UPS CELEBRATES JARRETT’S
HALL OF FAME INDUCTION
WITH THROWBACK CAR DESIGN

Ragan’s No. 6 UPS Ford Transformed Into 1965 Championship Design

SONOMA, Calif. June 24, 2011 – UPS (NYSE:UPS) will pay tribute to Ned Jarrett’s recent induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame with a commemorative design on David Ragan’s No. 6 UPS Ford at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The throwback paint scheme was unveiled today at Infineon Raceway and resembles Jarrett’s 1965 championship-winning Ford Galaxie.

UPS sponsored Jarrett’s son and current broadcast analyst Dale Jarrett from 2001 to 2008 and both father and son appeared together in one of UPS’s memorable “race the truck” NASCAR commercials.

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“UPS enjoyed a great partnership with the Jarrett family through our sponsorship with Dale and when this opportunity surfaced we were eager to bring this element into our racing activation program,” said Ron Rogowski, UPS vice president, sponsorship & events. “During Ned’s standout season, UPS had just 24,000 employees, 15,000 vehicles and handled 324 million packages a year. Currently, we employee 400,600 people around the world, operate more than 92,000 vehicles and handle 3.94 billion packages and documents each year.”

PHOTO AND AUDIO CREDIT: KERRY MURPHEY

During the Indianapolis race weekend, Ragan’s UPS Ford will feature a classic candy apple blue base design while also paying homage to Jarrett’s nickname – Gentleman Ned – along the rear quarter panel. The No. 6 car will feature retro white wheels, which will stay on the car until the team’s first pit stop, and showcase the UPS logo as it appeared in 1965.

“David Ragan is a fine young man who has a great knowledge of NASCAR history and tradition and I’m honored that he and UPS have commemorated my Hall of Fame induction in such amazingfashion,” said Jarrett.

“It’s really neat to have our UPS Ford painted up like Ned’s championship car and run it at Indy, which has seen so many great historic moments in racing,” said Ragan. “I grew up a big fan of the Jarrett family and have always had an interest in the pioneers of our sport, so I’m glad UPS has dedicated an entire paint scheme to one of the sport’s greatest legends.”

Check out Kerry’s interviews from Infineon Raceway…

Find out answers to these questions and more!
Do drivers prepare differently for Infineon?
Tight racing brings on tempers and hard racing
Ringers Vs. Regulars, who’s got the advantage?
Compare Infineon to Watkins Glen
Will fuel filling on pit road be a problem again?
Are feuds good for NASCAR?
Practice affects qualifying now
Tracks coming up like Daytona and Kentucky

Andy Lally
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David Reutimann
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Clint Bowyer
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1 20 Joey Logano The Home Depot Toyota 76.821 93.256
2 1 Jamie McMurray McDonald’s Chevrolet 76.848 93.223
3 27 Paul Menard Duracell / Menards Chevrolet 76.887 93.176
4 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Freight Toyota 76.965 93.081
5 39 Ryan Newman Haas Automation Chevrolet 76.981 93.062
6 4 Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 77.085 92.936
7 43 A J Allmendinger Best Buy Ford 77.086 92.935
8 9 Marcos Ambrose Stanley Ford 77.100 92.918
9 33 Clint Bowyer Cheerios / Hambuger Helper Chevrolet 77.173 92.830
10 83 Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 77.265 92.720
11 22 Kurt Busch Shell / Pennzoil Dodge 77.352 92.616
12 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s / Jimmie Johnson Foundation 77.398 92.561
13 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 77.404 92.553
14 56 Martin Truex Jr. NAPA Auto Parts Toyota 77.411 92.545
15 2 Brad Keselowski Miller Lite Dodge 77.493 92.447
16 5 Mark Martin Farmers Insurance / GoDaddy.com Chevrolet 77.500 92.439
17 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Cottonelle Chevrolet 77.523 92.411
18 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. AMP Energy / National Guard Chevrolet 77.556 92.372
19 18 Kyle Busch M&M’s Pretzel Toyota 77.576 92.348
20 14 Tony Stewart Office Depot / Mobil 1 Chevrolet 77.714 92.184
21 47 Bobby Labonte Clorox / Kleenex Toyota 77.737 92.157
22 16 Greg Biffle 3M Ford 77.788 92.096
23 99 Carl Edwards Scotts Ortho Ford 77.805 92.076
24 78 Regan Smith Furniture Row Racing Chevrolet 77.851 92.022
25 31 Jeff Burton Caterpillar Chevrolet 77.881 91.986
26 29 Kevin Harvick RheemTankless.com Chevrolet 78.024 91.818
27 13 Casey Mears GEICO Toyota 78.070 91.764
28 7 Robby Gordon Speed Energy Dodge 78.081 91.751
29 34 David Gilliland Taco Bell Ford 78.134 91.689
30 51 Boris Said Security Benefit / Thank A Teacher Chevrolet 78.207 91.603
31 87 Joe Nemechek(i) Hostetler Almonds Toyota 78.376 91.406
32 00 David Reutimann Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota 78.391 91.388
33 17 Matt Kenseth Crown Royal Ford 78.454 91.315
34 6 David Ragan UPS Ford 78.505 91.255
35 77 P J Jones(i) Speed Energy Dodge 78.533 91.223
36 36 Dave Blaney Big Red Chevrolet 78.541 91.214
37 60 Mike Skinner(i) Big Red Toyota 78.915 90.781
38 66 David Mayhew(i) HP Racing LLC Toyota 79.107 90.561
39 32 Terry Labonte C&J Energy Services Ford 79.157 90.504
40 81 Brian Simo ARMA Energy Ford 79.295 90.346
41 71 Andy Lally # Interstate Moving Services Ford 79.333 90.303
42 37 Chris Cook RISE of the PLANET of the APES Ford 79.349 90.285
43 46 Andy Pilgrim Red Line Oil Chevrolet 79.702 89.885

Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch claimed his third consecutive Coors Light Pole Award last Saturday at Michigan International Speedway. Busch heads into Infineon Raceway for this weekend’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 hoping to make it four-in-a-row. “We seem to have the qualifying end of the equation figured out pretty good,” said Busch. “We just have to start turning those great performances on pole day into success on race day. It’d be really cool and would be a feather in our cap if we could keep that pole streak going out on the road course this weekend.”

If Busch does make it four consecutive poles, it should not come as a great surprise. He won the pole there for the 2006 race and has started in the top-six in seven of the 10 Cup races he has started there. Busch started third in last year’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.

The top-three qualifiers for the 2010 Toyota/Save Mart 350: 1st-Kasey Kahne (76.300 seconds/93.893 mph); 2nd-Jimmie Johnson (76.368 seconds/93.809 mph); 3rd-Kurt Busch (76.556 seconds/93.579 mph)

Before Shell-Pennzoil Dodge driver Kurt Busch claimed his third consecutive Coors Light Pole at Michigan, the last driver to win three consecutive poles was former Penske Racing teammate Ryan Newman, who recorded the streak in 2007. Newman drove a Penske Racing No. 12 Dodge to consecutive poles at Charlotte, Dover and Pocono.

So when was the last time a driver won four consecutive pole positions? Stats “guru” Mike Forde (NASCAR PR) says it was back in 2004, when Newman won consecutive front-row starts from Charlotte, to Martinsville, to Atlanta & Phoenix…those poles also coming in a No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge.

Guest Column By Cathy Elliott

I’m not saying my running buddies and I are shallow, but I’ll admit that we aren’t generally given to a great deal of philosophical discourse. As result, when someone does utter a pronouncement of any import, it is worth remembering.

Case in point: Over lunch during a recent trip to Savannah, somewhere between debating the relative merits of shrimp versus crab legs and wondering who might win “The Voice,” my friend Stephanie remarked, “You know, just because you have a job doesn’t really mean you go to work.”

This comment, which seemed nothing more than an idle, albeit true, observation at the time, popped into my head as I watched Denny Hamlin celebrate his first win of the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season at Michigan on June 19.

I’m pretty sure I speak for the group when I say we all have those days when we go to our jobs, but we don’t really work. We are tired, or personal issues occupy our thoughts, or the weather is so gorgeous that it distracts us from the keyboard or the cash register. The body is there, but the work ethic has temporarily left the building.

Hamlin is well known for being one of the most talented and competitive drivers in the garage. For him, enduring 14 points-paying races before getting that all-important checkered flag must have resembled a situation where the world’s fattest rib eye is hung just out of a hungry dog’s reach. Not a pretty picture.

The travails of Hamlin and his Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR) teammates Kyle Busch and Joey Logano have been well documented this season. They have been plagued by engine trouble. Busch has a couple of wins to his credit, but his controversial behavior has generated more off-the-track headlines – most of them less than loving — than his often brilliant performances during races. Logano, who many predicted would have a breakout season, has barely cracked the Top 25 in the driver standings.

To make matters worse, NASCAR slapped the “Unapproved” stamp on the oil pans of all three JGR cars during pre-race inspection at Michigan. This cost the three crew chiefs $50,000 each and earned them a seat on NASCAR’s probation list until the end of the year. Talk about some bitter icing on the JGR frustration cake.

But in true NASCAR fashion, the No. 11 team did its job … and went to work. Instead of looking at the situation as the end of the meal and hoping for better luck next week, they picked their forks back up and dug in.

Hamlin admitted it was slow going at first.

“We weren’t super-fast in practice, and we weren’t super-fast in qualifying; we were just kind of average in a lot of different areas,” he said. “For three-quarters of the race, we were average. But we stepped up there at the end.”

The team not only stepped up, but also climbed up, all the way to a tie with Clint Bowyer for ninth place in the driver standings.

Albert Einstein, who rumor has it was a pretty smart guy, left us this list of the three rules of work: “Out of clutter find simplicity. From discord find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”

We see these rules successfully applied week after week at the racetrack. Amid the clutter of cars all madly circling the same brass ring, only one finds a way to simply grab it. Guys sometimes at odds both verbally and physically unite as one in that moment when they all become gentlemen starting their engines. The difficulties presented by penalties and problems don’t have to be the end of the journey; they can be the beginning of an entirely new route.

Einstein must have been a race fan, since he noted many years ago what today we all know to be true. NASCAR really knows how to go to work, and it is doing a great job.