UPS RACING

Sam at work during a UPS pit stop

Sam Gibson is the front tire carrier for the No. 6 UPS team. Before leaving for Talladega, Sam took some time to talk with UPS Racing about his job at Roush Fenway Racing.

How did you get into the sport?

I knew a friend working for a different team that got me a job in 2000. Five years later, I started at Roush with the No. 6 Truck. From there, I moved over to the No. 17 Nationwide team before moving up to the No. 6 Cup team.

What’s your favorite part about being on a NASCAR team?

My favorite part would probably be the traveling and getting to see different parts of the country.

What’s your normal “run of show” during the week?

During the week I work in the shop tearing down cars, building suspensions, puttin in motors, and have pit crew practice.  When I’m not working I enjoy just relaxing and hanging out and going to the movies.

What are your normal responsibilities once arriving to the track each weekend?

Once I get to the track, I prep the tires for the race, get them to the pit box, lay them all out, and clean them. After all my work is done, I help anyone else out that may need it.

What are you responsible for during the actual race?

I’m the front tire carrier

Anything significant about the upcoming weekend?

It’s a restrictor plate track where I a lot can happen fast, but David runs really well there.

If you weren’t working in racing, what do you think you would be doing?

I would probably be a chef at a restaurant or working at an auto dealership.

Where did you grow up?

Boone, NC

What’s your favorite thing to do on an off-weekend?

On off weekends, I go to the lake to go surfing.

Something interesting about yourself?

I enjoy yoga even though the guys make fun of me about it.

Favorite Movie: Any Vince Vaughn movie

Favorite TV Show: Californication

Favorite Cartoon as a Kid: Curious George

Favorite Pizza Toppings? Greek pizza

Favorite Place to Eat? Fusion Bowl

Favorite Music: Dave Matthews, Metallica, Korn, Chevelle

Sam during pre-race with the rest of the UPS team

David while running 11th at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Saturday night

David Ragan and the No. 6 UPS team started Saturday night’s race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in 29th position. But, it didn’t take too long for them to move up inside of the top 20. The car was on the move until David felt something wrong with one of his new tires. After he came into the pits and the UPS team took a look, they determined he had a right-front tire going down, and as a result of losing a little bit of track position, ended Saturday’s race in 20^th-place finish.

The No. 6 UPS Ford Fusion was very good at the beginning of the race, and that, combined with quick pit stops by the UPS crew, put David up into 11^th place. David maintained a spot right around that position until experiencing the tire issue.

“Our UPS Ford was real good at the beginning of the race,” said David. “We started further back than we would have liked, but we were able to move up pretty quick. We didn’t have to make too many adjustments early in the race because the car was pretty neutral. Just around halfway, the car felt different after making a trip down pit road. It felt like there was something wrong with the tires, so we came in during the next caution period and switched them out. Jimmy said that it looked like our right front was going down, and that cost us track position because it was much more difficult to drive the car with a bad tire on it.

“We just couldn’t get back up in the field after that tire issue,” continued David. “Our UPS pit crew was great in the pits, but we just didn’t get the finish we wanted.”

David and the UPS team will compete in the Tums Fast Relief 500 next weekend at Martinsville Speedway. Coverage for the race begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time on ABC.

David during the Pocono Raceway weekend

Well, I’m writing to you guys from Dover because our UPS team is up here for the Goodyear tire test. Today is our second day of the test and with the race at Pocono happening on Monday, we ended up driving straight here after the race to get up here for the test.

Our team has been running non-stop for about a week and we’ll finish up here today and head back to North Carolina for a little time at home before heading out for this weekend’s race at Watkins Glen tomorrow.

Pocono was a long weekend. But every time we go to Pocono, we know that there is a good chance of rain, so it wasn’t all that surprising that qualifying was cancelled again and the race got moved to Monday.

The one nice day of the weekend was Saturday. We had two practice sessions that ended in the early afternoon. After practice, I changed clothes and grabbed some lunch and then headed out to the golf course. Each year at the second Pocono race, the NASCAR Officials host a charity golf tournament. I played with my friend Nick, who also drives my motor home, and two guys I met last year when I went to a long-ball event. They live in New Jersey and made the drive over to come play with us. We had a really good time and did pretty well.

This weekend we get back to road racing. We had a really solid car at Infineon earlier this season, so I’m excited to go to The Glen. I’ve been working on my driving at road courses a lot over the past year, so I’m hoping that we’ll come away from there with a solid finish.

Well, it’s time to get back to testing. Thanks for checking out the site and we’ll talk with you guys next week.

-David