Newman, Alltel Team Looking For Special Row Of Bricks

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 25, 2007) ¿ A row of bricks never had as much meaning as they do at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, better known as the Brickyard. Tradition holds that the winning team at the Brickyard kisses the row of bricks in celebration.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, and the Alltel Dodge team look forward to kissing those bricks after 43 cars have driven over that legendary row at the start/finish line for 160 laps.

The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday afternoon will be Newman¿s seventh Cup start at the 2.5-mile track and the 208th of his career in the Cup Series.

Newman possesses an average start of 5.5 and an average finish of 20.7 at the massive facility. All six of Newman¿s previous starts have come from the eighth position or higher, including three from the top five and a career-best second in 2003.

¿Indianapolis is one of the biggest races of the year for Cup drivers. It ranks right up there with Daytona and Charlotte,¿ Newman said. ¿Being from Indiana, it would be nice to get a win at the Brickyard. It¿s also getting down to the wire for the Chase and this Alltel Dodge team is so close. We¿ve had some good runs and we¿ve been making up a lot of ground in the last couple of weeks. We just need to put together seven more solid races to make it in this year. I fully believe that this team can do it. We¿ve had some time to relax and now we¿re ready to get back to racing.¿

Newman has only one top-10 finish ¿ a fourth in 2002 ¿ and two inside the top 15 at IMS. His other three finishes have been 31st or worse.

The Indiana native has led 14 laps in two races at Indy and has completed all but 10 laps at the track -- 951 of 961 possible laps -- since he made his debut at the speedway in 2001. That gives Newman a 99 percent completion rate.

Crew chief Mike Nelson and the Alltel Dodge team will take chassis PRS-069 to Indianapolis, which has not been on the track since April 2006 when it was used at Martinsville Speedway. The back-up car for Indy ¿ PRS-104 - was last used at Pocono in June. Newman started on the pole ¿ his third straight and his fourth of the season ¿ and finished second after rain ended that race early.

ESPN begins its 2007 season coverage of the NASCAR Cup Series at Indianapolis. Live coverage begins at 1 p.m. EDT. IMS Radio will also cover the race live at 1 p.m.

Newman, Stremme, Raines excited to be home

Ryan Newman and David Stremme grew up in South Bend, Ind., and Tony Raines is from Laporte, which is west of South Bend.

All three drivers are geared up for Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and claim there is more to life in northern Indiana than Notre Dame athletics.

"It's always been known for Notre Dame football and basketball, whatever it is," Stremme said. "Auto racing in that area is strong. You can go race different tracks, and it's tough. That's what helped me be able to move on and get the experience I needed to compete at this level.

"Ryan and I grew up only three miles away from each other. He was open-wheel racing. I was stock car racing. We went to school together. Tony Raines (13 years older than Newman and Stremme) actually raced with my parents when I was a little kid running around the track. I got to watch him race."

In six career starts at the Brickyard, Newman has only one top-10 finish, a fourth-place showing in 2002. Jimmie Johnson and Tony Stewart won the last two Brickyard events with each going on to win that year's Nextel Cup points race.

DEI to absorb Ginn Racing

Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Ginn Racing will announce this week that DEI will absorb Ginn Racing, multiple sources have told NASCAR Scene.

The merger will make DEI a four-car team as it adds the No. 01 car primarily driven by Mark Martin.

It is expected that the No. 14 team of Ginn will have its owner points transferred to DEI's Paul Menard, who currently is outside the top 35 driving the DEI No. 15. The points transfer would put him in the top 35 in owner points and guarantee a starting position in the field.

That could leave Regan Smith, who had shared the No. 01 ride with Mark Martin until being named driver of the No. 14 team last week, out of a job. It was unclear whether Smith or Aric Almirola, recently named as the co-driver of the No. 01 car, will share the driving duties with Martin the rest of the season.

The No. 13 team of Ginn, which was driven by Joe Nemechek until his release last week, will be eliminated along with the No. 14 team because DEI cannot have more than four full-time teams, according to NASCAR rules.

Bobby Ginn bought MB2 Motorsports last year and expanded the two-car Nextel Cup team to a three-car operation along with a Busch Series team.

But only the No. 01 team sponsored by the U.S. Army had full sponsorship. The No. 14 team had a partial sponsorship, and the No. 13 team had virtually no sponsorship.

DEI will eventually move its Nextel Cup operations to the Ginn Racing headquarters, according to a source close to the situation.

ESPN will show the unseen of NASCAR

By Michael Hiestand, USA TODAY
TV sports often brings up things you can't see. Like when overheated announcers talk about "thrilling game action" that's undetectable to your own eyes.
But as ESPN returns to covering NASCAR's Cup circuit for the first time since 2000, says ESPN senior vice president Jed Drake, it will follow its "fascination with things you can't see" to show viewers something they've really never seen on TV — swirling air.

Not just any air. The idea of ESPN's new Draft Track is to show air flowing behind cars and drivers drafting in it.

"I know what it feels like," says ESPN analyst Rusty Wallace, the ex-driver who says the new animation will show viewers things such as "the coefficient of drag" and "the dreaded aero push."

So what will "aero push" look like when the animation debuts on Sunday's coverage of the Allstate 400? In collaboration with Sportvision Inc., the Chicago company born from creating a "glowing puck" in 1996 for Fox's NHL coverage, ESPN has made the air churning in the wake of cars look sort of like green flames.

The graphic, says Drake, is "based on computative fluid dynamics" — which have been ignored in TV sports for far too long — and computer modeling that shows how air moves behind race cars.

Then, the idea is to take real-time information — Drake says GPS data can locate race cars "within two inches" of their actual location and track speeds "down to thousandths of a mile per hour" even as it changes "microsecond by microsecond" — and put it in the computer models to create the green waves that represent air.

(Makes you wonder: If all of that is possible, can't we get some sort of technology that tracks where you left your TV remote?)

Wallace acknowledges that Draft Track's swirling air, which will be show only on replays, won't exactly be self-explanatory: "We're going to have to verbally clarify this thing. It's complicated, but revolutionary!"

It took nearly a decade for the revolution to be televised. Drake says he got the idea of showing air in 1998, just after ESPN worked with Sportvision to make football's computer-generated first-and-10 line.

But ESPN, which began covering NASCAR races in 1979, its first year of existence, lost rights to the sport in 2000. After ESPN had aired 262 NASCAR Cup series races, those races went to Fox, NBC and TNT.

But starting with Sunday's race, ESPN/ABC inherits rights to the second half of NASCAR's season — which used to air on NBC and TNT — and will hunt you down to let you know. ESPN TV outlets this week are airing a mere 66 hours of NASCAR-related programs. Check out UltimateNASCAR: The Dirt at 4 a.m. ET Friday.

And ESPN this weekend, says senior coordinating producer Rich Feinberg, also will unveil TV's first "mobilized traveling TV studio" devoted to cars' innards. During races, he says, former NASCAR crew chief Tim Brewer will report from the so-called Tech Center — filled with all kinds of props such as "shock absorbers, transmissions, fuel cells, helmets" — to delve deeply into issues like "tire stagger."

While discussing technology has become standard on NASCAR TV coverage, the idea of a stand-alone technology studio means analysts won't have scream over race noise. And while various networks have long used "cutaway cars" — cars stripped of outside parts to create a sort of automotive frog dissection — Feinberg says "this is the next step of the evolution" in providing viewers with "educational tools."

(Feinberg also explains the creation of the Tech Center in what could be a handy clip 'n save for his next ESPN employee self-evaluation: "Without being too corny about Disney, some dreams do come true around here.")

And NASCAR's TV tonnage always expands. Feinberg last produced NASCAR races for ESPN in 2000 with two or three track-level robotic cameras; now he can deploy as many as eight. Then, he didn't have high-def cameras; now even in-car cameras are high-def. And he has four production trucks, up from two.

So what else, aside from maybe race coverage from spy satellites, could there possibly be left to add? Feinberg suggests there'll always be a frontier: "I personally believe that in the world of sports television, there'll always be the next thing."

Obituary: Bill Flemming, a versatile sportscaster who called ABC's football, golf and Olympic action and reported on more than 600 events for Wide World of Sports, died Friday of prostate cancer in Petoskey, Mich. He was 80.

Ryan Newman and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Welcome to Indianapolis Motor Speedway located in Indianapolis, IN.

Ryan Newman and his Penske Racing #12 Alltel Dodge will be racing here this weekend in the Allstate 400 .
Indianapolis Motor Speedway


***Location : Indianapolis, IN
***Completed : 1909
***Distance : 2.5 miles
***Shape : Oval
***Seating : 250,000+


***Nextel Cup Top Race Speed : 155.912 by Bobby Labonte on 8/5/2000
***Nextel Cup Top Qualifying Speed : 186.293 by Casey Mears on 8/7/2004


MANUFATURER WINS AT Indianapolis Motor Speedway SINCE 2002
DODGE = 1
FORD = 0
CHEVROLET = 4


RYAN NEWMAN'S STATS AT Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Ryan Newman's Stats
At Indianapolis Motor Speedway		At Intermediate Tracks
STARTS	6	135
POLES	0	NA
WINS	0	11
TOP 5	1	41
TOP 10	1	59
AVG START	5.5	8.1
AVG FINISH	20.7	17
LAPS COMP	951	NA
% COMP	-0.9896	NA
LAPS LED	14	NA
TOTAL $$$	1046956	NA

-- Crew chief Mike Nelson and the Alltel team are taking chassis PRS-069 to Indianapolis as its primary car. The car hasn't been on the track since April 2006 when it was used at Martinsville Speedway. Newman qualified fourth and finished 18th in that event. The backup car is PRS-104. It was last used at Pocono in June. For that race, Newman started on the pole ¿ his third straight and his fourth of the season ¿ and finished second in the rain-shortened event.

Ryan Newman on Indianapolis: "Indianapolis is one of the biggest races of the year for Cup drivers. It ranks right up there with Daytona and Charlotte. Being from Indiana, it would be nice to get a win at the Brickyard. It¿s also getting down to the wire for the Chase and this Alltel Dodge team is so close. We¿ve had some good runs and we¿ve been making up a lot of ground in the last couple of weeks. We just need to put together seven more solid races to make it in this year. I fully believe that this team can do it. We¿ve had some time to relax and now we¿re ready to get back to racing.


Good luck to Ryan Newman and the Penske Racing's #12 Alltel Dodge NASCAR Nextel Cup Team at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Allstate 400 this coming week and weekend!!!


Mike Pratt

'A World in Motion' PSA Starring Ryan Newman to Debut

WARRENDALE, Pa., July 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Our world needs young engineers, and Ryan Newman, driver of the Alltel Dodge for Penske Racing in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, is promoting an SAE International program designed to fulfill that need.

Newman is featured in a television public service announcement promoting SAE International's "A World in Motion," an award-winning educational program that focuses on the study of math and science for students in grades K through 12.

The PSA, which has received Ad Council endorsement, will debut beginning Monday, July 23, in the Indianapolis market. The timing coincides with the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, the NASCAR Nextel Cup race set for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 29.

Newman received a Bachelor of Science degree in Vehicle Structure Engineering from Purdue University in August 2001, and before that was a member of the National Honor Society and an honors graduate of South Bend LaSalle High School in 1996.

For more information, visit http://pr.sae.org and click on the World in Motion icon in the lower right corner of the page.

ANALYSIS: Numbers don't always add up for Cup cars

It's not the rules.

Amid growing unrest among team owners on the wrong side of NASCAR's rule guaranteeing the top 35 teams spots in each Nextel Cup field, a Charlotte Observer analysis of several potential alterations leads to the same conclusion.

As long as there are more than 43 full-time teams in stock-car racing's top series, and as long as that's how many cars get to race in each Cup event, somebody will go home. And they won't be happy.

In the first 10 races this season, traditional qualifying was held eight times. The exceptions were the Daytona 500, which has its own procedure, and at Texas, where qualifying was rained out.

For the eight races in which traditional qualifying was held, 8.1 percent of the cars making the fields would have changed if NASCAR had allowed in the fastest 43.

Only 7.6 percent would have differed if the top 12 teams were exempt, and it would've been only 6.4 percent if the top 25 were exempt. If NASCAR were using its old format, with 36 cars qualifying on speed and seven provisionals, there would have been a 3.5 percent difference.

Those numbers, as small as they are, are higher than they would be without the season's first Talladega, Ala., race.

Under impound rules for that event, cars had to race in set-ups in which they qualified. So teams not guaranteed spots had to go with qualifying set-ups, while exempt cars were in race trim. Seven cars that were among the 43 fastest did not make the race, while several top teams qualified poorly. Had the rules been different, the results almost certainly would have been different.

Subtract the Talladega numbers and the percentages really get tiny -- 6.1 percent for no exemptions, 6.7 percent for the top 12 exempt, 6 percent for top 25 exemptions and 2 percent for the 36-and-7 system.

If the rules had been different early this year, Michael Waltrip would have had the most to gain under virtually any scenario.

He missed all eight races analyzed in his No. 55 Toyota but would have made five of those with no exemptions, 12 exemptions or 25 exemptions. At the same time, those tweaks would have knocked Kyle Petty and Robby Gordon out of as many as four races they made, depending on which change had been employed.

The idea of doing away with provisionals and exemptions and simply putting the 43 fastest cars in every race has wide popularity among fans.

The Observer's analysis shows that approach would have spread the misery of missing races to at least 21 teams during the first 10 races, including Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Bobby Labonte, Martin Truex Jr. and Reed Sorenson. All of those drivers would have missed at least one race.

If only the top 25 teams were guaranteed starting spots, Elliott Sadler, Jeff Green, J.J. Yeley, Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne would have been among those missing races. And under the scenario with only the top 12 teams exempt, Dale Earnhardt Jr. would have failed to qualify at Talladega along with Truex, Labonte and Bowyer. ANALYSIS

Playing with the Rules

Number of different cars that would have qualified for each race based on various possible changes to the top-35 exempt rule in place for Nextel Cup races:

RACE FASTEST 43	QUALIFY TOP 25	EXEMPT TOP 12	EXEMPT 36 ON SPEED, 7 PROVISIONALS
California	4	4	4	1
Las Vegas	3	2	3	1
Atlanta	6	4	5	1
Bristol	1	1	2	0
Martinsville	0	1	0	2
Phoenix	4	3	3	0
Talladega	7	4	6	6
Richmond	3	3	3	1

EXAMPLE KOBALT TOOLS 500 AT ATLANTA MOTOR SPEEDWAY

FASTEST 43: Scott Wimmer, Ward Burton, John Andretti, Michael Waltrip, Kenny Wallace and Kevin Lepage would have raced. Dale Jarrett, David Ragan, Robby Gordon, Kyle Petty, Jeff Green and Ricky Rudd would have not.

TOP 25 EXEMPT: Wimmer, Burton, Andretti and Waltrip in. Robby Gordon, Kyle Petty, Green and Jarrett out. (If Jarrett had been allowed to use a former champion's slot, he would have been in and Waltrip would have been out.)

TOP 12 EXEMPT: Wimmer, Burton, Andretti, Waltrip and Kenny Wallace in. Gordon, Petty, Green, Rudd and Jarrett out. (Jarrett would have taken Wallace slot with champion's provisional).

36 AND 7 RULE: Dave Blaney and Jarrett in and Petty and Gordon out.

charlotte observer

Newman Helps Local Driver

Macon, GA

The Nextel Cup Series has a rare weekend off, and while NASCAR's top drivers usually take that time to go on vacation and relax.

But, one top driver was taking care of business Wednesday night in Central Georgia.

Ryan Newman made an appearance at Bass Pro Shops .

The driver of the number 12 Dodge was in town to support local ASA driver Beau Slocumb.

Slocumb, a Juliette resident, and his team were trying to strike up some support for the season, after posting seven top-five finishes last year.

Slocumb appreciated his favorite driver, Newman, being in attendance, "He always told me anything he could do to help me further my career, just let him know...I gave him a call, he said absolutely. You figure out how to get me there quickly, on a plane, I'll be there."

The two drivers met three years ago, when Newman was looking for a place to fish while in Georgia.

Atlanta Motor Speedway president Ed Clark introduced Newman to the Slocumb family, which lives on a lake in Juliette, and the rest is history.

Newman says he's pleased to help Slocumb, knowing what it feels like to try and climb the ranks of autoracing.

"I was there before," said Newman, "He's got a great family backbone behind him, that helps a lot...He's got a great career ahead of him, he just needs the next step and this is a great function for him to get to that next step."

Newman was also promoting his book "Pit Road Pets", which benefits the Ryan Newman Foundation.

http://www.13wmaz.com/

New Ryan Newman Podcast - Post Chicagoland

Driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Ryan Newman and XM Satellite Radio Host Claire B. Lang catch up to discuss last week's NASCAR Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, where the team captured another strong finish and rallied to 13th in the points standings.

In addition, Newman answers questions from the Alltel All Axcess Racing Mailbag and discusses his recent fishing trip in Canada.

Finally, Newman provides fans with the inside scoop on how he will spend his off-week.

Newman Team Notes For Off Week

No. 12 Dodge, Penske Racing

This week: Newman and his wife, Krissie, plan to go camping this weekend. "We're going to get some fresh air and get away from things and relax," said Newman, who has pulled to 30 points out of the top 12. The team plans to enjoy a long weekend off before getting ready to go to Indianapolis for the all-important Allstate 400.

Last week: Even though he finished eighth at Chicagoland to close the gap in his bid to move into the top 12, Newman felt his mishap early in the race ruined any chance he had of challenging for the win. "We would have been all right if I hadn't brushed the wall," said Newman. "We never could get track position for our Alltel Mobil 1 Dodge after that."

Etc.: Newman, a native of South Bend, Ind., would love to score his first win of the season at Indianapolis. "I always wanted to win a race at Indy," said Newman. "It has been a lifelong dream."

Newman gains ground on Earnhardt Jr.

By Dustin Long
Staff Writer
http://www.news-record.com

JOLIET, Ill. -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. lost more than his power steering Sunday at Chicagoland Speedway.

Earnhardt's 19th-place finish tightened the race for the last spot in the Chase for the Nextel Cup. Earnhardt remains 12th -- the final transfer spot -- but his lead dwindled to 30 points on Ryan Newman with seven races left before the cutoff.

Newman's eight-place finish helped him gain 31 points on Earnhardt.

"We're knocking on the door," said Newman, who has gained 97 points on Earnhardt in the last two races. "Other guys had some misfortunes and sometimes that's what it takes."

Earnhardt ran in the top 10 until his power steering failed about 60 laps from the finish.

"It won't go where you want it to go," Earnhardt radioed his crew. "I've never driven a car like this. This is funny."

Losing points wasn't.

Earnhardt was unfazed after the race, among jokes from his crew about needing to work out.

"I've been outside the top 12 looking in ... and if we have to go there again, we'll go there again," Earnhardt said. "We'll be all right. We've got a good team. I've got no doubts."

PEACE RESTORED: Car owner Joe Gibbs stopped at Chicagoland Speedway on Saturday en route to a vacation in Colorado to moderate a meeting between feuding teammates Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. They met for about half an hour and it caused the drivers to miss the first part of the final practice session.

"I've never really seen Coach (Gibbs) fired up quite the way he was this week," Hamlin said after Sunday's race. "For him to come on Saturday the way he did, I knew it was serious. If we had to miss practice, I knew it was very serious."

Both Stewart and Hamlin said Sunday that the meeting helped restore their working relationship and they helped each other during the race.

Stewart and Hamlin have had a rift since they crashed last weekend at Daytona. Hamlin said he would not talk to Stewart this past week because he wanted to calm down after Stewart criticized Hamlin on national television.

J.D. Gibbs, team president and son of Joe Gibbs, said the matter was resolved between the two drivers. J.D. Gibbs wasn't at the meeting and wouldn't reveal details but said the two drivers had time to air their differences from last week.

UPS AND DOWNS: Less than a week after he won at Daytona to snap a 166-race winless streak, Jamie McMurray crashed and finished 38th Sunday.

McMurray's woes dropped him two spots in the points standings. He fell to 15th and is 111 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. for the final transfer spot.

PIT STOPS: Kurt Busch finished sixth after starting at the rear of the field for an engine change. ... Matt Kenseth's runner-up finish was his third top-10 finish in a row. ... Evernham Motorsports had a forgettable weekend. Scott Riggs failed to make the race. Kasey Kahne placed 32nd, finishing five laps behind the leaders. Elliott Sadler was 33rd, finishing seven laps behind the leaders. ... After winning nine of the first 12 races, Hendrick Motorsports has won once in the last seven races. ... Points leader Jeff Gordon, who finished ninth, said that was as good as his car was all day. ... John Andretti placed 18th in his fourth and final race in place of Kyle Petty, who was a part of TNT's broadcast crew.

Ryan Newman: “We just weren’t any good on the restarts. We had a good car and good stops all day”

Joliet, Ill.
Jul 16, 2007

Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman drew closer to an opportunity to partake in this year’s Chase for the Championship with top-10 finishes in Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

Newman’s eighth-place finish in his Mobil 1 Dodge Charger allowed him to regain the 13th position in the standings, just 30 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 12th, this year’s cut-off position.

With seven races remaining before the Chase begins, Busch took over 14th with his sixth-place finish in his Miller Lite Dodge Charger. He trails Earnhardt Jr. by 77 points and Newman by 47.

“With a third at Daytona last week and a sixth here today, our team really has a lot of momentum going and it’ll be a great time for our week off next weekend, “ Busch said. “It’s a great big-picture day for us as we continue to nip away at that deficit up to 12th. That’s the big goal, making the Chase, and if we continue to string together great solid runs like we’ve had the last couple of weeks, we’re definitely headed toward achieving that goal. “

Even though Busch didn’t end the day in victory lane, the Miller Lite team’s performance at the 1.5-mile track was still a triumphant performance. After having to change the car’s engine on Friday before practice began, the team qualified 35th. Then, before Sunday’s race started, Busch had to drop to the 43rd spot in the field because of the engine change.

Once the green flag waved, Busch methodically maneuvered his way through the field, cracking the top 25 by lap 30. Within 15 laps on the 1.5-mile track, he was in the top 20. By lap 60, Busch had reached the top 15 and he remained there the rest of the race. He led once for two laps, taking the No. 1 position on lap 114 during a round of green-flag pit stops.

The extra time spent on the slower old tires saw Busch running 14th when the stops cycled around on lap 117, but he was back up to 13th on lap 154 when Jamie McMurray slammed the wall to trigger the second of seven caution periods. A 13.362-second stop helped put Busch in ninth for the lap 160 restart, and he remained in the top 10 for the rest of the race.

“It was a tremendous day all around for our Miller Lite Dodge team, “ a happy Busch said. “[Crew chief] Pat Tryson made all the right calls on the box and the guys were pretty flawless in the pits all day long. I really wanted that first top-five here at Chicago, but I guess we shouldn’t get that greedy having to start from the rear and all. “

Newman started third in the event and ran in the top 10 for most of the race despite battling a loose condition in his car at the beginning of a run and then dealing with a tight handling car as the run progressed. On lap 140, Newman brushed the wall, causing minor damage to his car’s right-front fender and escalating its tight condition. Newman had fallen to 10th by the time the caution flag waved on lap 154 when McMurray crashed.

During the second of seven caution periods, Newman’s car received four fresh tires, fuel and a chassis adjustment, but because of the fender damage, Newman had to pit again on lap 158 for repairs. Newman restarted in 14th and hovered just outside the top 10 after moving up to 11th in seven laps. The car, however, was back on the loose side.

Newman battled his way back into the top 10 for good on lap 216 and got as high as sixth before having to settle for an eighth-place finish.

“We would have been all right if I hadn’t brushed the wall, “ Newman said. “We never could get track position for our Alltel Mobil 1 Dodge after that. We just weren’t any good on the restarts. We had a good car and good stops all day. We just weren’t in the right spot at the end. “

Kurt Busch raced to a sixth-place finish and moved into 14th in the standings. He is 77 points out of 12th.

The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is off this weekend, but resumes July 29 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a 17-race stretch that concludes the season. The Allstate 400 at the Brickyard marks the return of ESPN to NASCAR’s premier series.

Chicagoland: Dodge teams race quotes

Ryan Newman (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger) Finished 8th

How was your day? "We would have been alright if I hadn't brushed the wall. We never could get track position for our alltel Mobil 1 Dodge after that. We just weren't any good on the restarts. We had a good car and good stops all day. We just weren't in the right spot at the end.

What are you doing on the off weekend? "We're going camping. We're going to get some fresh air and get away from things and relax."

***

Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Charger) Finished 20th

Comment on your day today: "We were tight all day, tight all day, tight all day. We got a little better during the race, but couldn't adjust enough to get where we needed to be. Sometimes you just can't adjust enough on your car to make it right."

How was the track? "The track is really getting good. We could run high or low. I think it will keep getting better and make this an exciting place to race. I just wish we ran faster on it today."

***

Reed Sorenson (No. 41 Target Dodge Charger), Finished 12th

How was your day? "It was a good day for the Target team. We had a solid top-15 car all day and this is definitely the kind of finish we need after the last few races.

"I thought we would be able to move up in the closing laps by taking four at the end, but we kept getting caught behind lapped cars on the restart. Still, it was a good day and I'm looking forward to Indy in a couple of weeks."

***

KURT BUSCH, (NO. 2 MILLER LITE DODGE CHARGER), Finished 6th

What happened with your car today? "Well, we thought we had a really good run today. We just kept creeping up on them and kept creeping up on the set-up. Starting 43rd we just had to take our time and really put a maneuverable set-up on the car -- one that could go low and one that could go high. It turned out really positive. The team had good pit stops. We thought we had a top five and ended up sixth."

What happened that forced you to change the engine? "We had something internally like a freeze plug come over and plug up the screen where, or I think it was the plug out of the back of the cam shaft. So you have to have oil pressure when you run. That is what took us out. It was unfortunate that we didn't even make a lap with it, but we had to start at the back and work our way forward. Those are the rules and that is what we did."

How difficult mentally to know that you have to go to the rear of the field? "You know that you have to stay on pace and take your time. You could have a bad pit stop at the beginning of the race and have to go to the back so. "

This team has had a lot of momentum the last few weeks. How far away is a top five? "It's just right around the corner. Daytona was a great race for us and we lead a lot of laps. We will roll over to Indy -- I got a good Dodge for that race track. It's big Miller Lite country there so we are looking forward to it."

What does the team do keep the momentum during the off week? "The guys will be doing pit stop practice but we do need a weekend off. These guys need to relax, take their time and spend some time with their families because that is important. It gives us extra time for the guys at the shop to build on that Indy car and make it a little faster."

Have you ever seen a team that fights back so hard like this? "It feels good. You don't know when things are going to go your way. You don't know when things are going to go against you. You just try to hunker down and keep things on a level field and never give up."

***

Elliott Sadler (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger), Finished 33rd

Talk about your day today: "We put ourselves in a hole when we wrecked our primary car at the end of practice yesterday. It's tough when you've got to race a car that you haven't practiced. The guys worked really hard to get this one ready for us by morning.

"We struggled with the handling from the start and then got into the wall a little and that knocked the toe out. Once we got that fixed we were several laps down so we just used the last part of the race as a test. Ray (Evernham) tried out a few changes and we got the car the best it had been all race. Having him on the box is great - he really understands the car and is focused on how we can make them better."

***

David Stremme (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Charger) Finished 34th

What happened out there today? "It was a challenging day today. The car wasn't bad early on and we didn't make any changes at the start. I thought we had a decent car at that point to tell you the truth. But we fell two laps down and then got a drive-through penalty following a restart and that pretty much ended our chances for a strong finish today. I think we may have dropped a cylinder at the end which forced us to the garage."

***

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger), Finished 32nd

Talk about your day: "We missed on the set-up early in the race and got a lap down. That put us in a difficult situation which we could never overcome. I could not carry speed through the corners. As the race progressed, we turned our focus to trying a wide range of adjustments that would give us the grip that was missing. That required time in the pits which costs you laps. It wasn't the kind of performance we were looking for. The crew did a good job on pit road and by the end of the race, we were able to get in the corners better and still keep the back of the car hooked up with the track. We'll keep working and figure this out."

***

Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Wrigley Big Red Dodge Charger) Finished 15th

How did pit stops affect your car? "When we would stop on the green, it was really good. I could run really strong but every time we would pit on the yellow we would get really tired. We tried to free it up all day long but we didn't catch it up enough. We still had a really great result. The car is in one piece so I'm really happy.

It seemed like your car ran better the longer the race went on? "It was good. We did maybe one wrong change but the rest were pretty good."

How much have you learned about these kinds of cars in the year since you announced your move at Chicago? "A lot. I feel like I've learned about 40 percent of what I have to learn, but I still think I'm miles off. I think that my pay is pretty decent. I think I can run good but I think we still, as a team, need to understand what I like and I just need more experience working with Donnie and stuff like that."

Is the hard part just learning how to be patient? "No. I just think it's about racing smart. It's not about patience. You take what you can take. There's some places you can't take and have to race smart more than being patient."

Are you looking forward to Indy? "I guess, yes."

***

John Andretti (No. 45 Wells Fargo Dodge Charger) Finished 18th

How was your race? "I was really happy. I think we started and finished good. We finished on a lead lap, and made up some spots at the end. I'm really proud of the whole team. I'm excited and I hate to leave."

Ryan Newman Finishes 8th At Chicagoland Speedway

Ryan Newman and his Mobile1 Dodge Nextel Cup team go there 8th top of the year by finishing 8th in the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway today.

Newman had a decent day running in the top 10 and top5 most of the day. From what I say it was a relatively uneventful day for Newman, he was on cruise control.

Newman earned 142 points with now bonus points. This moved Nemwan up to 13th position in the points and only 30 point outside of 12th position behind Dale Earnhardt JR. Once again Newman is close to the elusize 12th position for the chase.

NEWMAN QUALIFIES 3RD FOR CHICAGOLAND CUP RACE

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, led the Dodge contingent in qualifying Friday, earning the third starting position for this weekend's USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

It was the sixth top-10 starting position for Newman in the last eight NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races.

“We were second quickest in practice and I did my quickest lap the second lap," Newman said after emerging from his two-lap run on the 1.5-mile track with a time of 29.595 seconds, 182.463 mph, just 0.015 second behind pole winner Casey Mears.

"I ran two [laps] today and the first one was really, really good. It just wasn’t good enough, but it was a good run for the Mobil 1 Dodge Charger to start in the top three. I look forward to the race. I think we have a very competitive car based on our race trim times today [Friday].”

Newman, the 41st of 49 drivers to record a qualifying lap, predicted during his post-qualifying interview in the track's media center that Sunday's 267-lap race would produce side-by-side racing.

"We’re very, very confident that it will be three-wide racing at some point at both ends of the race track," Newman continued. "And the track, for whatever reason, feels like it has quite a bit of grip because it’s really, really fast; there’s already a second groove out there. I know I was passing some cars in the Busch practice. The Busch race depends on how wide it will get for the start of the race, and on Sunday. I think, without a doubt, it will have some second and third grooves, so it may be faster on the bottom.”

Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400 begins at 4 p.m. EDT. It will be televised on TNT and broadcast on MRN Radio. This is the final race this season for TNT.

Ryan Newman Practice Num 3 For USG Sheetrock 400 Results

Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge team had their third practice at Chicagoland Speedway today for the NASCAR Nextel Cup USG Sheetrock 400

Newman had the 31 fastest practice speed of 173.294 mph / 31.161 sec.

Newman was -0.793 seconds behind the leader Jimmie Johnson who had a practice time of 177.819 / 30.368.


Practice 1 --- Newman had the 2 fastest practice speed of 181.959 mph / 29.677 sec.
practice 2--- Newman had the 14 fastest practice speed of 177.924 mph / 30.35 sec.
.
Ryan Newman Qualified 3 for the USG Sheetrock 400.
Good luck to Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing Team in the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

Practice 3 Results

Practice 2 Results

Practice 1 Results

Qualifying Order

Ryan Newman Practice Num 2 For USG Sheetrock 400 Results

Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge team had their second practice at Chicagoland Speedway today for the NASCAR Nextel Cup USG Sheetrock 400
Newman had the 14 fastest practice speed of 177.924 mph / 30.35 sec.

Newman was -0.364 seconds behind the leader Carl Edwards who had a practice time of 180.084 / 29.986.


Practice 2 Results

Practice 1 Results



Good luck to Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing Team in the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

Chicagoland: Ryan Newman NASCAR Nextel Cup Qualifying Recap

Ryan Newman qualified third for Sunday’s USG Sheetrock 400.

Ryan Newman (No. 12 Mobil 1/Alltel Dodge)

TALK ABOUT YOUR QUALIFYING RUN:
“We were second quickest in practice and I did my quickest lap the second lap. So I ran two today and the first one was really, really good. It was, it just wasn’t good enough, but it was a good run for the Mobil 1 Dodge Charger to start in the top three and I look forward to the race. I think we have a very competitive car based on our race trim times today.”

IN A QUALIFYING SESSION LIKE THIS WHEN THE CLOUDS ARE IN AND OUT IS THERE ANYTHING YOU DO TO AVOID THE CLOUDS?

“You have the five minute clock and I joked about it afterwards about would I have sat there, if I knew the cloud was going to be there. I really don’t think it makes that big of a difference. The track can’t instantaneously cool off that quick to make that big a difference. It would be nice but you can only take it as it goes. If you did something like that, I’m sure NASCAR would have a little meeting with you or something at some point.”

IF A CLOUD MOVES OVER THIRTY SECONDS BEFORE YOU’RE ON THE RACE TRACK, CAN IT REALLY MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

“That’s been the theory. Definitely the flatter the race track the more the more influence it has as far as the track temperature. Outside of that, nobody I think has really quantified it to make an answer that I could give you and make it sound correct. It might take a minute of clouds to make a thousandth of a second of difference at a certain race track with a certain size, a certain grip level. I mean it’s quite an equation. I’m not blaming it on the clouds just so you know.”

EVERYONE IS TALKING ABOUT A SECOND GROOVE COMING IN. YOU’VE HAD A CHANCE TO BE ON THE TRACK TWICE. DO YOU THINK WE’LL GET SIDE BY SIDE RACING ON SUNDAY?

“Without a doubt. We’re very, very confident that it will be three-wide racing at some point at both ends of the race track. And the track, for whatever reason feels like it has quite a bit of grip because it’s really, really fast but there’s already a second groove out there. I know I was passing some cars in the Busch practice. The Busch race depends on how wide it will get for the start of the race, and on Sunday. I think without a doubt it will have some second and third grooves. So it may be faster on the bottom.”

BEING SO CLOSE TO INDIANA HERE AT CHICAGOLAND, HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE RACING CLOSE TO YOUR HOMETOWN?

“It’s neat to see faces that you don’t see very often. I mean it’s faces that I grew up with racing. It’s midgets and sprint cars like that. Open wheel people. Guys I used to race with. Car owners I used to race for. Just in general, seeing those faces and being in this area it’s kind of a homecoming. Outside of that, it’s another stop on the schedule.”

Ryan Newman Qualified 3 for the USG Sheetrock 400.

Ryan Newman has qualified 3 for the USG Sheetrock 400 at the Chicagoland Speedway. Newman had a speed of 182.463 / 29.595 / -0.015.


Today's 3 place qualifying will give Newman and his #12 NASCAR Nextel Cup Team and average start this season of 16.67.


Casey Mears got the pole position for the USG Sheetrock 400 with a time of 91.589 / 78.219.


Good luck to Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing Team in the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway



Qualifying Order

Practice 1 Results

Newman Returns To Double-Duty At Chicago

MOORESVILLE, N.C. (July 12, 2007) – Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, returns to the NASCAR Busch Series this weekend driving the No. 12 Kodak Dodge Charger in Saturday's USG Durock 300 at Chicagoland Speedway.

It has been nearly two months since Newman has done double duty – his last Busch race was at Darlington Raceway in May – and Newman is excited to be back in the Busch car.

“I always have fun when I run in the Busch Series and we’ve done really well at Chicago in the past,” Newman said. “We’ve been on the pole both times I’ve run here and the last time we were here we led a lot of laps and ran at the front the whole race. I’m excited to run the Kodak Dodge again this weekend and I look forward to a great race.”

It will be Newman’s third start in a Busch car at Chicagoland and his 34th in the Busch Series. Newman has started both of his races at Chicago on the pole and possesses an average finish of 14.5. He finished 26th in 2001 and third in 2005.

Newman has led 202 laps in the two events and has completed 397 laps of a possible 400, giving him a 99.2 percent completion rate.

Crew chief Matt Gimbel and the Kodak Dodge team are taking chassis PBC-016 to the 1.5-mile track, which is a new car and has never been on a track.

PBC-007 is the back-up car and was last run in Darlington where Newman finished 11th after early problems in the pits stemming from an on-track incident. Newman also drove the car at Bristol.

Of course, Newman’s biggest focus this weekend will be the USG Sheetrock 400 NASCAR Cup race on Sunday. With only eight races left before the beginning of the 2007 Chase, Newman sits 14th in points, 61 behind Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is hanging on to the 12th position.

Newman will drive the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger this weekend for his sixth Cup start at Chicagoland Speedway and his 207th in his Cup Series career.

Newman has an average start of 7.4 and an average finish of 21. All of Newman’s starts have been from inside the top 15 and he has three top-10s, including two from the top five and one Bud Pole award.

Newman has two top-five finishes at Chicago, including a win in the 2003 event. His other three finishes have been 29th and lower.

“Chicagoland is like a mini Michigan. We’ve had some success here in the past. We won here in 2003 and we’ve got one pole here as well,” Newman added. “It’s getting down to crunch time for the Chase and we didn’t exactly have the run we were hoping for last week in Daytona, so everyone on this Mobil 1 Dodge team is hoping to have a little better weekend at Chicago before we get to enjoy our final off-weekend. I’m looking forward to the race in Chicago; we’re so close to getting back into Victory Lane and making our way back into the Chase field for 2007.”

In three races, Newman has led 163 laps and has completed 91.9 percent of the laps possible at the Illinois track – 1,230 of 1,338 - since he made his Cup debut at the track in 2002.

Crew chief Mike Nelson and the Mobil 1 Dodge team are taking chassis PRS-108 to Chicagoland, which is a new car that was tested in Nashville, Tenn., last week. The back-up car is PRS-053, which was the car that Newman raced in the May All-Star event at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Coverage of Saturday’s USG Durock 300 from Chicagoland begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT. ABC and MRN Radio will broadcast the race live.

TNT will broadcast its final Cup Series race of the 2007 season with the USG Sheetrock 400 on Sunday. Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. EDT. MRN Radio will also broadcast the race.

Ryan Newman Practice Num 1 For USG Sheetrock 400 Results

Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge team had their first practice at Chicagoland Speedway today for the NASCAR Nextel Cup USG Sheetrock 400

Newman had the 2 fastest practice speed of 181.959 mph / 29.677 sec.

Newman was -0.103 seconds behind the leader Jimmie Johnson who had a practice time of 182.593 / 29.574.



Practice 1 Results

Good luck to Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing Team in the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway

Ryan Neman - CHICAGO/USG SHEETROCK 400 PREVIEW

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, will make his sixth Cup start at Chicagoland Speedway. It will be his 207th career start in the Cup Series.

Newman has an average start of 7.4 and an average finish of 21. All of Newman’s starts have been from inside the top 15 and he has three top-10s, including two from the top five and one Bud Pole Award.

Newman has two top-five finishes at Chicago, including a win in the 2003 event. His other three finishes have been 29th and lower.

Newman has led 163 laps in three races at Chicago. He has completed 91.9 percent of the laps possible at the Illinois track—1,230 of 1,338—since he made his Cup debut at the track in 2002.

Crew chief Mike Nelson and the Mobil 1 team are taking chassis PRS-108 this weekend as their primary car for Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400. The new car was tested last week in Nashville, Tenn. PRS-053 is the backup Dodge. Newman raced it in the All-Star event in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

On July 18, Ryan Newman will be one of the guests at a NASCAR benefit BBQ at the Bass Pro Shops on Bass Road in Atlanta, Ga. Newman will promote his book, "Pit Road Pets," for the Ryan Newman Foundation. Tickets for the 6 p.m. event are $30 in advance or $40 at the door. Anyone 15 years old and under will be admitted free with a paying adult.

Newman On Chicago: “Chicagoland is like a mini Michigan. We’ve had some success here in the past. We won here in 2003 and we’ve got one pole here as well. It’s getting down to crunch time for the Chase and we didn’t exactly have the run we were hoping for last week in Daytona, so everyone on this Mobil 1 Dodge team is hoping to have a little better weekend at Chicago before we get to enjoy our final off-weekend. I’m looking forward to the race in Chicago; we’re so close to getting back into Victory Lane and making our way back into the Chase field for 2007.”

Newmans, NSNRT get $300,000 from ASPCA

By Official Release
July 12, 2007
10:31 AM EDT

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have announced a $300,000 sponsorship for the Humane Alliance of Western North Carolina's National Spay/Neuter Response Team to provide a strategic training program and facilitators to mentor organizations to open and operate 12 new high-volume, high quality spay/neuter clinics across the country in 2007.

Ed Sayres, president of the ASPCA, presented the $300,000 pledge to Humane Alliance director Quita Mazzina and NSNRT spokespeople Ryan and Krissie Newman at the Humane Society of Catawba County (HSCC), which will operate one of the model spay/neuter clinics, in Hickory, N.C. The clinic will be part of the Humane Society's multipurpose animal welfare facility currently under construction.

The Humane Society of Catawba County's Spay/Neuter clinic is being built through a $400,000 donation from the Ryan Newman Foundation. Ryan and Krissie Newman are the national spokespeople for the Humane Alliance's NSNRT and honorary capital campaign co-chairs for the Humane Society of Catawba County. HSCC still has to raise an additional $300,000 to complete the capital campaign for their no-kill animal shelter, education center and spay/neuter clinic that is scheduled to open in November 2007.

The NSNRT operates much like a NASCAR pit crew, sending groups of trained vets and veterinary technicians to help nonprofit organizations learn how to open spay/neuter clinics using the Humane Alliance model.

Twenty-two organizations around the country -- including the Humane Society of Catawba County -- have applied to open spay/neuter clinics, and a minimum of 12 will open this year with help from the ASPCA's funding of the NSNRT. These organizations will partner with hundreds of local animal shelters and rescue groups in their regions across the nation.

"Spaying and neutering is the only way to permanently curb the proliferation of millions of unwanted and abandoned animals each year in the United States," said Ed Sayres, president of the ASPCA. "The Humane Alliance's National Spay Neuter Response Team model exemplifies the successes that can be achieved through mentoring best practices, since trainees then become creative collaborators and new mentors of the program. It's a win-win for everyone, especially the animals."

The Humane Alliance of Western North Carolina is a non-profit high volume, high quality, affordable spay/neuter clinic located in Asheville. Since its inception 12 years ago, the Humane Alliance clinic has sterilized 180,000 companion animals and reduced the euthanasia rate in the Asheville community by 72 percent.

Through the NSNRT initiative, which began in 2005, the Humane Alliance's team of facilitators has mentored 21 organizations across the nation to successfully implement its high volume, high quality spay/neuter model. More than 200,000 companion animals have been surgically sterilized at these clinics in just two short years. NSNRT has already trained six organizations so far this year.

For more information about the Ryan Newman Foundation, visit www.ryannewmanfoundation.org.

Noting Newman - July 9, 2007

NNCS
-- Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, will make his sixth Cup start at Chicagoland Speedway. It will be his 207th career start in the Cup Series.

-- Newman has an average start of 7.4 and an average finish of 21. All of Newman’s starts have been from inside the top 15 and he has three top-10s, including two from the top five and one Bud Pole Award.

-- Newman has two top-five finishes at Chicago, including a win in the 2003 event. His other three finishes have been 29th and lower.

-- Newman has led 163 laps in three races at Chicago. He has completed 91.9 percent of the laps possible at the Illinois track—1,230 of 1,338—since he made his Cup debut at the track in 2002.

-- Crew chief Mike Nelson and the Mobil 1 team are taking chassis PRS-108 this weekend as their primary car for Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400. The new car was tested last week in Nashville, Tenn. PRS-053 is the backup Dodge. Newman raced it in the All-Star event in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

-- On July 18, Ryan Newman will be one of the guests at a NASCAR benefit BBQ at the Bass Pro Shops on Bass Road in Atlanta, Ga. Newman will promote his book, "Pit Road Pets," for the Ryan Newman Foundation. Tickets for the 6 p.m. event are $30 in advance or $40 at the door. Anyone 15 years old and under will be admitted free with a paying adult.

Newman On Chicago: “Chicagoland is like a mini Michigan. We’ve had some success here in the past. We won here in 2003 and we’ve got one pole here as well. It’s getting down to crunch time for the Chase and we didn’t exactly have the run we were hoping for last week in Daytona, so everyone on this Mobil 1 Dodge team is hoping to have a little better weekend at Chicago before we get to enjoy our final off-weekend. I’m looking forward to the race in Chicago; we’re so close to getting back into Victory Lane and making our way back into the Chase field for 2007.”

NBS
-- Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Kodak Dodge Charger, will make his third Busch Series start at Chicagoland Speedway and his 34th in the series.

-- Newman has started both of his races at Chicago on the pole and he has an average finish of 14.5. He finished 26th in 2001 and third in 2005.

-- Newman has led 202 laps in the two events. He has completed 397 laps of a possible 400, giving him a 99.2 percent completion rate.

-- Crew chief Matt Gimbel and the Kodak team are taking PBC-016 as their primary car for Saturday's USG Durock 300. The new car has never even been tested. The backup Dodge is PBC-007, which was last used at Darlington in May when Newman finished 11th after early problems in the pits stemming from an on-track incident. He also drove the car at Bristol.

Newman On Chicago: “I’m glad to be back in the Busch car. I always have fun when I run in the Busch Series and we’ve done really well at Chicago in the past. We’ve been on the pole both times I’ve run here and the last time we were here, we led a lot of laps and ran at the front the whole race. I’m excited to run the Kodak Dodge again this weekend and I look forward to a great race.”

Ryan Newman and the Chicagoland Speedway

Welcome to Chicagoland Speedway located in Joliet, IL.

Ryan Newman and his Penske Racing #12 Mobile1 Dodge will be racing here this weekend in the USG Sheetrock 400 .
Chicagoland Speedway


***Location : Joliet, IL
***Completed : 2000
***Distance : 1.5 miles
***Shape : D-shaped oval
***Seating : 75,000


***Nextel Cup Top Race Speed : 136.832 by Kevin Harvick on 7/14/2002
***Nextel Cup Top Qualifying Speed : 188.147 by Jimmie Johnson on 7/8/2005


MANUFATURER WINS AT Chicagoland Speedway SINCE 2002
DODGE = 1
FORD = 0
CHEVROLET = 4


RYAN NEWMAN'S STATS AT Chicagoland Speedway

Ryan Newman's Stats
At Chicagoland Speedway		At Intermediate Tracks
STARTS	5	134
POLES	1	NA
WINS	1	11
TOP 5	2	41
TOP 10	2	58
AVG START	7.4	8.1
AVG FINISH	21	17.1
LAPS COMP	1230	NA
% COMP	-0.9213	NA
LAPS LED	163	NA
TOTAL $$$	663816	NA

RYAN NEWMAN IS THE ONLY DODGE TO HAVE WON HERE AT CHICAGOLAND SPEEDWAY! THIS WIN CAME IN 2003.

-- Crew chief Mike Nelson and the Mobil 1 team are taking chassis PRS-108 this weekend as their primary car for Sunday's USG Sheetrock 400. The new car was tested last week in Nashville, Tenn. PRS-053 is the backup Dodge. Newman raced it in the All-Star event in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

-- On July 18, Ryan Newman will be one of the guests at a NASCAR benefit BBQ at the Bass Pro Shops on Bass Road in Atlanta, Ga. Newman will promote his book, "Pit Road Pets," for the Ryan Newman Foundation. Tickets for the 6 p.m. event are $30 in advance or $40 at the door. Anyone 15 years old and under will be admitted free with a paying adult.

Newman On Chicago: “Chicagoland is like a mini Michigan. We’ve had some success here in the past. We won here in 2003 and we’ve got one pole here as well. It’s getting down to crunch time for the Chase and we didn’t exactly have the run we were hoping for last week in Daytona, so everyone on this Mobil 1 Dodge team is hoping to have a little better weekend at Chicago before we get to enjoy our final off-weekend. I’m looking forward to the race in Chicago; we’re so close to getting back into Victory Lane and making our way back into the Chase field for 2007.”


Good luck to Ryan Newman and the Penske Racing's #12 Mobile1 Dodge NASCAR Nextel Cup Team at Chicagoland Speedway for the USG Sheetrock 400 this coming week and weekend!!!

Mike Pratt

NASCAR's top series to be called Sprint Cup in 2008

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- NASCAR's top series is changing its name for the second time in five years, switching from Nextel Cup to the Sprint Cup starting in 2008.

It's only the third name change in NASCAR's 60 years, but had been expected since Nextel merged with Sprint in August 2005. NASCAR allowed Nextel one name change in the 10-year contract it signed with the telecommunications giant before the 2004 season.

While admitting name changes are not ideal, NASCAR chairman Brian France has maintained its premier series needed to be in line with the Sprint brand since that's what the company is now called.

``We need to be with their main brand,'' France said Saturday as the new Sprint Cup logo was unveiled. ``We're hopeful this is the brand they stick with for a long, long time. I would be surprised if it wasn't.''

NASCAR's top series was called Grand National Series at its inception, and was called the Winston Cup Series when tobacco company R.J. Reynolds sponsored it from 1971 to 2003.

But RJR asked out of its contract in 2003, and Nextel took over with a 10-year, $700 million deal. The series became the Nextel Cup Series in 2004.

That name was put in jeopardy 20 months later when Nextel merged with Sprint, and company officials said they took extensive measures to research the logo and name. Relying on fan feedback, focus groups and surveys, the company decided to use the Sprint brand, name and logo.

``It was a long and thorough process to determine how to integrate our NASCAR sponsorship into our overall brand strategy, while still keeping the NASCAR fan at the heart of the decision,'' said Spring chairman Tim Kelly.

``The process extended well beyond the NASCAR sponsorship.''

Refocusing the NASCAR sponsorship on the Sprint line of products and services coincides with the July 1 launch of ``Sprint Ahead,'' a national campaign focusing on the speed of its products.

``Our new brand campaign focuses on the importance of speed in people's daily lives and illustrates their ability to get information where they want it when they want it,'' Kelly said. ``NASCAR was built on a tradition of speed, so it was a natural tie for us.''

Sprint also announced the SprintSpeed Million promotion, which will pair 12 fans with the 12 drivers competing for the series title this season. The fan paired with the eventual series champion will win $1 million.

Kodak Gives Fans The Opportunity To 'INK' Newman’s NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Dodge

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (June 27, 2007) – Eastman Kodak Company is asking fans what they think about ink.

Following its debut in the inkjet printer market in March, Kodak is giving race fans a once in a lifetime opportunity to design the paint scheme and have their name “inked” on NASCAR Nextel Cup driver Ryan Newman’s No. 12 KODAK Dodge.

One lucky fan’s winning car design, along with his/her name, will be inked on Newman’s No. 12 car for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series 500-mile race at California Speedway on Sept. 2. The winner will also receive a NASCAR prize package, including two tickets to the NASCAR Busch Series [Sept. 1] and NEXTEL Cup races, transportation and VIP access to the California Speedway. To enter the contest or obtain details, visit www.thinklikeryan.com.

“Speed, innovation and performance are essential for success on the track, but they are also hallmarks of the new KODAK EASYSHARE Printers,” said Newman, driver of the No. 12 KODAK DODGE at California Speedway. “This contest is a great way for consumers to showcase their own creativity with ink, and I’m certain the winning design will be imaginative.”

The grand-prize winner will also receive a KODAK EASYSHARE 5300 All-In-One Inkjet Printer. Kodak’s line of new printers offer incredible value, with low ink prices that save consumers up to 50 percent on everything they print compared to similar consumer inkjet printers*. The winner will also receive a 12-month supply of high-quality pigment ink courtesy of Kodak.

“Kodak is an innovative imaging solutions leader, with our new line of EASYSHARE All-in-One Inkjet Printers as the latest example,” said Michael Korizno, Chief Marketing Officer, Consumer Digital Imaging, Eastman Kodak Company. “As the official imaging sponsor of NASCAR, Kodak is thrilled to give consumers the chance to design our race car and we look forward to seeing Ryan drive the freshly ‘inked’ No. 12 KODAK Dodge into victory lane.”

Enter to Win

· Visit www.thinklikeryan.com for an official contest entry form and official contest rules.
· Every entry must include the Kodak logotype and “Think” logo on the hood and the numeral “12” on the side and top of car.
· Winning paint scheme will be based on design rendering and NASCAR specifications.
· Submit scanned entry on www.thinklikeryan.com or mail the paper form directly to Kodak (see Web site for address).
· Entry deadline is midnight on July 31.
· Must be 18 years of age or older to enter.

Contest Judging

The top five designs will be revealed live on FOX Sports Net’s “The Best Damn Sports Show. Period” at the beginning of August. Fans may cast their vote Aug. 3-10 at www.thinklikeryan.com. The winning design will be unveiled during the weekend of the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series 500-milr race at California Speedway.

About Eastman Kodak Company

Kodak is the world’s foremost imaging innovator. With sales of $10.7 billion in 2006, the company is committed to a digitally oriented growth strategy focused on helping people better use meaningful images and information in their life and work. Consumers use Kodak’s system of digital and traditional products and services to take, print and share their pictures anytime, anywhere; Businesses effectively communicate with customers worldwide using Kodak solutions for prepress, conventional and digital printing and document imaging; and Creative Professionals rely on Kodak technology to uniquely tell their story through moving or still images

More information about Kodak (NYSE: EK) is available at www.kodak.com.

*Savings based on home printing of documents and photos, using average ink costs of comparable consumer inkjet printers. Actual results may vary. For more information, visit www.kodak.com/go/inkdata for details.

Daytona Pepsi 400: Dodge teams race quotes

RYAN NEWMAN (No. 12 alltel Dodge Charger)

“We started 14th, finished 14th and fell to 14th in the standings. The only good result was we’re only 61 points out of 12th now and we entered the race 127 out of 12th. It’s going to be tough, but we really want to qualify for The Chase. We had a good car tonight, but we didn’t get a good finish with it. We’ll try to bounce back and get ‘em next week in Chicago.”

KASEY KAHNE (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

“”The crew did a tremendous job repairing the car. We didn’t lose a lap for the initial repairs and when we made stops later, they continued to work on it. It just kept getting better and better. It’s a shame we were caught up in that incident that early in the race (lap 4). A pair of top 10s at Daytona this year. This was good for our team and a great way to start the second half of the season. We overcame adversity tonight and battled back to finish ninth. That’s the mark of a good team. It says a lot about this No. 9 crew.”

***

BOBBY LABONTE (No. 43 Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge Charger)

“It’s restrictor-plate racing. It’s gotta be kind of wild really. I had that first wrecked cleared and the 41 hit me in the back. We had to fight back all night. The car was pretty good, but I’m ready to go home.”

***

SCOTT RIGGS (No. 10 Valvoline/Stanley Tools Dodge Charger)

“We had to make some lengthy stops during the early cautions to undo some of our qualifying setup. We fell a lap down but got it right back. The car was fast, it sucked up well. We just playing it safe at the back of the pack and needed one more big adjustment before we could make a run to the front. But it seized up, something broke in the drivetrain or engine. I am not sure if we can fix it and get back out.”

***

ELLIOTT SADLER (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger)

‘How was the car tonight? “We had a good racecar, but we had gear problems from the beginning. We didn’t have first at the beginning of the race so we had to hang back and work our way up to speed. The guys had to push me off on the first pit stop. Once we got going, the car was pretty good. When that big wreck came out early, we had to go to the garage and change the transmission. The guys did a great job getting us back up and running. We didn’t have the night we wanted, but it was great having Scott (McDougall) and Ray (Evernham) working together on the box. We’ll go back to the shop and keep working on getting this team where it needs to be.”

***

REED SORENSON (No. 41 Target Dodge Charger)

“The 20 and 11 got together way up ahead and it got back to us. We were having some problems with the brakes even before the race, so we had some trouble slowing up to avoid the wreck. Somebody hit us, I’m not sure who it was, and we just never could get it back together.”

Newman's numbers game puts him close to Chase

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - While many people were playing the number game, talking about the luck of the triple sevens of the date Saturday night, Ryan Newman was plagued by a different number.

The Penske Racing driver ran well for portions of the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway, but in the end he found himself the victim of a number's game that had nothing to do with the 07/07/07 date.

"We started 14th, finished 14th and fell to 14th in the standings," he said.

Still, he managed to find the good side of the equation.

"The only good result was we're only 61 points out of 12th now and we entered the race 127 out of 12th," he said. "It's going to be tough, but we really want to qualify for the Chase [For The Nextel Cup]. We had a good car tonight, but we didn't get a good finish with it. We'll try to bounce back and get them next week in Chicago."

Newman Takes 14th In Season's Third Restrictor-Plate Race

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (July 7, 2007) – With eight races remaining before the Chase for the Championship begins, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman continued to inch closer to this year's cutoff position with their performances in Saturday's Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

Kurt Busch, who finished third in his Miller Lite Dodge Charger, and Ryan Newman, who placed 14th in his Alltel Dodge Charger, cut their deficits to the 12th-place Dale Earnhardt Jr. in half. Busch, in 15th, trails Earnhardt by 121 points, while Newman, in 14th, is only 61 points behind the third-generation driver.

“That’s a huge gain there, but a lot of it was due to the No. 8 car [Earnhardt] having their problems and finishing on back there [38th],” Busch said. “Tonight really worked to close things up all the way around. The bottom line is that we do not just have to focus on catching Dale Jr.; it’s becoming a tight battle between a lot of teams hoping to make the cut.”

Newman and Busch started 14th and 16th, respectively, since the grid was determined by car owner points due to rain interrupting qualifying. The Penske Racing teammates quickly moved into the top 10, and from the race's beginning, they had good luck riding in their Dodge Chargers.

When a five-car accident occurred on the frontstretch on lap 14, Newman and Busch were among the first to dive down pit road to avoid the crashing cars. When the race restarted on lap 20 of the 160-lap event, Newman was sixth and Busch was 14th. Busch cracked the top 10 for the first time on lap 27 and remained there for the rest of the event on the 2.5-mile track.

Busch and Newman drafted together for much of the event, with Busch, his younger brother Kyle, and Newman forming a freight train on the inside lane at one point.

By lap 76, Busch had maneuvered his way into second. He took the lead for the first time on lap 78 when then leader Clint Bowyer fell off the pace with ignition problems. Busch set the pace for the next 31 laps before pitting on lap 109 during a round of green-flag stops. When the stops sequenced around three laps later, Busch was back in the lead and Newman was seventh.

When the fifth of eight caution flags waved on lap 115, Busch and Newman elected not to pit since they had only six laps on their tires. That decision left Busch second and Newman fifth on the restart.

Busch continued to run in the top five, but with 38 laps remaining, Newman, who was then fourth, got shuffled backwards. He dropped out of the top 10, falling as far as 17th before fighting his way back to the front.

With 15 laps remaining, Newman had again reached the top 10, but he was unable to maintain the position and had to settle for a 14th-place finish.

“We started 14th, finished 14th and fell to 14th in the standings," Newman said. "The only good result was we’re only 61 points out of 12th now and we entered the race 127 out of 12th. It’s going to be tough, but we really want to qualify for The Chase. We had a good car tonight, but we didn’t get a good finish with it. We’ll try to bounce back and get ‘em next week in Chicago.”

While Newman was fighting for a top-10 finish, Busch was battling for a victory in the last restrictor-plate race for the Dodge Charger. Busch aligned himself with his younger brother on the low side, while Carl Edwards positioned himself behind Jamie McMurray in the high line. They raced that way, side-by-side, nose-to-tail for the final two laps around the mammoth facility before McMurray edged ahead of the younger Busch for the second closest finish in NASCAR history. Kurt Busch inched by Edwards for third.

“I’m real proud of this team and real proud of this year," Busch said. "It feels good to come to a plate track and do well. We definitely came back strong to Daytona, looking for a good finish after the Daytona 500 didn’t turn out like we wanted. To build a car five months in advance with more downforce, we felt like that was the way to go.

"We were really strong on the long runs … [but] long runs were minimal tonight with yellows early and yellows late. Everybody was real strong at the end. We expected everybody to be out there three wide and never lifting. That’s what’s so exciting at these plate tracks. For me to finish third, it feels great to do that. It would have been great to win it, but we’re real happy with that."

Busch also praised crew chief Pat Tryson, who was in his third race with the Miller Lite team.

"Pat Tryson is an experienced crew chief," Busch said. "He’s confident in his pit calls. This was the first car he got his hands on. Our Sonoma car and Loudon car had already been built and setup and put on the trailer. This one here he was able to put some ideas into.

"We’ll be able to go to the wind tunnel with our Chicago car this week and double-check where we are. It’s going to begin to roll. I’m happy about that. I can’t express my thanks about him being able to come over to this team. I think we can put a good thing together. We’re excited to have him. I think he’s excited to be here and Miller Lite wants us to do better. This was a good sign of that."

The NASCAR circuit travels to Chicagoland Speedway next weekend. Newman will compete in Saturday's Busch Series race – USG Durock 300 -- in his No. 12 Kodak Dodge Charger. The USG Sheetrock 400 NEXTEL Cup race is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 p.m. CDT. It is the last telecast for TNT this season. MRN Radio will broadcast the event.

Newman to attend Slocumb fundraiser

Usually when the Nextel Cup Series visits Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ryan Newman and his team have a place to escape the race track and go fishing, courtesy of Juliette's Beau Slocumb and his family.

On July 18, Newman is returning the favor when he'll be the one of the guests at a NASCAR benefit BBQ at the Bass Pro Shops on Bass Road.

While at the fundraiser, Newman will be promoting his book, "Pit Road Pets," for the Ryan Newman Foundation.

Tickets for the 6 p.m. event are $30 in advance or $40 at the door, and anyone 15 years old and under will be admitted free with a paying adult.

Advance tickets can be purchased either by either calling 808-4743, in person at Macon Machine, Ingleside Gunworks or at the office of State Farm Insurance agent Chuck Thompson.

NEWMAN FINISHES 14TH IN PEPSI 400

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, was having a top-10 day until the final 35 laps of Saturday night’s Pepsi 400.

Newman started the race from the 14th position after qualifying was rained out on Saturday night, leaving NASCAR to set the field based on owners’ points. Within four laps, the caution flag waved for the first time and Newman was up in the top 10.

The first 13 of 26 laps would be run under yellow-flag conditions and while Newman didn’t get much of a chance to get a good feel for the balance in green-flag laps, he radioed in to his crew that he was “definitely on the free side”. He also informed the Alltel crew that he needed more grip.

After coming in for his first pit stop on lap 17 and receiving four tires and fuel, Newman still fought the loose condition, but the car began to tighten up on him as the run went on and Newman was comfortable with the balance of the race car.

By lap 40, Newman was running in the top five and was pretty happy with the car only needing more grip.

When the caution flag waved again on lap 57, crew chief Mike Nelson brought the Alltel Dodge down pit road for their second stop of the night.

“It’s a little free in turns one and two, but good in turns three and four,” Newman relayed to Nelson. “It’s free in general.”

In order to tighten the car up, Nelson called for two rounds down on the right side track bar along with four tires, fuel and a half pound of pressure out of the left side tires.

As soon as the field took the green again, Newman said that the car was just a tick loose, but after 10 laps, the car got aero tight and Newman wanted the car freed up a bit on the next stop.

The field cycled through one round of green-flag pit stops and Newman came down pit road for his third stop on lap 110. To loosen the car up, Nelson had the Alltel crew put two rounds in the right rear wedge along with four tires and fuel. Once Newman got back on the track, he radioed in that the car was a tick free, but soon the car began to tighten up on him.

On lap 122, Newman – who was running fourth at the time – got shuffled out of line and fell back through the field, dropping out of the top 10. He dropped as far back as 17th at one point and had a hard time fighting his way through the field without any drafting help.

With 15 laps to go, Newman made his way back into the top 10 after avoiding the spinning car of David Gilliland, but Newman wouldn’t be able to hold on to that spot. When the checkered flag waved on lap 160, Newman was in the 14th position.

“We started 14th, finished 14th and fell to 14th in the standings. The only good result was we’re only 61 points out of 12th now and we entered the race 127 out of 12th,” Newman said after climbing out of his car. “It’s going to be tough, but we really want to qualify for The Chase. We had a good car tonight, but we didn’t get a good finish with it. We’ll try to bounce back and get ‘em next week in Chicago.”

Jamie McMurray, who had been just behind Newman in the drivers’ standings, earned his first win in five years and with the victory, McMurray moved ahead of Newman in the points. Although Newman fell to 14th in points, he gained ground on the 12th position and is now only 61 points behind Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who holds onto the 12th spot after finishing 36th following an accident on lap 14.

Next weekend, Newman will drive the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger in the USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. TNT will broadcast their final race of the 2007 season begining at 2:30 p.m. EDT. MRN Radio will also cover the race live.

Newman will also be driving the No. 12 Kodak Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Busch Series race. The USG Durock 300 will be broadcast live by ABC and MRN Radio starting at 2:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 14.

Ryan Newman Finishes 14th in the Pepsi 400

Ryan Newman had a great day in Daytona for the Pepsi 400. Newman ran in the top ten most of the day and in the top 5 for a lot of it.

Newman finished 14th after the last caution went green with about 10 to go. Newmans car was good, his drafting choices may not have been so good in the end. At one point he was up to 8th, but got shuffled back to about 16th at one point.

Newman started 14th, finished 14th and ended up 14th in point standings. Although he dropped one position in the standings, he did gain on the 12th place in standings. He is only 61 points from the 12 place chase positon.

Ryan Newman Practice Num 2 For Pepsi 400 Results

Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge team had their second practice at Daytona International Speedway today for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Pepsi 400
Newman had the 10 fastest practice speed of 186.61 mph / 48.229 sec.

Newman was -0.542 seconds behind the leader Robby Gordon who had a practice time of 188.731 / 47.687.


Practice 2 Results

Practice 1 Results



Good luck to Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing Team in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway

Ryan Newman Practice Num 1 For Pepsi 400 Results

Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge team had their first practice at Daytona International Speedway today for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Pepsi 400

Newman had the 4 fastest practice speed of 189.462 mph / 47.503 sec.

Newman was -0.138 seconds behind the leader J.J. Yeley who had a practice time of 190.014 / 47.365.



Practice 1 Results

Good luck to Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing Team in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway

Ryan Newman and the Daytona International Speedway

Welcome to Daytona International Speedway located in Daytona Beach, FL.

Ryan Newman and his Penske Racing #12 Dodge will be racing here this weekend in the Pepsi 400.
Daytona International Speedway


***Location : Daytona Beach, FL
***Completed : 1959
***Distance : 2.5 miles
***Shape : Tri-oval
***Seating : 168,000


***Nextel Cup Top Race Speed : 183.674 by Jeff Gordon on 2/14/2002
***Nextel Cup Top Qualifying Speed : 191.091 by Dale Jarrett on 2/17/2000


MANUFATURER WINS AT Daytona International Speedway SINCE 2002
DODGE = 1
FORD = 1
CHEVROLET = 9


NEWMAN'S STATS AT Daytona International Speedway

Ryan Newman's Stats
At Daytona International Speedway		At Superspeedway Tracks
STARTS	10	27
POLES	0	NA
WINS	0	0
TOP 5	1	4
TOP 10	2	8
AVG START	37.2	16
AVG FINISH	29.9	18.8
LAPS COMP	1607	NA
% COMP	-0.664	NA
LAPS LED	26	NA
TOTAL $$$	2353917	NA

-- The chassis the Alltel team is taking to Daytona as its primary car is PRS-099. This was the car Newman drove in this year's Daytona 500. The car was running in the top three when a crack in the radiator eliminated Newman from the race. The backup car is PRS-065. It was Newman's primary car in this year's Bud Shootout.



Good luck to Ryan Newman and the Penske Racing's #12 Dodge NASCAR Nextel Cup Team at Daytona International Speedway for the Pepsi 400 this coming week and weekend!!!


Mike Pratt

Noting Newman - July 2, 2007

-- Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, will make his 12th Cup start at Daytona International Speedway. It will be his 206th career start in the Cup Series.

-- Newman has an average start of 22.6 and an average finish of 20.7. Newman has only one start from inside the top 10—a ninth in the 2005 Daytona 500.

-- Newman has two top-10 finishes at Daytona, including a career-best third-place finish in the 2006 Daytona 500. He has four other finishes inside the top 20.

-- Newman has led 27 laps in four races at Daytona. He has completed 93 percent of the laps possible at DIS—1,782 of 1,917—since he made his Cup debut at the track in 2002.

-- The chassis the Alltel team is taking to Daytona as its primary car is PRS-099. This was the car Newman drove in this year's Daytona 500. The car was running in the top three when a crack in the radiator eliminated Newman from the race. The backup car is PRS-065. It was Newman's primary car in this year's Bud Shootout.

Newman On Daytona: "We had a great race going in the 500 back in February and had a top-three car, but we just had problems that took us out of the race. We’ve had really good cars at the superspeedways the last few races. I’m looking forward to driving the old cars at Daytona for the last time. I know the Alltel Dodge team will give me another fast car and hopefully, we’ll have a little better luck this time around and be able to get another top-five finish at Daytona.”

NEWMAN POWERS TO TOP-10 FINISH

Ryan Newman could have had a worse day at New Hampshire International Speedway, but it could have been better as well.

Newman, who qualified 12th on Friday, moved into the top 10 shortly after the green flag dropped on Sunday's LENOX Industrial Tools 300.

A tight condition in the center of the corners caused Newman to temporarily fall outside the top 10, but he quickly made his way back towards the front and was running fifth when green-flag pit stops began on lap 69.

Newman made his stop on lap 71 and received four tires, fuel and one-and-a-half rounds up on the right-side track bar. The stop – which lasted 13.69 seconds – left Newman in 12th when the stops cycled through, but on the next lap, Newman moved back into the top 10. By lap 77, he was fifth.

The tight condition continued to plague Newman's Dodge and on his second stop on lap 98 – during a caution flag for debris in turn three – crew chief Mike Nelson called for four tires, fuel and two more rounds up on the right- side track bar. The second stop took only 12.36 seconds, but Newman still lost one position due to some cars taking only two tires.

When the third of six caution flags flew on lap 121, Newman pitted for right-side tires only, fuel and a half-round up on the right-side track bar. However, problems occurred on pit road that stalled Newman's trek to the front. After front-tire changer Ben Brown finished putting on the right-front tire, the air hose he was using was not pulled back to the pit wall and Newman ran over the hose, pulling it apart and sending the air gun into pit lane. Clint Bowyer's car ran over the air gun, tearing an oil line under his car and dumping oil on the track. Newman was then penalized by NASCAR for removing equipment from his pit stall and he was forced to return to pit road for a stop-and-go penalty.

Nelson had the Alltel crew change the left-side tires, add fuel and go up one more round on the right-side track bar, but by the time Newman had served his penalty, he was in the 26th position when the green flag waved on lap 130.

"I guess (crew members) didn't get the hose pulled back across the car and it got caught in the front of the car," Newman said. "We snagged it and that was pretty much the end of it for us. That cost us a lot of track position. That cost us a good top-five finish and potentially a shot at winning the race."

Newman had made his way back up to 20th by lap 162, but was still fighting a tight condition in his car that existed from the middle of the corners to the exit.

A second round of green-flag stops began on lap 192 and Newman was able to lead three laps and earn five bonus points, which helped him gain ground in the drivers' standings.

Immediately following the green-flag stops, the fourth yellow flag waved for Joe Nemechek's crash in turns three and four and Newman, who only had four cars behind him on the lead lap, came in to top off on fuel. He still restarted in 20th.

As soon as the green flag flew, Newman quickly advanced through the field and was running 11th when the fifth caution came out on lap 254. A 13.42-second pit stop dropped Newman to 12th on the restart, again due to cars in front of him taking only two tires.

After receiving the green flag on lap 259, the caution flag flew again before the field could complete one circuit when Bobby Labonte's and David Stremme's cars crashed. When the race restarted on lap 263, Newman was 12th, but by the time he'd completed one lap, he had returned to the top 10.

For the remaining 35 laps, Newman fought Kyle Busch for the 10th spot and ended up coming out ahead when the checkered flag waved on lap 300, earning his seventh top-10 finish in 2007 – six of which have occurred in the last nine races.

Newman remained 13th in the drivers' standings, 127 points out of 12th.

Next weekend, Newman will drive the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger in the Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. TNT and MRN Radio will have live race coverage beginning at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

Dodge Motorsports NHIS Post-Race Comments

Ryan Newman (No. 12 Alltel Dodge Avenger) Finished 10th

What happened with the air hose? “I guess they didn’t get the hose pulled back across the car and it got caught in the front of the car. We snagged it and that was pretty much the end of it. That was a penalty. That cost us a lot of track position. That cost us a good top-five finish and potentially a shot at winning the race.

Was today a good example of NASCAR as a team sport? “Obviously. I said today the best place to pass guys today was on pit road and I guess we got passed on that one.

Comment on your car today? “I thought it was really good. It was a top-five race car. We came out of the pits today with two tires at that point along with some other guys. We had a good top-five car and we lost track position. It’s so hard to get it back here, especially with how the racetrack runs and having to pass the lapped cars.

Kasey Kahne (No. 9 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Avenger), Finished 25th

What happened with your car today? “We were loose from the time we got here. Today, we started off loose and just never could get the car to handle. Toward the end, the front end starting bouncing and we couldn’t get any grip on the track. It was a frustrating today. We ran in the top 15 part of the day but just couldn’t hang on to that track position. We did everything we could to not go a lap down, and the guys made some good calls on pit road to help that. But we couldn’t gain many spots on the racetrack with the way our car was handling.”

Bobby Labonte (No. 43 Cheerios Dodge Avenger) Finished 18th

Comment on your day today: “Tight. We were tight all day out there. Just too tight. Seems like we got back there in the back and could never go forward enough to make any headway. We didn’t do two tires, which was okay. Our car was just too tight. We just rode in the same place most of the day.

What happened in the incident with Stremme? “We all checked up. We all checked up and I hit him. I was trying to slow down.”

Robbie Loomis, Petty Enterprises

Did you see what happened with David Stremme? “I didn’t see what happened. I’m not sure if it was us or the No. 9. Somebody checked up up ahead and I think everybody checked up and it was a chain reaction. If it was us that hit Stremme we feel sorry about that and hate that we hit him. He’s a good guy.”

David Stremme (No. 40 Coors Light Dodge Avenger) Finished 27th

What happened out there today? “I don’t know. It felt like the 43 ran us over. We were having alternator problems all day. We had to run with a lot of the switches off and no blowers, which made for a long day. It’ll be interesting to see what he says. I think I just got run over. They stacked up in front of us and there wasn’t much we could do.”

Reed Sorenson (No. 41 Target Dodge Avenger), Finished 26th

How was your day? “It wasn’t very good. We just didn’t have any front grip all day. Starting out we had some rubbers in our shock bumpers melt down, I guess, so we had to change the shocks and went a lap down. Got a lot back there at the end but we were way too tight. That’s about all we could do today.

Elliott Sadler (No. 19 Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Avenger), Finished 33rd

Talk about your day today: “We were struggling with the handling of our Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge Charger from the get go. It got tighter and tighter and we started to chatter the front tires as the race went on. Josh (Team Director Josh Browne) made big changes when we hit pit road, but the car just never really responded. Once you get more than one lap down there is hardly any way to make the lap up. We tried to short pit at one point and just narrowly missed the caution falling at the right time to get back to one lap down. The guys on pit road did a good job, but it just wasn’t our day.”

Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Avenger) Finished 19th

What was the problem today? “I don’t know, balance. The car started really good and we tried to fix it all day. We threw everything at it and it just got worse all day long. We started with a top-five car and finished with a top-20 car. I think we made progress from where we were before with the COT but it still shows we have a long way to go. I think the short runs we were really good. Long runs we were not strong as we need to be. Got some more season points and that’s important.”

Were you having trouble getting the car to cut through the center of the corner? “Yeah, it just wouldn’t turn. And every time we made it turn I couldn’t get out of the corner it was so loose.”

Was the cool temperature today a factor? “I wouldn’t think. It should have made the car a little bit more drivable but it didn’t.”

John Andretti (No. 45 Wells Fargo Dodge Avenger) Finished 42nd

Comment on the engine problem: “We had an engine problem. Until they pull it apart we don’t know what exactly happened. It’s unfortunate, we had a pretty good car after about five or six laps. I couldn’t get going on starts but then I could get going. I was pretty happy with the Wells Fargo Dodge. I just kept working my way on up through. I got caught behind one guy for a lot of laps.”

How was it to be back behind the wheel of a Cup car? “It was fun, it was a lot of fun. I wish it could have been a little different and that we had different results but it was fun.”

Ryan Newman Finished 10th at New Hampshire

Ryan Newman and his #12 Alltel Dodge team had a great run at New Hampshire today finishing 10th after starting 12th.

Newman should have had a better finish but he was penalized during one of the cautions and had to serve his penalty by driving through pit row. On a two tire pit stop, Newman was leaving his pits and ran over the air hose that the tire changer was carrying. On his drive through Newman and his team decided to go ahead and change the other tow tires.

This had Newman restarted in the 27th position on lap 130 when the green flag dropped. The rest of the race did not show much coverage of Nemwan, but he steadily ran up to the 10th position by lap 300.

Congratgs to Newman and his team on there 7th top ten finish of the year. Newman will also maintain his 13th place in the the points standings but he will has dropped even farther away in actual points. He fell from -96 to -127.

mike

Ryan Newman Practice Num 3 For Lenox Industrial Tools 300 Results

Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge team had their third practice at New Hampshire International Speedway today for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Lenox Industrial Tools 300

Newman had the 7 fastest practice speed of 126.505 mph / 30.108 sec.

Newman was -0.132 seconds behind the leader Denny Hamlin who had a practice time of 91.589 / 78.219.


Practice 1 --- Newman had the 2 fastest practice speed of 129.208 mph / 29.478 sec.
practice 2--- Newman had the 2 fastest practice speed of 126.761 mph / 30.047 sec.
.
Ryan Newman Qualified 12 for the Lenox Industrial Tools 300.
Good luck to Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing Team in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway

Practice 3 Results

Practice 2 Results

Practice 1 Results

Qualifying Order

Ryan Newman Practice Num 2 For Lenox Industrial Tools 300 Results

Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge team had their second practice at New Hampshire International Speedway today for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Lenox Industrial Tools 300
Newman had the 2 fastest practice speed of 126.761 mph / 30.047 sec.

Newman was -0.004 seconds behind the leader Jimmie Johnson who had a practice time of 126.778 / 30.043.


Practice 2 Results

Practice 1 Results

Qualifying Order



Good luck to Ryan Newman and the #12 Alltel Dodge Penske Racing Team in the Lenox Industrial Tools 300 at New Hampshire International Speedway