Race 2 Win: Ford 400 - Ryan Newman Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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Ford 400 - Ryan Newman Notes

Ryan Newman/Homestead-Miami Advance

Notes:

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge, will make his third start at Homestead-Miami Speedway this Sunday in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. In his two previous starts, Newman has earned one top-10 finish.

Newman started 15th and finished sixth in his first career start at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In 2004, Newman started fourth and finished 37th after circumstances out of his control took him out of contention on lap three of the 267-lap race.

Newman has yet to win a pole at Homestead-Miami Speedway but does carry a 9.5 starting average at the speedway, the best among active drivers.

When qualifying at Darlington was canceled due to rain showers, Newman was informed that he was still able to tie the modern-era NASCAR Cup record for five consecutive poles. If Newman wins the pole position at Homestead-Miami Speedway, he would tie NASCAR greats Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough with five consecutive poles.

Crew chief Matt Borland and the ALLTEL team will take chassis No. 82 to Homestead-Miami Speedway this weekend. PRS-82 was raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway in October where Newman won his eighth pole this season. He suffered from tire problems during the race and finished 17th.

Newman's average starting position this season of 7.66 leads all active drivers. He is the only driver with an average finish of eighth or better. He also leads all drivers with 25 top-10 starts.

Newman has locked-up the battle for the 2004 Bud Pole Award, with nine poles this season. This is the third consecutive year Newman has won the Bud Pole Award. He is the first driver to accomplish this feat since Darrel Waltrip, 1981-83.

The No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge team remains seventh in the NNCS point standings following its 34th-place finish at Darlington Raceway. Newman is no longer in contention for the championship, but is only 59 points behind sixth-place Tony Stewart.

Newman and the ALLTEL team has finished sixth in both of their years of full-time NASCAR Cup Series competition.

The Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will air live on NBC at 1:30 p.m., EST. MRN Radio will also cover the event, starting at 1 p.m., EST.

Stats:
Homestead-Miami Speedway Starts: 2
Races Led: 1 for 28 laps Best Start: 4th (2003)
Best Finish: 6th (2002)

Quotes:
Newman on Homestead: "Unfortunately we don't have a lot of laps under our belt, racing wise, on the 'new' track. We led both practice sessions on Saturday last year, so the ALLTEL team has a pretty good handle on the set-up there. We should be pretty good this weekend."

Newman on the "Chase": "Well, we're out of the championship hunt now. Six seems to be our magic number when it comes to the final point standings, so we'll try to shoot for that again this year. It's going to be a great battle between those guys in the top-five. I'm sure Sunday's race will be exciting. May the best man win."

Appearances:

Autograph Session, SONY Tech Pit at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Saturday, November 20, at approximately 1 p.m., EST.

News and Results | Point Standings | 2004 Schedule | 2004 Teams | 2003 Schedule and Results