AVONDALE, Ariz. -- When a reporter was making the rounds at Phoenix International Raceway asking several drivers who they would pick for driver of the year in NASCAR this season, it wasn't until he reached Tony Stewart that he heard something really different.

"I would pick David Ragan -- just from the standpoint that the kid has impressed me so much from where he stated in this series to where he is at the end of the season this year," Stewart said. "I think he's probably demonstrated the most growth and patience of any of the drivers out there."

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When he started, he was a dart without feathers. ... He was somebody that when you saw him and you were coming to lap him, you were like, 'oh, man, I have to deal with this guy again.' Now when you see him, you're like, 'this kid gets it.'

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TONY STEWART

Almost as soon as it was out of his mouth, Stewart seemed to realize that the notion of nominating Ragan for driver of the year was a bit absurd. After all, Ragan hasn't won a single race and wasn't even one of the top-12 drivers to qualify for Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But Stewart wasn't backing down from the comment, either.

"If you have to pick off performance, you have to throw three guys in the category -- Jimmie [Johnson], Kyle [Busch] and Carl [Edwards]. Those three have had unbelievable seasons," Stewart explained. "Carl had a great performance in the last couple of weeks to try to get himself back in a position to win the championship. Jimmie has been his normal championship self. He has been consistent every week. That's why he's won two years in a row.

"Kyle has struggled on the championship side, but look at what he's done all year -- not only on the Sprint Cup side but in the Nationwide Series and the Truck Series. You can't overlook that, even though he's had a poor performance in the Chase. To have won 21 races in a season in NASCAR competition is very impressive. Those three are your obvious ones, but I think David Ragan deserves to be in that category, too, for his growth."

Ragan, 13th in the Cup point standings heading into the Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at PIR, said he was flattered by Stewart's comments. But then he was quick to add that he knows he and his No. 6 Ford team for Roush Fenway Racing still have ample room for improvement.

"That makes us feel nice, and certainly it's cool for Tony to say it," Ragan said. "But we still feel like we need to get a little bit better as a team and there are still some things that I can learn to get us to the level of a championship contender."

Asked to expand on what impresses him most about Ragan, Stewart added: "Just his demeanor on the racetrack. When we say he gets it now, he kind of gets the etiquette. He understands the patience and the give-and-take. You can just see his confidence now.

"When he started, he was a dart without feathers. There was no confidence on the racetrack. He didn't understand the give-and-take very well. He was somebody that when you saw him and you were coming to lap him, you were like, 'oh, man, I have to deal with this guy again.' Now when you see him, you're like, 'this kid gets it.' He understands the idea and concept of longer races, and how to be patient and where the give-and-take is appropriate."

Ragan laughed when he was told of the specifics of Stewart's praise.

"That certainly feels good. I feel like I've come a long way since I was a dart with no feathers just a couple of years ago," he said.

Ragan added that much of the credit for his improvement needs to be directed toward his veteran crew chief, Jimmy Fennig. Even though he has thus far failed to win a race -- only Sunday's event in Phoenix and next Sunday's season finale at Homestead remain -- Ragan has been a model of consistency most of the season. Through the first 34 races, he has registered six top-five and 13 top-10 finishes.

"We've been good this year, and I owe a lot of that credit to Jimmy Fennig and our AAA team for providing me good race cars and stuff," said Ragan, who finished 23rd in points as a rookie last season and won't turn 23 years of age until Christmas Eve. "It's fun to get out there and race with those [veteran] guys and it's fun to beat 'em, and certainly it's encouraging for them to give you pretty good props when they're asked about you."

The thing is, Stewart's props came unexpectedly. No one thought he would mention David Ragan as a possible driver of the year for 2008. Going forward, though, maybe it won't seem so preposterous.

Stewart saved his highest praise for last. He said that now when veteran drivers get around Ragan's No. 6 Ford on the track, they know what to expect.

"Now when you see him on the racetrack, you don't think anything about it. You're very comfortable around him," Stewart said. "That's why I put him in that [driver of the year] category. In a two-year span, he went from a guy that none of us really thought would make it to a guy that in my opinion is solidified in here for quite some time. I think he'll be here for 10 years or more now."