Race 2 Win: Pepsi 400 - Ryan Newman Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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Pepsi 400 - Ryan Newman Notes

Ryan Newman/Daytona Advance

Notes:

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, will make his eighth Daytona International Speedway start and his 133rd in the NASCAR Cup Series this Saturday.

Newman posted his career-best DIS finish, seventh, in his first career Cup start at the speedway, the 2002 Daytona 500.

The 2005 Daytona 500 marked the Alltel team's first top-10 start at DIS. Newman started 16th and finished fourth in the Gatorade Duel to secure a ninth-place starting position for the 500.

In 14 career Cup starts at restrictor plate speedways, Newman has posted three top-10 finishes, one at DIS and two at Talladega.

Newman has posted two career victories at Daytona, the February 2001 ARCA race and the 2004 IROC race.

Matt Borland, crew chief of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, is taking chassis PRS-65 to Daytona International Speedway this weekend. PRS-65 was most recently raced in the 2005 Budweiser Shootout where it finished second. PRS-65 also finished fourth in the 2004 EA Sports 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.

A Dodge Ram truck with a Ryan Newman-customized paint scheme will be given away to a lucky fan on Friday, July 1, at the Goodyear Garage at DIS. The truck's paint scheme features dog and cat paw prints as well as a fish. Newman's participation in the Goodyear Garage is netting $25,000 for the Ryan Newman Foundation which aids homeless animals, wildlife preservation and scholarship funds.

Newman and the Alltel team continue to lead all NNCS teams with 14 top-10 starts this season. Newman possesses an average start of fifth this season.

Newman and the Alltel team are seventh in the NNCS point standings. The team was ninth in the standings at this point in the 2004 season.

The Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway will air live on NBC at 7 p.m., EDT on Saturday, July 2 and also can be heard on MRN Radio.

Quotes:
Newman on restrictor plate racing: "In the past few years, we, as a team, have not been overly successful on restrictor-plate tracks. Speedweeks this year, especially the Budweiser Shootout, really gave the Alltel team a boost. The guys back in the engine department have done a lot of work getting our speedway program ready for this season. I think their success and improvement really showed in February.

"We're taking the same car we ran in the Shootout with us this weekend. It was an absolutely awesome car then, and it should be the same now. There's nothing I would like more than to score the Alltel team's first restrictor-plate win this Saturday night."

Stats:
Daytona International Speedway Starts:
Laps Led: 3
Best Daytona Start: 9 (Feb. 2005)
Best Daytona Finish: 7 (Feb. 2002)
Restrictor Plate Starts: 14
Best Plate Finish: 4th (TS, Sept. 2003)

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