UPS RACING

Well, it feels like déjà vu writing that qualifying at Pocono has been cancelled, but that is the story again today as rain came into the area after drivers were just 45 minutes into practice.

David Ragan and the UPS team made the most of that only practice and made their way up into the 12^th position as they were starting to get an idea on how their car was going to handle around the tri-oval track. The team was working on finding a little bit more grip in the car when heavy rain came into the area.

“Man, seems like we just can’t catch a break here in Pocono as far as the weather,” said David after qualifying was called. “We were really hoping to qualify our No. 6 UPS Ford because we had a great start to practice earlier this afternoon.”

David will make  his sixth start at the Pennsylvania track where he finished 26^th earlier this season.

“Pocono is always an interesting race because of the way the track is set up, continued David. “It’s a pretty bumpy surface and because of its shape, each corner is different so it’s just finding that balance of getting your car to be happy all the way around the track. But, we’ll just get back out here tomorrow and hope the weather is better to get both practice sessions in and make some final changes to our car for the race on Sunday.”

David and the UPS team will have two practice sessions on Saturday before taking the green flag from the 30^th position on Sunday.

Well we’re sitting here in Pocono and the radar doesn’t look so good. Looks like we’re about to get hit with rain, which is no shocker being in Pocono; it always rains here. It’s okay if it rains, as long as it doesn’t rain Sunday! It’s been a long week! David and I flew to New Jersey Wednesday to visit the UPS technology center up there. It was fun, the people up there are awesome, but the weather didn’t want to let us get home. Here’s our trip back….

On our way back to Newark airport we found out our flight had been cancelled, so I called US Air (while sitting in traffic) and the best they could do for us was a flight out Thursday morning. I asked about Lagaurdia and they had a 9:40PM that was already delayed to 10:10PM. I put us on that and called Continental. Continental had a flight leaving at 8:30PM from Newark to Charlotte. I booked that for us, we got to the airport, checked in, went through security, got to our gate and then found out that flight got cancelled. They could only get us out Thursday morning so we had them switch us to that flight. David and I wound up getting a cab from Newark to Lagaurdia to try our luck at the delayed 9:40PM flight. Keep in mind, its down pouring and lightning all around. An hour later we arrive in Laguardia, check into our flight (get some ice cream, we’ve earned it by this time!) and begin to wait. We filmed David’s blog on our way to the gate (people were looking at us funny), be sure to check it out! From there we sat down at the gate through ground stops for the weather, gate changes and multiple delays of our flight. Luckily it didn’t get cancelled and we finally got on the plane around midnight and got back to Charlotte at 2AM. Once we landed back in Charlotte, I had to call and cancel our Continental flight, what a day! All this seems silly since in New Jersey we were so close we could have gone straight to Pocono, but we both wanted time at home Thursday before the team plane flew out. 

Last night me, David and some of the guys on the team went to a cookout at our old spotters house. It was fun just to hang out for a little bit, but I was sleepy from our Wednesday and Thursday adventure, so I called it an early night.

One thing that we always look forward to when we come to Pocono for the second time each season is the NASCAR Official’s charity golf tournament. I’m playing with Richie, Studer and Steve from the team. I haven’t played since February, so I’m hoping it won’t take too long to get my swing back.

Next week the team is heading to Dover, Delaware, Tuesday and Wednesday for a Goodyear Tire test and then to Watkins Glen Thursday, luckily I don’t have to go to tire tests. I’m heading home to upstate NY for the week to spend some time at home before Watkins Glen. 

I hope everyone has better luck flying than we do!  Talk to you soon!

Each week, the UPS ‘Maximum Center’ program recognizes a UPS operating facility or Freight Service Center for success in safety and service. Chosen facilities are recognized with its Standard Location Identification Code (SLIC) or Freight Service Center three-letter code on the wing of David Ragan’s No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion.

This past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Tri-City Center (SLIC 4636) from the Indiana District was selected as the Maximum Center featured on David Ragan’s Ford Fusion as the UPS Maximum Center.

The Tri-City Center finished atop the Indiana District’s most recent Balanced Scorecard measuring its operations on growth, safety, service and productivity elements. 

David with Pam from the Tri-City Center

 Tri-City Center Maximum Center Photos

Tom Torson at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

This past weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tom Torson, who is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was part of the UPS Trackside Services team. Tom took some time out of his busy schedule on race day to talk with UPS Racing about what he does both at and away from the track.   

I have been working the UPS Trackside Services here in Indianapolis since the program started. I’m based out of Fort Wayne, but also cover centers in Muncie, Anderson and Kokomo.

Coming out to the track is fun because you get to meet a lot of people. Being out at the track also allows you to interact with customers away from their home turf and talk with them about things other than work.

Over the years, I’ve been somewhat of a race fan and followed Dale Jarrett. So now, I’m learning more about David Ragan and what he’s all about.

Away from work, I have three boys that are eight, 10 and 13, and all active in sports. So I work with UPS during the day and coach and help out with my boys the rest of the time.

-Tom

David Ragan made his third start at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, and drove his No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion to a 24^th-place finish.

After taking the green flag from the 29^th position, the battle for David all day was with a tight racecar. David was giving a lot of feedback to the UPS team over the radio, and each time David came down pit road, the team made multiple changes to the car to try and remedy the issue.

“We battled with front grip today, so that didn’t help us any,” said David. “Our car was just very tight all day. At times we made it better, but we never did get it exactly right. I think if we could have been up in the top 15 towards the end, we would have stayed a 15^th-place car. We changed a lot all day and we were just pretty bouncy at times with the setup.

“I’m really proud of our UPS pit crew; they did a really good job today. We finished better than we started, and as long we learn from what we did today, hopefully it can help us moving forward.”

David and the UPS team head back to Pocono Raceway for the second time this season for another 500-mile race at the 2.5-mile Pennsylvania track. The series visited the track just a couple of weeks ago in June with David finishing 26^th.

David on track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was delayed more than four hours on Saturday after rain came into the area and pushed the scheduled morning session into the afternoon.

David Ragan was the 25^th driver out for qualifying and after a couple of practice sessions on Friday, felt like his No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion was handling pretty well.  

“Our UPS Ford didn’t feel too bad, it was just a little tight,” said David after his qualifying run. “When you’re at a big track like this that amplifies all the way around, but it just didn’t have a lot of speed. I don’t know about the other guys, but I wasn’t too displeased with how the UPS Ford handled, it just didn’t have that speed. That’s been the case we’ve fought at a lot of races this year. The car, at times, doesn’t drive that bad, but it’s just not as fast as we’d like.”

David will take the green flag from the 29th position in his third start at the famed track. Last year, David started 16^th and finished in 14^th.

David's No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Justin removing a tear-off during a UPS pit stop

Justin Hines works as the engine tuner for the No. 6 UPS team. Before heading up to Indianapolis for this weekend’s race, Justin took some time to talk with UPS Racing about his job at Roush Fenway Racing.

About your job: I am responsible for tech. inspection, maintenance and tune-up of the engine throughout a race weekend.

How did you get into the sport? I always enjoyed racing and trying to make my own cars better and faster. I started with Roush back in Michigan in 1994. I was in the body shop first and then moved to the engine department. In 1999 I started traveling as the engine tuner on the No. 99 truck with Mike Bliss. In 2003 I moved to North Carolina and was with Biffle in his rookie season, then have been with the No. 6 car the last three years.

What’s your favorite part about being on a NASCAR team? The personal satisfaction you get after working hard and getting good results.

What’s the coolest thing that you’ve gotten to do since being a member of the No. 6 team? Going to Fenway Park

What’s your normal “run of show” during the week? Working at the shop during the week and spending as much time with family as I can.

What are your normal responsibilities once arriving to the track each weekend?  Help unload the hauler, set-up garage area, get the engine inspected, work on engine during practice and complete a series of checklists to get the car ready for the race. 

What are you responsible for during the actual race?  I am the eighth man over the wall for pit stops, which involves window tear off and giving the driver a drink.

Anything significant about the upcoming weekend? High profile race

If you weren’t working in racing, what do you think you would be doing? Something hands-on

Where did you grow up? Michigan, Garden City

What’s your favorite thing to do on an off-weekend? Spend time with family

Something interesting about yourself? I like to hunt and fish

Favorite Movie: Old School

Favorite TV Show: Family Guy, King of Queens

Favorite Cartoon as a kid: Bugs Bunny

Favorite Pizza toppings? Sausage and pepperoni

Favorite Place to eat? Carabbas

Favorite Music: Anything rock & roll

Justin's special decorations in his tool box during the July 4th race in Daytona

Yay for an off-weekend! It’s a much needed break in our never-ending travel schedule.
It’s kind of like a college town around here. It seems like most people aren’t from here and any time we get time off everyone heads home to visit family, or plans a vacation. I’m one of them! I’m heading back to NY to see everyone this weekend. David on the other hand is racing…big surprise. The last two years he’s run full-time Nationwide and Cup schedules and hasn’t had a weekend off. This year he gets a weekend off and heads home to race for fun. I guess at least he’s back home and gets to relax a little.

Last week we were in Chicago. We flew in Wednesday morning and had a Road Code appearance at the Boys & Girls Club in downtown Chicago. It’s a cool place and everyone was excited to have David there. From there we drove to Joliet (where the track is) for a Discount Tire store appearance. Actually we sat in traffic the whole way, I wouldn’t have figured traffic would be back at 3:00 PM on a Wednesday afternoon in Chicago, but it was. Lesson learned…..

Me and Casey the Cricket at Worldport!

This past Tuesday, we went to Worldport Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. You can see David’s blogs and photos on the website. It was really cool, but I can’t remember the last time I stayed up all night. Luckily they had cookies and snacks for us so that helped. We also took fun pictures with the UPS safety mascot! There is so much that goes on there; it was very interesting to see it all first hand.

We took the first flight back to Charlotte Wednesday morning and landed at 8:00 AM. I got home and slept a few hours. David is a trooper and stayed up and then drove to Atlanta. He had an event at Six Flags on Thursday for Atlanta Motor Speedway. There is a new rollercoaster there called Goliath. So the event was ‘David vs. Goliath’ and he rode it with some fans and then hung out with his friends the rest of the day at the park. See, he gets to have a little fun now and then.

That’s all I’ve got for now, enjoy your weekend!