Famed Partnership With Dale Jarrett Stays Intact When Toyota Camry Hits Track in 2007

JOLIET, Ill., July 7, 2006 -- UPS (NYSE: UPS) today announced a two-year agreement with Michael Waltrip Racing to sponsor driver Dale Jarrett in a Toyota Camry for the 2007 and 2008 seasons of the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.

The announcement here at the Chicagoland Speedway comes after Jarrett agreed earlier this year to move to the Waltrip organization and race a Camry starting with the 2007 Daytona 500.

UPS has supported Jarrett since 2001 when it first became a NASCAR team sponsor, in the process launching its highly popular “Race the Truck” advertising campaign. That campaign has made Jarrett’s name synonymous with UPS and its “big brown truck” and maintaining that brand connection was a factor in the company’s decision.

“Dale Jarrett has been an outstanding ambassador for the UPS brand both on and off the track and we expect more great things to come as we join him at Michael Waltrip Racing as the sponsor of his Toyota Camry,” said Patrick Guilbert, vice president of sponsorships for UPS. “Since our relationship with Dale began in 2001, his contributions have helped UPS build a powerful sponsorship program that resonates with our employees, customers and NASCAR fans alike.”

“My association with UPS over the past six years has been both rewarding and fun, so I’m thrilled to be able to continue this relationship,” Jarrett said. “UPS has set new standards in the way sponsors can work with drivers and the teams to develop creative and effective marketing programs.”

The decision to join Michael Waltrip Racing places UPS among the first sponsors to adorn a Toyota Camry in 2007, which is the manufacturer’s inaugural season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.

“The UPS name also is synonymous with speed and that’s what Michael Waltrip Racing intends to deliver to UPS and Dale with the new UPS Toyota Camry,” said owner Michael Waltrip. “From a business perspective, the addition of UPS expands our resources, which enables us to build the best teams and in turn grow our organization at a pace that will enhance our ability to win races.”

“We are ecstatic for Michael to have UPS join his already impressive lineup of sponsors,” said Jim Aust, vice president of Motorsports, Toyota Motor Sales, USA, Inc. “Michael and his team have done a phenomenal job in partnering with some of America’s most recognizable brands, and UPS is a tremendously successful company that is recognized by households as a global business leader. We are in full support of Michael Waltrip Racing fielding three NASCAR Nextel Cup teams in 2007 and feel Michael has formed the foundation of a formidable racing organization that we are proud to have carry the Toyota nameplate.”

UPS will continue its sponsorship of Dale Jarrett and Robert Yates Racing through the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series season.

“Robert Yates Racing has been an important part of the UPS Racing Program for the last six years,” Guilbert added. “We’re proud to have been associated with the Yates family and we appreciate their support of our corporate sponsorship goals over the years.”

Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services. Each day, the UPS pit crew of more than 407,000 dedicated employees delivers to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

UPS is currently in its sixth year as primary sponsor of the #88 Ford driven by Dale Jarrett for Robert Yates Racing and its seventh year as the official delivery company of NASCAR. Building on the sport’s popularity and fan loyalty, UPS provides updated information about UPS Racing, Dale Jarrett and the #88 team as well as access to licensed merchandise at www.racing.ups.com.

Question: Did your advertising campaign play a part in your decision to choose staying with Dale Jarrett and the move to Michael Waltrip Racing?

Guilbert: Our decision to go to work with Michael Waltrip Racing was based on elements that have driven our program the past six years. There was a business component that we have enjoyed since we’ve been in the sport which is a business to business element that we’ve been able to grow through the work we have done with NASCAR and with the team. There is also an employee component that we’ve been able to deliver to our operations throughout the US to help motivate our employees – a program in which Dale was heavily engaged. We’ve been able to bring a marketing and advertising program and go to work with an individual in the sport – Dale Jarrett, who very effectively helped us communicate the brand message to audiences important to us. So, the advertising piece is a factor, but certainly not the only factor. All of those factors I just mentioned drove the decision to go to Michael Waltrip Racing.

Question: Patrick, was one of those factors the ability to win races next year?

Guilbert: Winning is important to us, to Michael and to Dale and it is part of being in this sport. Our program is a program that is comprehensive and includes business and employee elements that I just described. Performance is definitely a factor. Our expectation is that we will go to work with Michael Waltrip Racing and to put cars on the track that compete effectively. We look forward to accomplishing that. I don’t know any successful program that is built solely on performance. This sport provides us an opportunity to hit on all cylinders – no pun intended – that provides an opportunity to grow business and deliver the motivational platform for our employee base and have the chance to perform on the race track at a pace that provides us the exposure that we like to enjoy to enjoy given the investment in the sport.

Question: Has a car number been decided yet? Any discussion on asking for the #88?

Guilbert: The decision on the car number has not been reached. We are working through that process now.

Question: For Michael, where do plans stand for the third team and will you choose a young driver? Old Driver? Or do you have any idea at this point?

Waltrip: I’d say he’ll be young compared to me and Dale! We do not have that done yet, but we are thinking within the next week or two we will be able to announce who that driver is. Bobby Kennedy (Competition Director) has done a great job of working to put together the competition side and that includes crew chiefs and engineering. We are reaching out to make our team innovative and cutting edge with the Toyota’s help to land the best people we possibly can. It is easy to make announcements like this with a great company like UPS, Domino’s, Burger King and NAPA AUTO PARTS and a driver like Dale Jarrett. But there are big things going on behind the scenes too making sure that we are putting all the right people in the right places to ensure we’ll have fast cars. So, our PR story has been very positive and we have done some wonderful things, but we are equally doing just as much on the performance side. As we develop and unfold that we will be a formidable group able to win next year. We’ve shown our business plan to all of our sponsors and they have seen the direction we are going and our sponsors are all wonderful companies with world-wide names that have endorsed our team and believe in what we are doing. For that we are truly grateful.

Question: Have you been preparing equipment wise as if there will be three Cup teams or does this throw a wrench in the plans?

Waltrip: If you can appreciate the fact that we have the work to do whether we have one, two or three Cup teams. We are building Toyotas, we are building pit equipment, we are working as hard as we can to move forward. It became evident to us when we did the Burger King/Domino’s deal, that there was an interest from other sponsors to join our organization. It was at that point that we went to Toyota and told them we wanted three Cup teams. We relied on them to tell us that we had their support before we secured the third Cup deal. We were planning on having four teams anyway – two Cup and two Busch so it really is not that big of a change when you consider we are doing all we can already. Ty Norris (General Manager), Bobby Kennedy and all the guys on the competition side have put together a road map of dates and times and places and things we have to have accomplished in order to be ready for 2007. We are certainly right on track with that road map.

Question: With these sorts of announcements happening so early this year, how do maintain your focus with the team you currently drive for and keep them motivated to finish the season?

Waltrip: That is a question that everyone seems to be concerned with. To me it is simple. When I go over to the NAPA car today, I go over there knowing what they have gone through to prepare this car. Which tests it has been through, where the body on the car is… I am plugged into all that through the phone or email. It’s like asking the question, ‘when you are reading your daughter a bedtime story, how do you focus?’ You just take time for the important things each day and build a team of people you trust to get the job done. Driving a racecar is part of my life, it is what I do. When I go to my racecar I know that I have a job to get done, I have a car that I have to get qualified and a car that I have to get to perform at a better level then it has been and that is all the motivation I need.

Jarrett: I don’t know that I can add much more to Michael’s comments other than that – I am a competitor and I don’t know what else do do but give 100% of what I am doing for that time. I am, just like Michael, capable of doing more than one thing at a time. Even though the #88 car is my focus at the racetrack, I talk to Slugger (Richard Labbe, #88 crew chief) about what he is doing to get better sometimes four or five times a day. I want to extend Robert Yates’ 17 year winning streak because I made a commitment to give it my all and do well. I can look ahead, but do my job also. That won’t change because I understand the commitments I have for this year.

Question: Michael, your name is going to be on the building, you’ll be driving the NAPA car, you have tons of sponsors to answer to… will you have time to play golf and read your daughter a bedtime story? How will you manage the workload?

Waltrip: Communication. Communication via the phone and email, but most importantly, I can not tell you what a team I have standing over there. Brooke Hondros (Brand Manager), Rick Penn (V.P. Business Affairs), Bob Brannan (V.P. Licensing), Ty Norris, Rick Wainright & Tony Rizzuti (Sponsor Services)… There jobs are to take care of my business for me. My job is to be a race car driver on the weekends and the best dad and husband I can be during the week. I promise that I will continue to do all of those things.

Question: Dale, would it have been difficult for you to have gone with another sponsor after having such an identity with UPS? Does this make things easier for you?

Jarrett: If definitely makes things easier. I have become synonymous with UPS and with the big, brown trucks you see every where you go. I was fortunate to accomplish a lot of things in this sport before UPS was my sponsor, but my face and name did not mean near as much until my association with UPS. Obviously, we would have loved to have more on track success, but it is amazing what this sponsor has meant for my career and if I could script everything out, this is exactly how I want to end my career. I am very fortunate in that respect that UPS made this decision and that this marketing program over the last six years has worked. It is a driver’s dream come true when a sponsor is willing to spend as much or more money on a marketing campaign as they do on a sponsorship. UPS has not only been good for me, but for NASCAR racing in general. You’d be hard pressed to find another sponsor that has done as much for our sport as UPS has over the years. This does make my transition easier. When UPS inquired about the possibility of joining me at Michael Wltrip Racing, it was intriguing and now reality.

Question: Knowing how valuable this sponsorship was, it must make you feel good that they chose to begin a relationship at Michael Waltrip Racing and stay with you. With all the rumors in the garage about where the UPS sponsorship would land, what is the reality about the number of teams that were actually considered?

Jarrett: We sat back and did not pursue the UPS sponsorship until it became obvious that everyone else was sending in proposals. So then we decided we should try too and state our case because we know we have something good here. We feel extremely privileged that we have been chosen to represent UPS on and off the race track.

Question: For UPS, there were rumors all over the garage about where UPS would go. How true is it that you looked at other teams and how much did you debate this decision? For Michael, did you think you could get this sponsorship? Is this something your team pulled together and you were amazed that UPS would select your young team, or did you think in the beginning you would get this?

Guilbert: Our contract with Robert Yates racing comes to close at the end of this racing season. We considered well before Dale’s decision to go to work with Michael Waltrip Racing, that we had a number of options that we should think about in terms of growing our program. The decision we made here is not unlike the decision making process that led to acquiring other companies that add to our portfolio and prove to our business that we are competitive and best in show, first in class. So we felt obligated to conduct the same comprehensive analysis of all the opportunities and team affiliations that we might become associated with the close of our contract with Robert Yates Racing. By the way, Robert Yates Racing was one of the teams that was in the running throughout and one that we considered very seriously considering the success we have enjoyed over the years. The final analysis, the decision we made, was based on all the business components I mentioned earlier today. We found that the most sensible place for us and for likely success in growing our business and performing on the track is with Michael Waltrip Racing. The short answer to your question is that a number of alternatives were considered after a comprehensive analysis was conducted.

Waltrip: We were in an interesting position because for a while we thought Dale would drive the Burger King/ Domino’s car. That was our mentality. We had two teams, two sponsors and two drivers. Dale told us from the beginning that he did not want to have anything to do with us talking to UPS. I want to race my car, I am your driver and I will drive whatever you tell me to, but I am keeping my hands out of the sponsorship side. So, Ty Norris and I let UPS know that we were interested just like a lot of the other owners in the garage did and told them we wanted to tell them what our team was all about. I think we might have been bumped up in the pecking order after we presented who we are and what our plans are. I think people assumed we were more of a paper team, but as I said before, we have a complete map of where we are headed and how we are going to get there and we conveyed that to UPS and I think it was then that they began considering us as a viable option. We know the infrastructure we need to build in order to compete against the teams who are winning today. The addition of UPS to our line up helps us build that infrastructure at a faster pace. Money buys speed. I think that is obvious, but it is not the only factor. It will certainly allow us to show up in Daytona in February thinking that not many teams will have the resources we do at Daytona. What we were careful to say to Patrick, Laura and the folks at UPS, was that we can not promise performance. No one in the garage can promise performance. It comes and goes. There are a couple of teams that are on it and teams out there searching. What we did tell them is that we will perform as well as Toyota’s entrance into the Cup Series will allow us. We are confident about Toyota coming in because of their experience in the Truck Series. Not because of the number of poles and wins they have, but because of everything they have learned about NASCAR racing and how reliable their engines are and how that will come to our team and the important factors they can offer to help us land a sponsor like UPS. We also feel like Ty’s experience and the respect he has in the industry was something that helped us formulate this plan and lay it out in a way that people could see it and understand it.

Question: Michael, you said that you feel like you can win next year given that you have three teams. Would you have said the same thing with only two Cup teams? Are expectations raised now with Toyota now that you have to go to them and ask for more help, mor engines..? or do they expect more from you now that they have to supply a third car?

Waltrip: We expect to be able to perform at the top. We had the same expectation when we had two teams too. Toyota is a partner of ours and we also have all the other teams to pull from for information. I like What Red Bull Racing has done. They are hiring smart people and doing wonderful things on the competition side. Currently, we are teaming with Red Bull on the development of the 2007 Camry. We will work together and test together and have a test team shared between the two of us that Bill Davis Racing will benefit from as well, but we are doing the work and getting it ready to go right now. Ultimately those are the things we are doing to make us the most successful. Having the resources to buy everything we know we need is huge. I never dreamed of owning a Cup team until Jim Aust and Dave Illingworth and the team of people at Toyota shared with me their vision and how I could plug into that vision. It was it that point it became an option for me to be a Cup owner. I am an all or nothing kind of dud. Once I got in, I wanted to spend all my money to do it. We have a lot of partners to come Cup Racing in 2007.

Question: Patrick, DJ talked about driving for two more years. Is the contract beyond two years or just the amount of time DJ thinks he’ll drive?

Patrick: We are here today to talk about the two-year agreement we have with Michael Waltrip Racing and we have entered into that agreement with consideration for options beyond 2008. Our focus is 2006 and how competitive we can be with Robert Yates Racing and with Michael Waltrip Racing in 2007 and 2008.