UPS has spent the last three seasons with Ragan. During their three year tenure, Ragan and UPS found victory lane only one time — this year’s Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.  With UPS aboard, Ragan has only accumulated four Top 5′s, 13 Top 10′s, and a best finish of 24th in the championship standings, which came last season.

With the announcement, Ragan is left without a sponsor for 2012. Without a sponsor, Ragan’s seat at RFR could be in jeopardy. It has been rumored that Ragan was given permission by RFR to seek other options for 2012. He has been linked to TRG Motorsports’ No. 71 team.

Ragan isn’t the only RFR driver who doesn’t have a sponsor lined up for the 2012 season. Former Sprint Cup champion Matt Kenseth who currently sits second in points is also without a sponsor.

UPS has been a primary sponsor in the Cup series since 2001, when they teamed with former Cup champion Dale Jarrett. This season marks their last as a full-time primary sponsor in the sport.

The shipping company plans to drop its full-season primary sponsorship and sponsor four to eight races with RFR next season.

The company is currently in talks with RFR to move their sponsorship from Ragan to the team’s No. 99 Ford and driver Carl Edwards. It was recently announced that Fastenal would sponsor Edwards and the No. 99 in 17 Cup races next season.

This leaves Ragan without a sponsor for next season, amid one of his best seasons in Sprint Cup to date, having earned his first career Cup victory at Daytona International Speedway in July.

But, in July of 2009, DeWalt announced it was leaving RFR and Matt Kenseth. A few days later, Jamie McMurray was given permission to talk to other teams about a ride for 2010, but RFR was still looking to keep him. The thought was that Crown Royal would move from McMurray’s car to Kenseth’s car, but if sponsorship could be found for McMurray, he would move to Yates.

About a month later, Irwin Industrial Tools announced it was leaving the team and McMurray, which only increased the likelihood that he would not stay with the team.  Shortly thereafter, Yates merged with Richard Petty Motorsports, which brought that team to the four-car limit, eliminating any space for an RFR driver.

Without sponsorship for the car, and no place for one of the teams to move, it became inevitable that one team would be cut. Based on performance, McMurray and David Ragan were the logical choices. Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards, and Matt Kenseth were all considered “safe” because they were consistently top performers.

Ragan and McMurray, however, both struggled. McMurray did have two wins to his credit, but he also had 43 finishes of 30^th or worse in four years (144 races) with RFR. Ragan, meanwhile, had 28 finishes of 30^th or worse in three years (110 races) with RFR, which would translate to 37 finishes of 30^th or worse in 144 races, assuming Ragan kept up his pace.

Statistically, McMurray would have been the wiser choice to keep. He had better percentages of wins, top 5s, and top 10s. He won about one percent of the races he ran. He finished in the top 5 in 7.6% of races ran, and in the top 10 in 22.2% of races ran. Ragan, however, never won, and finished in the top 5 7.2% of the time and in the top 10 17.2% of the time.  

But, Ragan had solid sponsorship from UPS and there was no indication that they were unhappy with Ragan. He was also under contract with RFR, while McMurray’s contract was expiring. So, he became the odd man out. He left the team and joined Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s No. 1 team. McMurray and owner Chip Ganassi worked together from 2002-2005, and McMurray won his first race (in his second start) in a Ganassi car. For Ganassi, I’m sure the signing was a no-brainer.

Looking at McMurray’s recent success, it’s easy to say that Jack Roush made a mistake letting him go. With wins in two of the biggest races of the year, the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400, McMurray has not only solidified himself in the history books, but he’s shown the entire Sprint Cup garage that he’s a legitimate competitor week in and week out.

This season, McMurray has posted two wins, six top 5s, and seven top 10s. He was also very close to winning at Talladega, Darlington, and Charlotte, finishing second in each of those races.

In four years with RFR, he posted two wins, 11 top 5s, and 32 top 10s. In 20 races with EGR he has matched his win total at RFR, and is more than half way on his way to matching his total number of top 5s. Let that sink in.

If we were to assume that McMurray keeps up this pace over the next four years – which is highly unlikely, I know – that would mean he would post 14 wins, 43 tops 5s, and 50 top 10s in 144 races. RFR would certainly be happy with those numbers. So, it’s easy to assume Roush must be kicking himself for letting McMurray go.

But, I don’t think he is (or at least he shouldn’t be.)

McMurray had an expiring contract and no sponsor. Who’s to say McMurray would have re-signed with Roush without knowing if a seat was available? That scenario was more unlikely when EGR’s No. 1 became available, since I think McMurray wanted the chance to work with Ganassi again.

Statistically, and from a fan perspective, McMurray is a better driver than Ragan, but that doesn’t mean that sponsors agree. Ultimately UPS would have had to sign off on replacing Ragan with McMurray, and I’m not certain that they were prepared to do that.

Also, McMurray’s success with EGR and Kevin “Bono” Manion this season is the result of team chemistry – everything clicking. It’s highly unlikely that McMurray would have the same success with a different crew chief at RFR, which is current struggling as an organization.

We also can’t forget that Roush didn’t want to let McMurray go. He was looking for ways to keep him, but he couldn’t find a way.

In retrospect, letting McMurray go was a mistake. But, it isn’t one that Jack Roush should be kicking himself over.

UPS’s contract runs through the 2011 season, while Ragan’s contract includes options for 2011.

Smith said of the rumors that Ragan and UPS could be leaving:

What that is is wishful thinking by people who don’t have sponsors. David Ragan does a really good job with UPS and we’re hoping that his youth will mature on the race track. …  I have a contractual expectation that they will be here. I have an anticipation that David’s on-track activity will improve over the year. 

Michael Waltrip Racing, which has already lost UPS as a sponsor, has been struggling too. Aaron’s Rent re-signed with the team to sponsor David Reutimann’s car for half of next season. This team is trying to secure sponsorship for the rest of the season for that car.

So, the two teams could possibly merge next season. That would mean that the combined team would filed four cars, and Juan Pablo Montoya would drive a Toyota.

This move is not all too suprising. Many NASCAR teams are struggling financially, and with the economy in the state it is currently in, sponsors have to reevaluate if it is worth the cash to stay in the sport. Carmakers are reconsidering, as well.

Dodge pulled its factory support from the Craftsman Truck Series, and it is hard to believe that if things don’t improve for an extended period of time, they will stay in the Nationwide or Sprint Cup series.

With the exception of Kasey Kahne’s two victories, and Ryan Newman’s one, the team has struggled immensely, putting no cars in the Chase. Not to mention the fact that Dodge isn’t known for its small, fuel-efficient vehicles. The carmaker is struggling to attract consumers, which is why all other makes are beating it, in terms of sales.

So, in a year, if things haven’t fully recovered, I would question Dodge’s committment to the sport. I’m pretty sure Chip Ganassi Racing would be.

I always wondered how Michael Waltrip could afford a three car race team. He hasn’t exactly been raking in the dough with good finishes. He never signed a huge contract, though at Dale Earnhard Inc. he did win a few races. Still, he doesn’t seem to have that much money. I know NAPA, UPS, and Aaron’s Rent probably kick in a good portion of the money, but still. He doesn’t have Richard Childress, or Rick Hendrick money. So, a merger would make sense.

The announcement ends months of speculation of where UPS would go. Thus far this season, UPS has been rumored Richard Childress Racing, Stewart Haas Racing, Penske Racing, in addition to Roush Fenway.

Throughout this season, UPS has been linked to Richard Childress Racing, Stewart Haas Racing, Penske Racing, and Roush Fenway Racing.

UPS has been rumored to be doing several places, so don’t expect them to stay with the No. 44. Aarons may be the sponsor for the car next season.

Patrick Carpentier expects to solidfy his 2009 plans in the next couple of weeks. He hopes to stay in Gillett Evernham Motorsports No. 10.

Casey Mears is also trying to get his deal done for next season. While rumors have him headed to Richard Childress Racing, he’s emphasized that a deal is not done. He’s also in talks with Penske Racing as a replacement for Ryan Newman.

SHR had hoped to announce multiple sponsors for the No. 4 car Friday, but the deals were not completed. The team hopes to nail down sponsorship over the next few weeks.

Burger King, UPS, and Jack Daniels have all been rumored to be potential sponsors.

Stewart said:

The thing that impressed me the most about Ryan was that he asked all the right questions. We’ve still never spoke about a dollar in the contract. The questions he asked me about were how are we going to win races, how are we going to win championships, how are we going to get the right people in place to do the right jobs. … It was first and foremost about how he was going to run and how we were going to ensure that we were going to get him quality cars, equipment, people to surround him to give him that opportunity.