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.

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

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

David on Friday during practice at Talladega

Rain came into the Talladega early on Saturday morning, and did not clear up in time for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series to get through qualifying. So, because the session was cancelled, David Ragan and the UPS team will start 28^th on Sunday as the lineup for the Amp Energy 500 is based on owner’s points.

“We were really hoping to get out to qualify today and see how the new Ford engine would perform,” said David. “Yesterday we had two practice sessions and we were able to get some drafting practice in and also make our first laps on this track with the new engine. Our UPS Ford is really good on the superspeedways, so we’re looking forward to an exciting race here tomorrow.”

On Friday, David and the team had a little issue with the rear-end of the car, but the UPS crew was able to fix the issue and get David back out on the track for the final practice of the weekend. David was able to get some great laps in during last practice, ending the session in seventh position.

Coverage for Sunday’s Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway will start at noon Eastern Time on ABC.

David during practice at Martinsville Speedway

David Ragan and the UPS team had a solid day of practice and qualifying at Martinsville Speedway on Friday afternoon.

After ending the only practice session of the day in 10th position, the UPS team put together a 14th-place qualifying effort for Sunday’s TUMS Fast Relief 500.

“It felt really close to the same lap that we ran for qualifying in practice,” said David after his run. “You’re always splitting hairs here at Martinsville. When it’s all said and done, a tenth probably would have put us 10-12 spots higher, but it was an okay lap. I thought we could have picked up a little bit more, but I think we’ve got a great UPS Ford for Sunday. We’re just gonna need a hair more speed in practice on Saturday to get this thing perfect for the race.”

Rain came into the area right before practice was scheduled to begin, so the day got off to a little bit later start than originally planned. But, once David got out on the track and made some initial baseline laps during practice, the team only had to make slight adjustments to the car to get it to move up on the speed charts.

David and the UPS team will have two more practice sessions on Saturday to fine tune their UPS Ford Fusion for Sunday’s race.

David during his qualifying run

David heading out to qualifying in Charlotte

It was a very long day at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Thursday for David Ragan and the No. 6 UPS team as rain came into the area and moved all track activities scheduled for the afternoon, into the evening hours.

The team had just one short practice after the weather cleared to get their car ready for qualifying. Because time was limited to work on the car’s setup during practice, David and the UPS team were just 31^st during practice. And unfortunately, they weren’t able to gain much ground during qualifying and will start 29^th in Saturday night’s race.

“Our qualifying lap wasn’t too good,” said David after his run. “We didn’t make it any better from practice because we only picked up a few hundredths. I didn’t think the track would really speed up or slow down much during the rest of qualifying, so our lap really wasn’t very good.”

David and the team will have two more chances on Friday to get their car setup just the way they want for Saturday’s race under the lights in Charlotte. The race will be David’s sixth start at the track in the Cup Series, and the second at the track this season.

Be sure to catch coverage of Saturday’s race on ABC. Coverage starts at 7 p.m. and the green flag will wave around 7:30 p.m.

It was a day of ups and downs for David Ragan and the UPS team at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on Friday.

After spending the only practice session of the day inside of the top four, David got a little loose during his qualifying run, and as a result, was in 32nd position at the conclusion of qualifying. But, because the second-place driver had his time disqualified, all drivers will move up one position and David will start 31^st in Sunday’s race.

“I don’t know if we changed anything to the car or not from practice, but it was just a little bit free,” said David after his run. “We were being a little too aggressive back to the throttle and had to get back out of it and then back in it. It was just a bad first lap. The second lap was better, but certainly not as good as what we could’ve run. I’m a little disappointed, but our UPS Ford is pretty good and better than we’ve been, so I’m looking forward to the race on Sunday.”

Sunday’s race will be David’s sixth Cup Series start at Auto Club Speedway. The last time the UPS team competed at the track, they finished in 17^th.

David right after making his qualifying run in Kansas

It was a windy start to the race weekend here in Kansas, and after one practice session and one qualifying lap, David Ragan and the UPS Freight team will start Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 from the 25^th position.

“It sure is windy out there,” said David after his run. “You can tell that you’re getting pushed around, but the good thing is that it’s the same for everyone, it’s not like that for just one of us. You just have to give yourself a little extra breathing room here and there to just make sure that you don’t run across the apron or get pushed in too hard. But, our UPS Ford is pretty fast and we had a real good practice session today.”

During the first part of the only practice of the day, the UPS team sat right around 26th position. But, after making some adjustments to the car, the team shot to the top of the leader board for almost the remainder of the session. A few other cars were able to get by David in the final minutes of the session, but he finished in sixth and that performance should be a good gauge as to how the car will perform on Sunday.

“About half of our laps during practice were qualifying runs, but we did some race runs to get a jump on tomorrow,” said David. “These races are tough to pass at, so hopefully we can build on it tomorrow.”

David and the UPS Freight team will have two practice sessions on Saturday to put the final touches on their car for Sunday’s race. The last time David competed in Kansas, he qualified 12^th and finished in eighth place.

Be sure to catch coverage of the race on ABC starting at 1 p.m. ET.

David getting interviewed by ESPN following qualifying

Practice Friday at Dover International Speedway

David Ragan and the UPS team had one practice session on Friday to get ready for qualifying, and after working on multiple different setups in practice, they earned a 21^st-place starting spot for Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway.

The No. 6 UPS team was 26th at the conclusion of practice, so the changes they made to the car before qualifying definitely got them going in the right direction.

“Anytime here at Dover, if you can just back up what you did in practice, it’s a good thing,” said David after his run. “A couple of times here we’ve tried to be a hero and then we usually slow down two-tenths and qualify 35th, so I just tried to be as smooth as I could. Certainly, it would’ve been better if we went a little bit faster in practice and then qualifying, but I think our UPS Ford is pretty good.

David will make his seventh start at the one-mile track in Delaware on Sunday. The last time he competed at the Monster Mile, David started 26^th and finished 24^th.

Coverage for Sunday’s AAA 400 starts at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.

If you ask David Ragan what his favorite track is, he’ll tell you that it’s always the next track that he is going to. But, if you dig just a little bit deeper with the third-year Sprint Cup Series driver, he’ll tell you Richmond International Raceway is definitely one track he always looks forward to competing on with his No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion.

In Saturday night’s race at one of his favorite tracks, David will start 26th in his 100^th Cup Series start.

“I’m pretty happy with my UPS Ford,” said David after his qualifying run. “I wish we could have gotten a little more speed, but it didn’t cool down as much as I thought it would with us going out this late in the day. We’ve got some good notes from practice and this has been one of our better tracks the last couple of years, so I’m looking forward to a good run on Saturday night.”

Tomorrow night’s race will be David’s sixth Cup start at Richmond. His best finish at the .75-mile track came in the fall race of 2007 when he finished in third.