Brown Won't Be Doing Much For David Ragan In 2012

UPS has sponsored a Nascar Cup Series car since Dale Jarrett's No. 88 Ford in 2001. Now that Jarrett is retired, the shipping giant now backs David Ragan's No. 6 Ford. But come next season, they will be shipping out (pun intended) of the No. 6 camp.

UPS currently sponsors all 36 Cup races for Ragan, but next season, they may cut back to as few as eight to ten races. This is not god news for Roush-Fenway Racing who will need to find some new money to keep Ragan's team afloat, but it isn't all bad because it is speculated that UPS will move the majority of it's sponsorship to RFR's No.99 team and Carl Edwards. This would mean that they would join Fastenal on Edwards' quarter panels in 2012. Fastenal just inked a deal to sponsor the No. 99 Ford in 17 races next year.

This will also lessen the number of sponsors that fund a whole season for a team. There were six full-time sponsors lined up, but with UPS cutting back next season the only ones remaining are The Home Depot, Menard's, Lowe's, Miller Lite and NAPA Auto Parts. But while it won't be a full-season sponsor on a race car next year, it it expected that they will renew their contract to stay as the "Official Delivery Company of Nascar."

UPS made it's name in racing by coming up with one of the most successful marketing campaigns in Nascar history. The "Race the Truck" campaign started in 2001 and continued until Jarrett retired in 2008 and featured the company trying to coerce Jarrett into racing the famous big brown truck (or "Package Car" as they put it) in Nascar instead of his regular stock car.

You can't really blame UPS for wanting more bang for their buck. Aside from Ragan's win at Daytona in July, his results have been far from stellar. They are a major sponsor with money to burn and they no doubt expect to run up front. Joining up with Carl Edwards would definitely put them in contention for more wins and give them a chance to win their first championship. Brown may not be doing a lot for David Ragan next year, but Carl Edwards could definitely do a whole lot for them.