• by Karl Greenberg , April 3, 2009

The Atlanta company has swapped racing icon Dale Jarrett, who has been featured in NASCAR-media UPS ads for the past eight years, with UPS racer David Ragan, who will star in a series of humorous commercials that have him competing in extreme driving challenges versus UPS drivers.

The four-spot campaign, via The Martin Agency, began Sunday during the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, with Ragan competing with UPS drivers in various extreme physical challenges to determine who will earn the title of "Maximum Driver."

In the spot, Ragan sits behind a desk on the set of a tacky motor sports show called "Reel Wheel Sports," with two hosts explaining that he is the new star of UPS NASCAR ads. He clearly doesn't know what he will be doing, but the hosts explain that he will be competing.

Ragan made his UPS Racing debut at the Daytona 500 in February, at which time a new television ad introducing him to the UPS team began running that featured Ragan driving his No. 6 Ford Fusion through UPS corporate headquarters.

After the Samsung 500, the three remaining spots will be revealed sequentially throughout the 2009 racing season.

UPS has also launched two new general-market TV spots, again starring The Martin Agency's creative head, Andy Azula. In the new ads, Azula talks about the shrinking economy and how UPS can help businesses save money by tightening their supply chains.

Azula stepped out of the 30-second spot format and onto the set of Fox Sports NCAA basketball March Madness coverage, where he did his white-board routine with hosts Billy Packer and Bobby Knight in segments where he chose his picks to go to this weekend's Final Four tourney in Detroit.