Saturday, November 3, 2007

Ryan Newman Qualifying Quote - Atlanta

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It sounds to me like Ryan Newman and Mike Nelson are starting to be worried about the engines they have blown this year. This "detuning" sounds to me like they have had it with blown engines and just want to make sure they finish a race. Makes sense to me.
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RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 alltel Dodge Charger)
“We’re caught between a rock and a hard place. We’re detuning the engine just enough so we can make the race but then we’re hoping it will last for 500 miles.”

Friday, November 2, 2007

Ryan Newmans qualifying Results - Dickies 500 | Texas Motor Speedway

Ryan Newman and his #12 ALLTEL Dodge Penske Racing team were the 11 fastest in qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway for the Dickies 500 . Newman\'s qualifying run included a speed of 191.557/28.190 putting him -0.226 behind the fastest qualifier, Error! Retrieved 0 matches!. Qualifying Results
Practice 1 Results

Ryan Newmans Practice #1 Results - Texas Motor Speedway

Ryan Newman and his #12 ALLTEL Dodge Penske Racing team were the 23 fastest in the first practice at Texas Motor Speedway for the Dickies 500 . Newman's practice run included a speed of 189.947/28.429 putting him -0.346 behind the fastest of the practice, Jeff Gordon.
Practice 1 Results
Qualifying Results

Thursday, November 1, 2007

THE Ryan Newman Race Preview - Texas

Ryan Newman and his Penske Racing #12 ALLTEL Dodge Team will be racing here at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the Dickies 500 .


Texas Motor Speedway Quick Facts :
Location - Fort Worth, TX
completed - 1996
Distance - 1.5 miles
Shape - Quad-oval
Seating - 159,585

According to NASCAR.com Carl Edwards has the Nextel Cup race record at Texas with a speed and date of 151.055 - 11/06/05. Terry Labonte has the qualifying record here with a speed and date of 192.137 - 2000.

Ryan Newman's History At Texas Motor Speedway
STARTS - 7
POLES - 2
WINS - 1
TOP 5's - 1
TOP 10's - 1
AVG START - 12.9
AVG FINISH - 27.6

Ryan Newman's Previous Races at Texas
2007 - Samsung 500 - 20 - 32 - Running
2006 - Samsung/RadioShack 500 - 14 - 40 - Accident
2006 - Dickies 500 - 24 - 34 - Running
2005 - Samsung/RadioShack 500 - 1 - 16 - Running
2005 - Dickies 500 - 1 - 25 - Running
2004 - Samsung/Radio Shack 500 - 15 - 39 - Accident
2003 - Samsung/RadioShack 500 - 3 - 1 - Running
2002 - Samsung/RadioShack 500 - 36 - 40 - Engine

Ryan Newman and Intermediate Track Racing -
Newman has 144 starts at Intermediate\'s with 11 win(s), 41 Top 5(s) and 61 Top 10(s). He also has an average start of 8.4 and an average finish of 17.7.

Ryan Newman and his #12 team will be taking chasis PRS-110 as thier primary chasis. Thier backup chasis is PRS-108

And from PenskeRacing.com here is Ryan Newmans quote on Texas Motor Speedway--

Were taking a brand-new car to Texas this week. We tested it at Kentucky, but thats the only time its been on the track, so well see how it goes.

Last week, we had problems with our car all weekend. It didnt qualify the way it usually does and then it just got worse as the weekend went on. We had some great momentum going into Atlanta, but well be able to get that back during these last three weeks and hopefully, we can win a second time at Texas.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Ryan Newman is building confidence after 2 years of on-track struggle

It's a familiar and unsettling story for Ryan Newman.


Running in the top 10 two-thirds of the way through last Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Atlanta, Newman's No. 12 Penske Dodge encounters engine trouble and he winds up finishing 37th.


Engine failures, flat tires, crashes and a multitude of gremlins. All have seemingly been constant companions since the 2004 season for a driver once considered a top star in the elite stock car series.


Newman won 35 poles and had 12 victories through 2005, his fourth full season in Cup races. Since then, there has been little to celebrate, other than an occasional pole for the guy whose consistent speed on qualifying day earned the nickname "Rocketman."


His last win came at New Hampshire in the fall of 2005, but a recent resurgence has raised a few eyebrows in the garage and done wonders for the 2002 Rookie of the Year's confidence.


In the three weeks before Atlanta, Newman had finishes of fifth at Talladega, 28th at Charlotte and second at Martinsville. He could just as easily have won all of them, including the Charlotte race where a blown tire knocked him out of the lead and sent his car into the wall with five laps remaining.


"The performance has been a lot better," Newman said. "It's all attributed to teamwork and just pure car performance - that's the biggest thing. Everybody at the shop has done a great job to step up and be better.


"We had a big personnel change in the off-season, and that was hard to battle through. Secondly, the performance of the race car has improved dramatically in the last half of the season. Those three races we had a shot of winning in the last three laps. Not everybody can say that. Especially after a rebound, it's nice to be able to say that."


Although he missed out on the Chase for the championship for the second straight year and is currently 16th in the standings, Newman is feeling good about the present and the future heading into the final three events of 2007, starting with Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway.


He's even OK answering questions about not winning his most recent races.


"I'm glad we're rebounding to the point where we can talk about it," he said. "There's potential. We didn't have potential for a long time.


"Before this year, I lost a lot of confidence as a driver. I didn't lose any ability, but the confidence gives you that extra edge. The ability just allows you to do it and that confidence is what's helped me with my qualifying and getting better track position, which helps us all the way through the race."


Another big part of the resurgence is the rapport Newman has developed with teammate Kurt Busch, who replaced longtime NASCAR star Rusty Wallace in the team's No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge in 2006. It was no secret that Newman and Wallace did not get along and had little communication.


Busch made the 12-man Chase this year with his own late-season surge after Pat Tryson took over as his crew chief. And the friendship of the two drivers, as well as Tryson and Mike Nelson, Newman's crew chief, has made a difference.


"The relationship between Kurt and me has been good and I think, more importantly, the teams, the two crew chiefs, the race engineers, even down to the shock guys," Newman said. "I've seen Miller Lite shirts in my truck 100 times more this year than I have in the last six years put together. And vice versa."


Team owner Roger Penske likes what he is seeing from Newman.

"Ryan's a great race driver and it's just a matter of getting the right car under him," Penske said. "And I think he's got confidence now. He's had a couple of tough breaks with some engine issues. But, overall, I think we've got a solid guy there and you're going to see a great last couple of races."

NEWMAN IN NEW CAR AT TEXAS

Ryan Newman will make his ninth Cup start at Texas Motor Speedway. It will be his 222nd career start in the Cup Series.


Newman has an average start of 14.2 and an average finish of 28.4 at the 1.5-mile track. He has three top-five starts, including two Bud Pole Awards, which he swept in 2005.
Newman has one win at Texas - March 2003. His next highest finish is a 16th in April 2005. His other six finishes have been 25th or lower.


Newman has led 80 laps in three Texas races. He has completed 2,306 laps of a possible 2,677 since he made his Cup debut at the track in 2002. Newman has a completion rate of 86.1 percent at the intermediate track.


Crew chief Mike Nelson and the Alltel team are taking chassis PRS-110 to Texas as their primary car. The car was tested at Kentucky, but it has never been raced. The backup car is PRS-108, which was raced by Newman last weekend in Atlanta. It qualified fifth, but finished 37th after an engine failure eliminated Newman from the race on lap 267.


Newman On Texas: "We're taking a brand-new car to Texas this week. We tested it at Kentucky, but that's the only time it's been on the track, so we'll see how it goes.
"Last week, we had problems with our car all weekend. It didn't qualify the way it usually does and then it just got worse as the weekend went on. We had some great momentum going into Atlanta, but we'll be able to get that back during these last three weeks and hopefully, we can win a second time at Texas."

Newman And Alltel Dodge Team Look To Rebound At Texas

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 30, 2007) After a tough weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway in which Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, qualified fifth but finished 37th after his car's engine failed, the team will head to Texas Motor Speedway for this weekend's Dickies 500.

Newman will make his ninth Cup start at the 1.5-mile track, just outside Fort Worth, Texas. It will be his 222nd career start in the Cup Series.

Newman has an average start of 14.2 and an average finish of 28.4 at the speedway that opened in 1997. He possesses three top-five starts, including two Bud Pole Awards, which he swept in 2005.

Newman owns one Texas win March 2003. His next highest finish is a 16th in April 2005. His other six finishes have been 25th or lower.

Were taking a brand-new car to Texas this week, Newman said. We tested it at Kentucky, but thats the only time its been on the track, so well see how it goes.
Last week, we had problems with our car all weekend. It didnt qualify the way it usually does and then it just got worse as the weekend went on. We had some great momentum going into Atlanta, but well be able to get that back during these last three weeks and hopefully, we can win a second time at Texas.

Newman has led 80 laps in three Texas races. He has completed 2,306 laps of a possible 2,677 since he made his Cup debut at the track in 2002. He possesses a completion rate of 86.1 percent at the intermediate track.

Crew Chief Michael Nelson and the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger team will take PRS-110 to Texas as their primary car. This car was tested at Kentucky, but has not been used in a race. The back-up car is PRS-108, which was used last weekend in Atlanta.

Sundays Dickies 500 will be covered live by ABC and PRN radio beginning at 2 p.m. EST.

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Penske Staying with Dodge

Penske Racing owner Roger Penske said Sunday that his team will be driving Dodges for years to come. Penske said he has agreed to a multi-year deal with Dodge. The team contract was set to expire at the end of the 2008 season.

Water in fuel supply at Atlanta

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I read one article that said that Ryan Newman's car also had water in the fuel along with Kurt Busch's.
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HAMPTON, Georgia (AP) - Water got into the fuel supply of more than two cars during the weekend NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, apparently leading to a crash that took out several top contenders near the end.

Denny Hamlin was leading the Pep Boys Auto 500 with three laps to go on Sunday when his car stalled while taking the green flag after a caution period. Martin Truex, who led the most laps, smashed into the back of Hamlin's car and finished 31st. Hamlin slipped to 24th.

"There are multiple teams that are showing positive for some level of water contamination level in their fuel," John Darby, NASCAR's Nextel Cup director, said on Monday. "It's more than two and less than 43 at the moment."

Darby dismissed sabotage as a possible explanation, saying too many teams were affected for anyone to have been singled out.

He said extensive testing done by Sunoco, NASCAR's official fuel supplier, showed no signs of problems in the underground storage tanks at the suburban Atlanta speedway. The problem likely occurred in the piping that runs from the tanks to the pumps, or in the pumps themselves.

"It's a brownish-colored water," Darby said. "If it was just water, it would be more clear. That should help us understand if it came from a failed pipe or a failed pump or some other source that allowed it to enter the fuel."

In a "huge majority" of cars that tested positive for water in their fuel systems, the amount was so small that it didn't affect performance. For example, winner Jimmie Johnson had some water in his carburetor during the post-race inspection.

But the amount of water was enough to affect at least two drivers: Hamlin and Dave Blaney, who had performance issues all day and finished 38th, 66 laps behind Johnson.

Atlanta TV ratings down over last year

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I don't know, but is ABC/ESPN the culprit for this. I have said many times that I am just sick of ESPN's coverage. It amazes me how different (better) it is to watch a truck race on SPEEDTV then to watch a Nextel Cup race on ABC/ESPN. ABC/ESPN always misses the race restarts, has probably double the commercials than the other networks that carry the Cup races and they just annoy me. I think at least twice during the race at Atlanta a caution came out while they were at yet another commercial break. We resumed watching while the cars were already in pit row. Then taking forever to even tell us why there was a caution. ABC/ESPN really needs to change how they operate or get out of NASCAR!!
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The overnight TV rating for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Pep Boys Auto 500 on ABC Sunday was a 3.5, down 17% from last year's overnight of 4.2/8 Share on NBC.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Ryan Newman Finishes 37th At Atlanta Due To Engine Problems

Ryan Newman and his #12 Mobile 1 Dodge finished 37th today at Atlanta because of engine troubles.

Newman ran pretty good all day running in just in the top 10 or just out of the top 10. Then on lap 268 Newman brought out the 11th caution of the day when his engine blew.

Here is what Newman had to say about his car and engine -

"We had a good car; just a good car. It was a top ten car. I don’t know if it was a winning car. The Mobil 1 Dodge was competitive at times. We got too loose at the end and dropped a cylinder, then dropped the rest of that cylinder and then she blew up. It was unfortunate. We’re struggling with these engines, [the] engine company has been letting us down a few times but we’ll keep with it and keep going."

Newman fell to 2 spots in the points standings to 16th. Besides the 12 Chasers Newman is behind 13th spot Dale Earnhardt JR, 14th Casey Mears and 15th Greg Biffle.

Other late race excitement included a tire blown on lap 318 of 325 by Jonny Sauter. The blown tire caused debris all over. But that wasn't the half of it.

The restart came on lap 322, 3 to go. When the cars came to the restart line Denny Hamlin was the leader. Hamlin ran out of gas right when it was time to punch it. All the cars started piling up behind him and crashing. This of course brought out a caution.

After that they were down to a green, white checkered restart. On the restart Jimmie Johnson brought them to the green fag. But 1 lap later Dale Earnhardt JR lost his right rear tire. JR spun around and slammed into the wall on his drivers side. In the process he collected Jaime McMurray.

This ended the race with Jimmie Johnson as the leader.

Ryan Newmans Practice #3 Results - Pep Boys Auto 500 | Atlanta Motor Speedway

Ryan Newman and his #12 Mobil 1 Dodge Penske Racing team were the 19 fastest in the third practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Pep Boys Auto 500 .
Newman's practice run included a speed of 185.710/29.853 putting him -0.434 behind the fastest of the practice, Kasey Kahne.

Practice 3 Results
Qualifying Results
Practice 1 Results
Practice 2 Results

Ryan Newmans Practice #2 Results - Atlanta Motor Speedway

Ryan Newman and his #12 Mobil 1 Dodge Penske Racing team were the 24 fastest in the second practice at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Pep Boys Auto 500 .
Newman's practice run included a speed of 185.915/29.820 putting him -0.689 behind the fastest of the practice, Martin Truex Jr..

Practice 2 Results
Qualifying Results
Practice 1 Results