Race 2 Win: UAW-Ford 500 - Ryan Newman Notes

Nextel Cup Series

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UAW-Ford 500 - Ryan Newman Notes

Ryan Newman/Talladega Advance

Notes:

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, will make his eighth Talladega Superspeedway start and his 145th in the NASCAR Cup Series this Sunday.

In his seven previous Talladega starts, Newman has posted two top-10 and finishes, including a career-high restrictor plate finish of fourth in September 2003. In 15 career Cup starts at restrictor plate speedways, Newman has posted three top-10 finishes, one at DIS and two at Talladega

Newman has led a combined 13 laps at Talladega in his seven starts.

In seven qualifying attempts, Newman has posted four top-10 starts at the superspeedway. He earned his career-best restrictor plate start, fifth, in the May Talladega race.

Matt Borland, crew chief of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, is taking chassis PRS-56 to Talladega this weekend. PRS-56 started fifth, but finished 39th in May after being caught in the "big one." PRS-56 previously finished 11th in the 2004 Talladega Spring race and 12th in the 2004 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway.

With Newman's fifth-place finish in last Sunday's MBNA RacePoints 400 at Dover International Speedway, he remained third in the series' point standings. Newman is merely 12 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson and five points behind second place Rusty Wallace, his Penske Racing South teammate. The Alltel team was eighth in the series' standing at this point last season.

The Alltel pit crew won the Checkers/Rally's Double Drive-Thru Challenge for the seventh time last Sunday at Dover International Speedway. The team now leads the standings by two victories over its competitors.

Thus far in the 2005 "Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup," Newman is the only driver to post two top-five finishes.

Ryan Newman and the Alltel team tested at Kansas Speedway on Tuesday. He will then test with the No. 39 Alltel Busch team at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Wednesday.

Newman has earned 23 top-10 starts this season, the most of all drivers.

Members of the Ryan Newman Foundation, including Ryan's wife, Krissie, are in Gulfport, Mississippi this week, working with Project HALO to deliver pet supplies and rescue nearly 100 pets to bring back to the Charlotte area.

The UAW Ford 500 will air live on NBC at 1:30 p.m., EDT on Sunday, Oct. 2 and can be heard on MRN Radio.

Stats:
Talladega Starts: 7
Races/Laps Led: 5/13
Best Start: 5 (May 2005)
Best Finish: 4 (Sept. 2003)

Quotes:
Newman on Talladega Superspeedway: "I have never been a fan of restrictor plate racing. Mostly because we've never performed overly well on superspeedways. But, this year Penske Racing South has really improved their restrictor plate program. We had the best speedweeks we've ever had, then we backed it up with our best qualifying attempt at Talladega in May. We had a shot at bettering our career-best fourth-place finish in May as well, but we got caught in the 'big one' there toward the end of the race. That was pretty disappointing.

"For the first time in my career, I'm looking forward to going to Talladega. If we can qualify well again, and stay up front all day, the racing is actually fun. The closer you are to the front, the more likely it is that you'll avoid the mess. That's what our plan is for this weekend."

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