Ryan Newman/Chicagoland Advance
Notes:
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel/Mobil 1Dodge, will make his fourth Chicagoland Speedway start and his 134th in the NASCAR Cup Series this Saturday.
In Newman's three previous Cup starts at Chicagoland, he has posted one victory and two top-five finishes. His 2003 victory was his third of eight that season.
Newman earned the pole starting position in 2002, his first appearance at the 1.5-mile speedway.
Newman has led two Chicagoland Cup races for a total of 154 laps.
Matt Borland, crew chief of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, is taking chassis PRS-76 "Viper" to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend. "Viper" set the track record at Michigan International Speedway, led 47 laps at Darlington Raceway and 45 laps in the NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge earlier this season.
Newman and the Alltel team moved to sixth in the NNCS point standings following a 14th-place finish at Daytona International Speedway last weekend. The team was ninth in the standings at this point in the 2004 season.
The Mobil 1 High Endurance Charity Poker Tournament, held earlier this season at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, will air this Thursday, July 7 on SPEED Channel at 7 p.m., EDT. The game features Penske Racing drivers from both the NASCAR and the IRL teams.
The USG Sheetrock 400 at Chicagoland Speedway will air live on NBC at 3 p.m., EDT on Sunday, July 10 and also can be heard on MRN Radio.
Stats:
Chicagoland Speedway NNCS Starts: 3
NNCS Laps Led: 154
Chicagoland NNCS Poles: 1 (2002)
Chicagoland NNCS Victories: 1 (2003)
Chicagoland Speedway NBS Starts: 1
Chicagoland NBS Poles: 1 (2001)
Quotes:
Newman on the race at Chicagoland: "The Alltel/Mobil 1 team has experienced its fair share of success at Chicagoland, so it's always a track we enjoy going back to. The track is a lot like Michigan, smooth and fun to race on. To win at this track, a good car with good, consistent balance is a must. If you're off at all, you're way off and it's hard to come back from that.
"Mobil 1 is on both the Cup car and the Busch car this weekend. We won our first Cup race in a Mobil 1 car, so it always seems like a lucky charm of sorts. We won the pole for them earlier this year in Vegas and gave them a top-10 finish. Hopefully we can do even better for Mobil 1 in Chicago this weekend."
