Dale Finally Racing The Truck

, February 14, 2008

Last in Popular Series of Commercials to Air During Daytona 500

It's finally time for Dale Jarrett to race the truck.

The last "Race the Truck" commercial will debut this Sunday during the Daytona 500 and yes, Dale really does race the truck.

Eight years after UPS launched its popular advertising campaign to introduce itself to the NASCAR nation - pleading with star driver Dale Jarrett to give up his race car for a real machine - Jarrett finally hits the track in a brown UPS truck to race some of his close friends and competitors.

The last installment of the ad campaign, shown today in a sneak peak to the motorsports media, coincides with Jarrett's last Daytona 500 and upcoming retirement from full-time NASCAR competiton.

"It goes without saying that this has been a very popular and successful campaign for UPS," said Ron Rogowski, director of sponsorship for UPS. "No one could have predicted this story line would still be capturing the imagination of NASCAR fans eight years after launch. We believe it's only fitting that the last commercial coincides with Dale's last season and that we're finally going to see him race the truck."

"It's been a lot of fun to make these commercials and to be involved with this UPS effort for the last eight years," added Jarrett. "The power of this ad campaign still amazes me. And I have to believe this bond with UPS will continue long after I've stepped away from the race car. I feel very fortunate to have had this relationship with UPS and look forward to a continued association with the company and its more than 425,000 employees worldwide."

Making cameo appearances in the final "Race the Truck" commercial are drivers Elliott Sadler, Kyle Petty, Bobby Labonte and Martin Truex, Jr. The commercial will appear throughout the first half of the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, as well as the broadcast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup All-Star Race.

Fans also can view the spot by logging onto racing.ups.com. In addition to the last "Race the Truck" commercial, the UPS Racing Web site will feature special photo and video galleries of Dale Jarrett's career and a farewell card for fans to post messages to Jarrett. A physical copy of the card will be presented to Jarrett before his final race at the All-Star Challenge on May 17.