UPS RACING

Billy delivery the green flag!

For Saturday’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway, UPS employee Billy Amesbury was chosen to deliver the green flag. Billy is a UPS delivery driver from the Ocala, Florida UPS center.

To get chosen as the driver to deliver the green flag for the race at Daytona was something that was really exciting for me. I have never been out to a race and I was able to bring my wife Elena along with me to experience the race.

I’ve been working at UPS for 10 years, and this delivery at the track was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and something that I’ll always remember.

There’s a lot more to what goes into the races than I thought. I didn’t know what to expect. It was pretty overwhelming. You just expect some cars and a few people working on them, but it’s a lot more than that. There are people all over the place and they’ve all got a job to do to put on the race.

My co-workers knew that I would be at the race over the weekend and the advice that they gave me was to make sure that I had a good time and to take a lot of pictures. I really like my job at UPS and the stability of it. We’ve got a good group of people that we work with and I just really enjoy what I do.

Everything with the delivery went well and we safely and delivered the flag. It was very cool to be down on the track and something that I will never forget.

- Billy

On the famed 2.5-mile track in Florida

After overcoming a spin in the grass while running inside of the top 10 and making multiple trips down pit road to repair damage, David Ragan and the No. 6 UPS team came away from Daytona International Speedway with a 13^th-place finish on Saturday night.

David had a fast Ford Fusion all night and after taking the green flag in 27^th, he fought his way up inside of the top 20 rather quickly. For most of the race, David’s UPS Ford was right on the money and only required small air pressure and track bar adjustments throughout the night.

As the race neared the halfway point, David maintained a spot inside of the top 10 until lap 121 when contact with Kurt Busch sent him spinning in the grass on the back straightaway. David immediately came into the pits and the UPS pit crew pulled out his fenders, changed tires and sent him back out to beat the pace car and remain on the lead lap.

“Our UPS Ford was fast and we were able to overcome some adversity tonight,” said David after the race. “That’s just restrictor plate racing here at Daytona. Kurt Busch and I touched there and we spun on the back straightaway and knocked around our fenders a little bit and lost some spots, but our UPS pit crew was quick and we were able to get most of those spots back. “

David made two more trips down pit road to make sure there wasn’t any further damage, all while maintaining a spot on the lead lap. He returned to the track in 19^th, but was able to make his way back up in the field and avoid the wreck on the final lap to come away with a 13^th-place finish.

“Our finish doesn’t show just how well our car was tonight and how well we could have run,” said David. “If you make a small mistake or bad decision on which lane to take, it can cost you. That caused us to lose a few spots and it just took us a while to get back up through the field. It’s a 13th-place finish and we should get some points off of that but it’s not quite as good as we could have been.”

David and the UPS team head to Chicagoland Speedway next weekend for another Saturday night race under the lights.

It is the second weekend in a row NASCAR Sprint Cup qualifying has been cancelled due to inclement weather. Because of the interruption in the schedule, owner’s points will determine the starting lineup and David will roll off the grid in 31^st.

Rain entered into the Daytona area just about an before the first car was set to go out for qualifying, and with the Nationwide race scheduled for tonight, there just wasn’t enough time get Cup qualifying in.

“It’s too bad that we weren’t able to qualify our UPS Ford,” said David. “We had a great day of practice yesterday and were the quickest car in first practice. For last night’s session, we were trying out some things that we’re hoping will help us out for the race tomorrow night.”

David and the UPS team finished sixth the last time they visited the famed 2.5-mile track in Florida, and are hoping for a similar result tomorrow night.

“We’re really excited to race tomorrow night; this is where we earned our best finish of the season. We’ve been trying some different things and working really hard back at the shop and we know that we’ve got a top 10 car that should be able to run up front tomorrow. It’s just going to take one race for us to get some momentum on our side and Daytona couldn’t be a better place for our team to do just that.”

Tomorrow night will be David’s sixth start at Daytona International Speedway.

Nancy and the baby goat

New Hampshire is behind us and we’re in Daytona this weekend. It’s going to be hot! But at least Daytona is a fun race. We stay at the beach and with it being a night race and things starting later in the day, we actually have mornings to enjoy some beach time. Last year we saw dolphins swim by; hopefully they’ll be back this year.

Off the track things have still been busy around here. I made David swing by the office and sign some things this week. Remember how he was on QVC a few weeks ago? Well the cars he sold on-air were autographed UPS Freight die-cast cars. These cars are still being made and won’t be done until the fall. So they sent us the windshields and he signed those this week and then we sent them back so they can put them on the cars. It’s much easier signing the windshields than a couple hundred cars. It’s especially easier for me since I would be the one to open all the boxes and put them back together… needless to say, I’m a fan of the windshield idea.

Everyone with mom

The UPS team is going to be looking good this weekend. I delivered their brand new uniforms (same design, but new) and they received their second-half hats which have a little bit different design on them. Little stuff keeps the daily grind of what we do interesting. Everyone is excited to be in Daytona this weekend. The Daytona 500 was our best finish of the year so far and everyone is hoping our bad luck is over and we can run up front. We just need to avoid the inevitable big wreck and be around at the end.

Check out the pictures of the goats! I finally got a picture of the baby goat! Of course she’s not so little anymore since it’s taken me a while to get the photo taken.

-Nancy

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