Race 2 Win: Sharpie 500 - Ryan Newman Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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Sharpie 500 - Ryan Newman Notes

Ryan Newman/Bristol Advance

Notes:

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, will make his sixth career start at Bristol Motor Speedway this Saturday. Newman has posted two consecutive top-10 finishes at the half-mile track.

Newman is one of only three active drivers to start five or more races at BMS without posting at DNF.

At a track where qualifying is so important (84 percent of the BMS races have been won from inside the top 10), Newman has qualifying to a science at the speedway. He shattered the track record in March of 2003. His speed of 128.709 mph, a time of 14.908 seconds, made him the first driver to break the 15-second mark at the 0.533- mile oval.

Newman earned his second BMS pole earlier this season. It was the ALLTEL team's third pole of the 2004 season and Newman's 21st of his career. In the last 10 NNCS races at BMS, only Newman and Jeff Gordon have scored multiple poles.

In five previous qualifying attempts at BMS, Newman has scored four top-10 starting positions.

Newman and the ALLTEL tested at BMS on Monday, Aug. 16th and Tuesday, Aug. 17th.

Crew chief Matt Borland and the ALLTEL team will take chassis PRS-46 to BMS this weekend. While this car has yet to win a race and thus earn a nickname, it could easily be called the team's "Pole" car. PRS-46 earned three of the team's four poles this season, outrunning the competition at North Carolina Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway. PRS-46 also holds the track record at BMS.

Thus far in the 2004 season, Newman leads all drivers with an 8.7 average starting position. He is one of only three drivers to have an average starting position of 10th or better. He is also one of only two drivers to post 15 top-10 starts this season.

The No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge team currently sits 13th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series point standings, just 44 points behind 10th place, with three races remaining in the "Race to the Chase." Positions six through 10 are all capable of relinquishing a top-10 points position at BMS.

The Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway will air live on TNT at 7 p.m. EDT. PRN Radio also will cover the event, starting at 6:45 p.m. EDT.

Quotes:
Newman on Bristol: "Bristol can be such an evil track. A team can put its best race car out on the track, be dominating the field and suddenly get caught up in someone else's wreck. It seems unfair, but that's Bristol. That being said, survival becomes the key to a good finish at Bristol. As a driver, you must have a perfect balance of aggressiveness and patience. If you are on the lead lap at the finish, you're in a pretty good position.

"The ALLTEL team's goal this weekend starts with a great qualifying run on Friday. A pole would be perfect. With that, you start up front and fight to stay there in hopes of avoiding the mess that's going on behind you. We need a good run this weekend to get back into the top-10 in standings. Bristol could shake a lot of things up. It's so unpredictable."

Stats:
Bristol Motor Speedway Starts: 5 Poles: 2 (March 2003, March 2004)
Top-10 finishes: 2 Races Led: 2 for a total of 55 laps

Appearances:

ALLTEL Racing Fan Bash, Bristol Motor Speedway, Saturday, Aug. 28th, 3:45 p.m. EDT

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