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

David Ragan and the UPS team came to Phoenix International Raceway with a new setup in their UPS Ford, but they still have a lot of work to do as they ended the one and only practice session of the day in 36th position, and qualified 33rd for Sunday’s race.

For qualifying, David was the first driver to make his laps, but his UPS Ford didn’t really improve much from practice. The team will have two practice sessions on Saturday to get ready for Sunday’s Checker O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 presented by Pennzoil.

“Our qualifying run was a little bit of a pick-up from practice,” said David. “You know, we weren’t that great right off the truck, and we made a few adjustments, but it was just a small pick-up. We’ll work on our UPS Ford tomorrow so we can go race. We have a brand new setup in the car and we’ve still got some work to do, but we’ll get this thing figured out and ready for Sunday.”

Sunday will be David’s sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Phoenix. His best finish came in this race last season when he started 30th and finished in 10th. Earlier this year, the UPS team qualified 14th and finished 22nd.

Be sure to catch David and the UPS team during the race on Sunday. Coverage starts at 3:15 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.

David during his qualifying run at Phoenix International Raceway

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