Speed Association stock car. Ragan, who drives for Roush Racing, will also receive plenty of classroom instruction.

"We're really hoping to get David familiar with the track," Wolocatiuk said. "The elevation changes and off-camber nature of Infineon Raceway will be important for him to understand and deal with in a heavy and high-horsepowered stock car."

Ragan will test on Friday, and then get some additional seat time on Saturday.