UPS RACING

David and the rest of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series have finished up qualifying here in Las Vegas for Sunday’s Shelby 427.

David's stats up on Sprint Vision during his qualifying runThe UPS team drew the 20th position for qualifying and from his effort; David will start 35th in Sunday’s race.

While his qualifying position wasn’t exactly what he was hoping for, last year in this race David started 38^th and finished solidly in seventh, so qualifying at this track for Ragan hasn’t been any sort of race-finish indicator.

“We never really qualify great here,” said Ragan after his run. “We had a good car last year and I think we finished top 10, but I feel like our UPS Ford isn’t that bad, but there’s just not a lot of speed in it.”

When asked about what the biggest challenge was about this race, David said, “Just staying out of trouble and getting our car to where it’s easy to pass other race cars. We’re not gonna have great track position to start the race and it looks like a few of our other teammates are gonna be back there where we’re at, so we’ve just got to maneuver around the other guys. Our UPS pit crew has been doing a pretty good job on pit road, so we’ve just got to make sure everybody is on the ball and I think we’ll have a good car when the race comes, we’ve just got to use it well.”  

David enters this weekend as the eighth-place driver in the point standings, a position he hopes to hold on to after the checkered flag waves on Sunday. 

A pretty cool thing about this weekend’s race is the race sponsor, Shelby Automotive. Normally, the race here is 267 laps for 400.5 miles, but with race named the ‘Shelby 427′, Sunday’s race will run for an extra 18 laps, totally 285 for 427.5 miles.

The 427 number is significant to Shelby because of the 427-cubic-inch V8 engines that Carroll Shelby started building for Ford back in the 1960s. That’s just a neat thing for out here in the Las Vegas area with Shelby’s factory literally sitting right next to the Speedway.

Be sure to tune into the race on FOX on Sunday to see David and the No. 6 UPS team take the green flag at 1:30 p.m. (PT) and 4:30 p.m. (ET).

UPS Promotes Diversity in NASCAR through $75,000 in Scholarships

ATLANTA, Feb. 12, 2009 – UPS (NYSE: UPS) is helping five minority students learn what it takes to work “under the hood” by awarding $15,000 scholarships to attend the NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, N.C.

Since 2002, The UPS Racing Technical Edge Scholarship has awarded a total of $525,000 in scholarships to 35 minority students seeking careers in the automotive or motorsports industries who demonstrate strong academic performance, leadership and community involvement.

“UPS’s commitment to diversity extends to everything we do, including our involvement in motorsports,” said Ron Rogowski, UPS director of sponsorships and events.  “We’re proud to support the passion and career goals of these talented individuals while helping NASCAR develop a more diverse workforce and fan base.”

NASCAR Tech combines an automotive technology curriculum with NASCAR-specific courses. Its hands-on learning environment equips students with the knowledge and experience to become leaders in the field.

This year’s recipients of the UPS Racing Technical Edge Scholarship include:

Raphael Diaz, Durham, N.C.
Raphael Diaz started working in his uncle’s auto shop when he was a teenager. He hopes to continue learning about every aspect of the automotive engineering field, from designing body styles to building engines.  His professional goal is to be part of a racing team, like his role model and Sprint Car Series driver Juan Pablo Montoya, the first Latino driver in NASCAR.

Evrin Fletcher, Concord, N.C.
Evrin Fletcher has been around racing most of his life.  His uncle introduced him to the sport as a kid and he has been fascinated by cars ever since.  Fletcher worked as a certified mechanic for five years before coming to NASCAR Tech to pursue his dream of working with a professional racing team.

Mohammad Jawad, Elmont, N.Y.
Since he was a child, Mohammad Jawad has been enthralled with taking things apart and putting them back together.  After his graduation from NASCAR Tech in December, he hopes to pursue a career in NASCAR so he can work with some of the most technologically advanced vehicles in the world.

Andre Perry, Mooresville, N.C.
Andre Perry learned quickly what it takes to be an auto technician. After graduating from high school, his father gave him his first car and told him that he had to learn how to keep it running. Since enrolling at NASCAR Tech, Perry’s passion for cars has only increased and he’s now a leader in the NASCAR Tech community. Perry’s future plans include working with alternative fuel vehicles.

Joshua Weston, Charlotte, N. C.
An exceptional student, Joshua Weston has received various academic honors at NASCAR Tech.  But his passion for cars extends beyond the classroom.  Weston’s favorite ride on the road is anything Audi and he hopes to eventually work for an Audi dealership as a Master Certified Technician.

NASCAR Technical Institute, a division of Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI), has an exclusive educational alliance with NASCAR.  Located in Mooresville, N.C., NASCAR Tech is the only school of its kind that combines automotive training and a NASCAR-approved technologies curriculum into one program.  For more information, visit www.uti.edu.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS (NYSE: UPS) is the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services.  Each day, the UPS pit crew of more than 425,000 dedicated employees delivers to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.  In 2009, UPS begins its 10th year as the Official Delivery Company of NASCAR and its ninth consecutive year of primary sponsorship in the league’s top-ranked Sprint Cup Series. For more information, log onto racing.ups.com.  To get UPS news direct, visit pressroom.ups.com/RSS.

See the winners in the Photo Gallery.

This weekend’s race in Fontana was the second stop for the Sprint Cup Series and the second race in a row where weather played a factor in the race.

David and the UPS team were really excited about racing here in Fontana, because it’s a track that is notorious for being good to Ford drivers, especially Roush Fenway Racing Ford drivers.

The team started strong after posting a 13^th-place qualifying effort and spent most of the first half of the race inside of the top 10. David continued to stick right around seventh and eighth place before taking a corner a little too wide and brushing up into the outside wall. The bump to the wall caused incidental right-side damage to the No. 6 Ford, but the UPS team went to work in the pits and put on four fresh tires, filled the car up with fuel and got David back out on the race track.

“I thought we had a top 10 car all night,” said Ragan. “I got into the wall and we just had some bad circumstances. We got a lap down and just couldn’t ever rebound. At times we had a top seven or eight car, but when you get that far behind and you don’t have many cautions to catch back up, it just made for a tough night.”

After returning to the track, David consistently battled to be the first driver one lap down and be eligible for the Lucky Dog award. But, once the caution flag waved for the final time, David unfortunately did not earn the Lucky Dog pass.

“Our UPS Ford team did a good job in the pits and if we just would have had a caution or something fall a littler earlier, we could have gotten the Lucky Dog and I think we still could have finished 10th or 12th, but it was still a decent effort.”

A total of five cautions came out during the race with four of them because of rain. Of the 43 laps of caution, 36 were from the four cautions due to rain.

David’s 17^th-place finish puts the UPS team in eighth in the point standings as they head to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for next week’s race. David sits just 123 points behind the leader.

David Ragan in the No. 6 UPS Ford

Qualifying is complete here in Fontana with 48 drivers taking to the two-mile track in Southern California. After heading out as the 16^th driver for qualifying, David Ragan and the No. 6 UPS team will start 13^th in Sunday’s race.

“I think we’re steps ahead of where we were last year,” said Ragan after his qualifying run. “We’ve still got some work to do. I think that we’ve got a solid car for this weekend. It’s not the best, but we’ve shown improvement from the first practice to qualifying and it picked up some.”

David started 24th last year in this race and finished 14th. Of his four career Cup starts here, he has completed every lap of every race.

As far as the weather today, it was a pretty neat backdrop when all of the cars were out on the track. The sun was shining high above the track and the mountains in the background were snow-capped.

That’s my favorite thing about races out in the West during the early months of the season. It’s cool to be standing on pit lane with warm temps and seeing everyone walking around in short-sleeved shirts, and then look up at the mountains and see snow on the top of them.

The UPS team heads back to the track tomorrow for one final practice before the race. David’s start on Sunday will be his fifth at this race track where he’s never finished lower than 16^th.

David will be a guest on RaceDay on Sunday to talk about the race and the No. 6 will also have an in-car camera riding along for the rest of the weekend.

Don’t miss David on TV this weekend!

RaceDay on SPEED: 1:40 p.m. (PT), 4:40 p.m. (ET).

Race on Fox: 3 p.m. (PT), 6 p.m. (ET).

Sunday’s Daytona 500 was a new day and a new race for David Ragan and the UPS team. After not having the best of luck in the week leading up to the first points race of the season, the team delivered a sixth-place finish in David’s third Daytona 500 start.

Weather was an issue for all teams even before the green flag dropped, and instead of the race being focused on 200 laps, the looming rain forced all teams to focus on their strategy for when the race hit the halfway point at 100 laps.

David’s car was great during long green-flag stretches, making his move up through the field fairly easy. He raced up as high as third place, but as the weather continued to roll in, the UPS pit crew kept a close eye on the radar and the sky as they began to plan for a rain-shortened race. As sprinkles began to fall, the caution flag flew on lap 146 because of an on-track accident. The race remained under caution because of rain until officials called the race on lap 152. 

“On one end, I’m a little disappointed this thing didn’t end under green,” said Ragan. “I think our UPS Ford was capable of winning the race and you only get one Daytona 500 a year, so it’s going to be a thing that I think about at night. But how awesome is it to see the No. 17 Roush Fenway Ford winning the Daytona 500. Jack Roush has put a lot of work into this program for a number of years and it’s cool to see that. And it’s cool to see a Ford on top of things. But it was a good solid day for us and of course we’ll take it and move on to California.”

David and the UPS team are sixth in the point standings as they head out to Fontana, California for next week’s Auto Club 500.

Be sure to visit NASCAR.com and vote for the new UPS commercial as your favorite advertisement for the Daytona 500.  Here’s the link! http://www.nascar.com/2009/news/features/02/13/daytona.ad.showcase/index.html.

The UPS team was ready for racing today in Daytona. You could see it in their eyes as they were setting up their pit stall and getting prepped for the race. They were ready to get out on the track and get a win.

David Ragan and the team started 13^th in the first Gatorade Duel, which aside from the front row that was determined by Sunday’s qualifying, sets the field for Sunday’s Daytona 500. Ragan’s car was one to watch and one that was on the move right from the start of the race. Every time we saw David and the field drive by from the pits, it seemed like he was picking off cars one at a time. By lap 14, he was already up to fifth. He hung around fifth and sixth place up until a caution flag came out and Crew Chief, Jimmy Fennig, brought him to the pits for routine service.

After a great pit stop by the UPS team, Ragan gained two spots and was scored in fourth once back on the track. Ragan’s teammate, Matt Kenseth, was charging up behind Ragan for a while, and the team was hoping the two drivers would be able to line up together and draft to the lead. But before that could happen, a couple of cars got together and David got caught up in the aftermath.  The UPS Fusion had some body and tire damage, but was able to make it back to the pits and then back on the track.

His team put on four fresh tires and filled the No. 6 up with fuel and headed back out on the track. David was able to finish the race in 23rd place.

David was disappointed after the race because he knew that he really had a good car. “I don’t think that we’ll have to go to a back-up car,” said Ragan. “We had a fast car, and we were able to run towards the front.”

The UPS team will have one more practice each on Friday and Saturday to get their car in tip-top shape for Sunday’s ‘500’. Ragan finished in fifth-place in his first-ever Daytona 500 in 2007, and in 2008 he accumulated three top-five finishes in the season’s four restrictor plate races.

The starting lineup has been posted and David will start 33^rd in Sunday’s “Great American Race”.

Hey UPS Racing Fans,

Well the first week in Daytona is over and now we are on to week two. Last week we flew down on Thursday morning and did media stuff all day. Friday we had two sessions of Bud Shootout practice and then raced Saturday night. We had a really good car and for those of you who saw the race, you definitely know why I said “HAD” a really good car. Friday night was the “draw party” where we all went out to the SPEED stage and pick a Bud bottle that had a starting position in it. I drew 16^th, which isn’t great, but at Daytona I knew it wouldn’t make a huge difference. My car was great, but just four laps in I saw the cars in front of me checking up, so I checked up, but the guy behind me didn’t. I took a hard hit into the outside wall, but I’m OK. 

Sunday we qualified 27^th, which puts us starting 13^th in the first Duel. I think we’ve got a good car and I’m ready to get back out there. A lot of people went back to Charlotte after qualifying, but I stayed down here in Daytona and relaxed Monday and Tuesday. Monday a few of us went wild hog hunting. It was interesting. Tuesday I did Nationwide green screen stuff for ESPN, had a Discount Tire store appearance and then did MRN live last night. My buddy Nick and I grabbed some dinner then called it an early night since everything starts over again today. Today is practice for both the Nationwide and Cup cars. Tomorrow is the Duel and Friday is more practice and Nationwide qualifying. Then Friday night I have an appearance for Coke. Saturday I’m running the Nationwide race and Sunday it’s the 500. Time goes by fast!

David

It’s already been an exciting week of racing, and it’s only going to get better with the Daytona 500 coming this weekend.

Because of NASCAR’s testing rule this season, this past week was the first time a lot of drivers had been on the track since last season’s finale in Homestead.

The Budweiser Shootout on Saturday night served as the first green flag of the season. David and UPS team were really excited about getting back into competition and were excited about doing that with UPS. It was really exciting to be down with the team during driver introductions and hear the National Anthem over the speakers. That is really one of my favorite things about being at the race track. I think one of the coolest parts is when all of the teams are lined up next to their cars and pits on pit road and listening to the National Anthem.

David and the team took the first green flag of the season in the 16^th position for the Shootout. They were really excited for it and thought that they had a really good chance to get the win. Unfortunately, on lap four, David was bumped from the back. He tried his best to save the car, but it ended up going into the outside wall and collecting some other cars in the process. The UPS Ford was damaged too badly to get back out on the track, so the UPS team’s night ended early.

But just like any race weekend, sometimes it’s your day and sometime’s it’s not. You just have to pick up and head to the next event. And in this case, that will be the Daytona 500 this weekend. David and the team will begin practice sessions on Wednesday and then Thursday night will be the Gatorade Duels. David will start 13^th in the first Duel, which will help determine his starting spot for the 500.

It’s going to be a really exciting week of racing and we’ve got a lot of UPS employees and guests coming out to the track, so make sure you check back here to get all your inside information about David and the UPS Racing team.