Penske - Noting Newman

-- Last year, Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart shared big fish stories with more than 300 fishermen at the inaugural Ryan Newman Foundation Celebrity Charity Fishing Tournament sponsored by Ranger Boats at Blythe Landing in Huntersville, N.C., on Dec. 16, 2006. The charity bass tournament raised more than $40,000 for the Ryan Newman Foundation Endowment, which will be a source for grants to non-profit organizations that fulfill the Foundation¿s mission.

Newman fished Lake Norman with FLW Angler of the Year Anthony Gagliardi in his Alltel-wrapped Ranger Boat. Newman and Stewart were joined on the FLW Outdoors stage by Ranger Boats Founder Forrest Wood during the awards ceremony, sponsored by Alltel. Fisherman Brian Morgan and Michael Fox of Newton, N.C., won the grand prize, a 519VX Ranger Boat with a VZ200TLR HPDI Yamaha motor, valued at $35,000.

This year, the fishing tournament will be Dec. 8, 2007. Tournament registration and the VIP reception and auction will be on the evening of Friday, Dec. 7, 2007. For further details about the fishing tournament, please visit www.ryannewmanfoundation.org.

-- Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, will make his 13th Cup start at Michigan International Speedway. It will be his 211th career start in the Cup Series.

-- Newman has an average start of 9.1 and an average finish of 16.7. Only one of Newman¿s starts has been lower than 12th , a 42nd in June 2006 after Newman spun in turn three before completing his first lap. Two starts were from 12th and the remaining 10 have all been from the top 10.

-- Newman has four finishes in the top five, including two wins. He has four other finishes inside the top 15 and four of 25th or lower.

-- Newman has led 91 laps in seven races at MIS. He has completed 2,161 laps of a possible 2,329. Newman has a completion rate of 92.8 percent at the Brooklyn, Mich., track since he made his debut at the speedway.

-- Crew chief Mike Nelson and the Alltel team will take chassis PRS-108 to Michigan as its primary car. This car is the same one Newman drove in Chicago in July when he qualified third and finished eighth. Chassis PRS-110 is the backup. This car was tested in Kentucky earlier this year, but it has not been raced. It is a new car.

Ryan On Michigan: I always like racing at Michigan. I¿ve always said that this is my home track, so being there is like going home to race in front of my hometown crowd.¿

We're in the hunt for the Chase and each week it feels like we¿re getting closer and closer to moving into that 12th spot. We've only got four more races left, so this whole team is working extremely hard to do our best and make it into the Chase this year. I think we have a really good chance of doing that and being in contention for a championship run.