Head2Head: JPM vs. Ragan

Love him or hate him, the fact is Juan Montoya is doing very well in the Cup Series and that difficult transition from open-wheel to stock car is coming together beautifully in Year 2.

Last season, through the first 10 races, Montoya had just four lead-lap finishes, was sitting 21st in points, and his best finish was a fifth in Atlanta. This season, a completely different Montoya.

Through the first 10 races, he has eight finishes of 20th or better, his best coming at Talladega where he finished second; he's 16th in points, but just 66 points out of a Chase spot; and more impressive are no DNFs -- he's completed 99.2 percent of the laps run.

Montoya has found something he lacked last season -- consistency.

No one can deny Montoya had an up-and-down rookie campaign, with at times erratic driving and difficulty making the switch to stock cars, but that is a thing of the past.

The biggest change is he no longer tries to put his car where it doesn't belong. I'm not saying he's lost his aggressiveness, because that's a trait he will have forever. But he is a smart-aggressive driver now, and that should scare everyone else in the garage.

His run at Talladega was magical, using the draft and taking care of his car to ultimately finish second. Follow that up with great qualifying run at Richmond that put his No. 42 Dodge sixth on the grid, and Montoya had a perfect opportunity to put up back-to-back top-fives until he was caught up in the big crash and had to settle for 32nd.

The crew chief switch before Talladega that sent Donnie Wingo to the No. 41 and put Jimmy Elledge on Montoya's pit box will prove to be an overwhelming success. Elledge is one of the top guys in the garage, the two get along great, and driver-crew chief communication is already at a high level.

David Ragan is an amazing talent, and will be in this sport for a long time. I take nothing away from what he has accomplished in a short amount of time in the series. Ragan will have his moment in the sun, but this season, Montoya will be the one talked about in September.

Will he make the Chase? It's a possibility. He will need wins, but the fact he's more patient and has proven he can drive on all different styles of tracks show me Montoya is ready to go from "open-wheel transfer" to "Cup Series superstar."

• Bill Kimm, NASCAR.COM

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.

David Ragan, in my opinion the nicest guy in NASCAR, is proving why Jack Roush knows talent when he sees it.

The 22-year-old Georgia native lost rookie of the year honors to Juan Montoya last season, but who cares? Who cares when this season you're 56 points away from making the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup?

Montoya can have the grip-and-grin photos from the folks at Raybestos; Ragan has his eyes set on something much cooler for the mantle.

Flashes of brilliance have turned to floods of consistency for the Roush Fenway second-year driver, who in 10 races has ascended to 14th in the Sprint Cup standings.

He has progressed far beyond where he stood this time last season, which was 25th. Ragan has improved his average finishing rate by seven points and his average starting position by 13 points over last season. The man has learned how to qualify the car up front, which makes a considerable difference in performance.

Daytona aside, Ragan has been around at the end for every race thus far and has one top-five finish and two top-10s. More importantly, he is versatile. He can produce results on most tracks -- intermediate, short as well as superspeedways.

The only thing Montoya, former F1 driver, has on Ragan is his road-course talent and ability to win at Infineon Raceway and perhaps Watkins Glen International. Wins get bonus points now, so that's Montoya's only ace in the hole.

But Montoya is overly aggressive at times and may have burned bridges in the eyes of veterans, while Ragan has patiently paid his dues and learned some valuable lessons on the track.

If anyone gets a break on the track, it will be Ragan long before Montoya.

Last, developing at Roush Fenway Racing, where sponsorship dollars and resources are at Ragan's disposal, is obviously going to produce its advantages over Chip Ganassi Racing. Earlier this season, Ganassi didn't even have a sponsor for its former open-wheel star Dario Franchitti in the No. 40 car, and all three teams seemingly swap the same few crew chiefs every six months.

These are the just a few of the obvious reasons why Ragan will finish higher than Montoya.

• Raygan Swan, NASCAR.COM

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.