UPS RACING

David Ragan and the UPS team were quick in race trim, but they struggled during qualifying at Homestead-Miami Speedway while preparing for Sunday’s Ford 400.

There was just one practice session for the day before qualifying later in the afternoon, and during that one session, the UPS team was quick. David spent most of that session in the top eight, but when it came time to practice qualifying runs, his No. 6 Ford fell to the back of the pack. The story was the same when he went out second for qualifying, but the UPS team will do some work on Saturday to get some more speed into the car for Sunday’s season finale.

“I think the track lost a little grip,” said David after his qualifying run. “Speed-wise, I don’t think we’ve had a lot in qualifying trim and going out second did not help our cause any. I was happy with our UPS Ford when we unloaded in race trim. Hopefully, it’ll drive good tomorrow and we’ll see what kind of a race car it is for Sunday.”

Coverage for Sunday’s Ford 400 starts at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.

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.

The Estrella Center (SLIC – 8531) in the Desert Mountain District was selected as the Maximum Center for the race at Phoenix International Raceway. The center was recognized for its outstanding improvement across all major business elements on the district’s Balanced Scorecard.

Congratulations to all of the employees at the Estrella Center for a job well done.

David with the 8531 SLIC in Phoenix

Estrella Center Maximum Center Photos

David Ragan and the UPS team started Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix International Raceway from the 33rd position, but were ready to fight their way up through the field at the one-mile Arizona track.

The team was making progress throughout the first part of the race, but after drivers began checking up in the middle of the field during the restart on lap 120, David had nowhere to go to avoid suffering damage to his UPS Ford Fusion. The UPS team made multiple repairs to the front of the No. 6, but David was only able to make his way up to 23rd position when the checkered flag flew.

“Restarts here at Phoenix are always kind of a mess,” said David after the race. “With the inside wall there, you just don’t have any place to go when other drivers check up on the front stretch. Everybody started checking up in the middle of the pack and we got into the back of the No. 12, and it was just a chain reaction. We were fortunate that we didn’t damage our car bad enough that we couldn’t finish, but we did have to make a couple of trips down pit road after that happened. After we lost our track position, there just weren’t enough cautions for us to get the Lucky Dog.”

David did begin to move up in the field as the race progressed, but on a short track like Phoenix, it’s tough to get your lap back and make a charge towards the front.

“I felt like our UPS Ford was better at the end than the beginning, but we just started too far off,” continued David. “We just didn’t have enough speed. As a whole, it looks like all of the Fords really struggled today. This has been one of our tougher tracks and I’m just glad to have Phoenix behind us.”

David and the UPS team will make their way to Homestead-Miami Speedway for the final race of the 2009 season next week. Coverage for the race begins at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.

David in Sunday's O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at PIR

Hey Everyone,

I wanted to check in real quick before heading out to Phoenix. We’re making a special visit to a UPS facility on Thursday to recognize the UPS Desert Mountain team as a leader in service. We’re going to spend a good amount of time there visiting with UPS employees and signing autographs and taking pictures. They are also going to take me on a tour of the place and then I’m going to help award a trophy to the center, so we’ll be sure to put some pictures up on the site from our visit.

We got back from Texas on Monday, and we’ve been really busy this week testing and then getting ready for Phoenix. We had a pretty decent car in Texas and everyone really liked our Boys and Girls Clubs paint design. A bunch of fans and people in the garage were telling our team how good our car looked. We qualified 17th and then finished 17th, so we didn’t lose any positions, but we just couldn’t get our car as good in the race as it was in practice.

It’s hard to believe the season is almost over and we only have two more races! While our season is full with so many races, it always seems to fly by. We’re just looking forward to having two solid runs these next two weeks in our UPS Ford to end the season on a strong note.

- David

Claude (L) and Jim (R) during pre-race

UPS employees Jim Marzolf and Claude Rigsby were selected to deliver the green flag at Texas Motor Speedway. As part of UPS’s official partnership with the Texas track, UPS has exclusive rights to deliver the green flag on race day.

Jim is a 23-year UPS employee  and delivery driver out of the Grapevine, Texas UPS center.

“I am a big racing fan so being out to deliver the green flag in Texas was great. Everything was just really exciting and the whole day was great. To get out on track before the race and get the VIP treatment all day was really special. We had like five guys at the track from my center, and they were just really psyched that we were able to deliver the green flag. The day was great and everyone treated us like royalty.”

Claude is a 29-year UPS employee that is heavily involved in the UPS Road Code program, and getting ready to retire at the beginning of next year. With the Road Code program and the Boys and Girls Clubs of America featured on the No. 6 for the weekend, it was only fitting Claude be a part of Sunday’s green flag delivery.

“I’m very thankful for being asked to do the green flag delivery in Texas. And with it being the Boys and Girls Clubs Road Code car design, it was extra special. I’ve really enjoyed my time working with the kids at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Dallas and teaching them about safe driving. It was really an really honor to have been out at the track to help deliver the flag. Being out there with the sounds and smells was great and we were trying to make it as enthusiastic as possible. I had a really good time and really enjoyed it.”

Sunday's green flag delivery

The UPS team in action on pit road in Texas

The UPS team pretty much broke even in Sunday’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway as they started and finished in 17th position.

After solid practice sessions throughout the entire weekend, David Ragan and the team were looking forward to an equally successful race on Sunday with their special UPS/Boys & Girls Clubs of America Ford Fusion.

For most of the race, David’s Ford was loose in the corners, so the UPS team made small adjustments during almost every pit stop of the race to tighten up the No. 6 Ford. The adjustments were working, but they were just not as aggressive as David needed them to be to get the car to grip in the corners.  

David went a lap down on lap 182, but he was able to maintain his position as the first car a lap down when the yellow flag came out on lap 207. As a result of his position, David was the recipient of the Lucky Dog Award and got his lap back when the race returned to green on lap 213.

With 50 laps remaining in the race, David again went down a lap behind the leaders. He battled to get back in position to be the Lucky Dog, but when he was able to get in that position, the caution didn’t came out when the team needed it to.

As the final 10 laps neared, multiple teams realized they would be short on fuel and cars began hitting pit road to get a splash of gas. The UPS team was going to be close on fuel, so Jimmy Fennig brought David into the pits with six laps remaining in the race. David made his way back out on the track and was able to cross the finish line under his own power. But, as a result of having to come into the pits and multiple cars running out of fuel on the final lap, David finished two laps behind the race winner.

“We just started way too loose today,” said David after the race. “We made some good adjustments all night long, but we just couldn’t make them fast enough. We tightened up our UPS Ford on almost every stop, but our adjustments were in small increments. We needed to make more of a big impact with our adjustments. Our car was better at the end than what we started with, and we played the pit strategy game the best we could at the end. We had to come in to pit for fuel which may have cost us a few spots, but we were okay with our car tonight.”

David and the UPS team head to Phoenix International Raceway for the second to last race of the season. The last time the UPS team raced in Phoenix, they started 14th and finished in 22nd position.

David and the No. 6 UPS/Boys & Girls Clubs of America Ford Fusion

David Ragan and the UPS team debuted a special Boys and Girls Clubs of America car design today at Texas Motor Speedway, and the extra support from Clubs all across the country helped David earn a 17th-place qualifying spot for Sunday’s Dickies 500.

David had a successful practice session on Friday afternoon, spending most of his time inside of the top 15, and ending the session in seventh position.

“Our Cup car drives really well and we picked up some speed in qualifying,” said David after making his qualifying run. “We just needed a few more one-hundredths to be up there in the top two or three. Our UPS Ford was very fast right off the truck and I think it’s got some pretty good speed. It was as good of a first practice as we’ve had all year, so that’s just a product of some things we’ve been working on to unload better and be more comfortable. It helps bringing the same tire back, so we’ve got some notes from the spring to work on. Anytime we can come back with the same car and the same style of tire, it just helps out.”

The last time the UPS team raced in Texas, they were running inside of the top five and were on their way to a top-five finish before debris got caught on the grill of the No. 6 and overheated the engine.

Sunday will mark David’s sixth start at the 1.5-mile Texas track, and coverage for the race begins at 3:15 Eastern Time on ABC.

The No. 6 UPS/Boys and Girls Clubs of America Ford Fusion