UPS RACING

David Ragan and the UPS team had their work cut out for them on Sunday as they started the Ford 400 from the 41st position. They got to work pretty quickly and moved up to the 25th position without much trouble. The No. 6 UPS Ford was very loose for the first-half of the race, and didn’t turn too well in the corners. After having a tire go down mid-race, the UPS team finished the season finale in 34th position.

“Our car was pretty free for most of the race,” said David. “We kept making adjustments that would help a little bit, but we just weren’t able to get the car to turn good in the corners. We unloaded pretty quick off the truck this weekend, but after Friday’s practice, we couldn’t get back up towards the front.”

On lap 162, the team’s spotter reported seeing smoke coming from David’s car. He spent one more lap out on the track, but the smoke continued and forced David into the pits under the green flag. The team put on new left-side tires and got David back out on track, but not before going a lap down behind the leaders. David battled to get up into position to receive the Lucky Dog Award, but was never able to get in that spot. He finished the race one lap behind the leaders.

David was the only Ford Racing driver competing Sunday night with the new FR9 engine. This was the first non-restrictor plate track the engine has competed on.

“We didn’t have the car handling well enough to be a contender, but the engine performed great,” continued David. “It got great fuel mileage and it’ll be interesting to see what Doug Yates and the guys say when we get back to the shop. They will have all winter to look at it and I think we’ll be good to go in Daytona for the FR9.”

David finished the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season in 27th position.

“It’s definitely not the way we wanted to end the season, but our UPS team worked hard all year and they never gave up. I’m really looking forward to next year.”

David during the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway

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