Ryan Newman/Charlotte Advance
Notes:
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, will make his 11th NASCAR Cup Series start at Lowe's Motor Speedway on Sunday and his 164th in the NASCAR Cup Series. Half of Newman's first 10 starts at the track came from the pole position.
Newman has never started outside of the top-four at LMS. Along with his five poles, Newman has two starts from the second position and three from fourth. Overall, Newman has a 2.1 starting average at LMS in point-paying races.
With an average finish of 17.9, Newman has only finished a race at Lowe's Motor Speedway outside of the top-20 on three occasions. He has five top-10 finishes, including a second in the October 2003 race.
Newman has led six races at LMS for 222 laps. He has completed 2,847 laps of a possible 3,437. That is an 83 percent finishing rate.
Matt Borland, crew chief of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, and the Alltel team will take chassis PRS-76 to this weekend's Coca-Cola 600. This is the same car Newman drove two weeks ago at Darlington, where he finished sixth after starting second. Newman also tested this car at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 3. Last year, Newman raced this car at Chicagoland Speedway. Prior to the Chicago race, the car was used in May at Darlington and at Charlotte, and in June at Michigan. The car qualified on the front row in each of the four races, winning two poles - one at Charlotte and the other at Michigan.
Quotes:
Newman on the Coca-Cola 600: "This race, and definitely this track, is special because we have had so much success here. This is where I won my first pole in the Cup series and I have held the track record at various times during my career. Regaining that track record is something we definitely want to accomplish. But we also want a win and this track is one where we still haven't visited victory lane in the Cup Series. However, this race is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, to win because it is so long. With it being the longest race in our series, it's also the toughest on equipment.
"But this year we've got some other factors in the equation that we've never had before - 13-gallon fuel cells and a hard tire for the newly paved surface. The smaller fuel cells will definitely affect our strategy. And with the harder tire, it's not a given that new tires will always be the way to go. Scuffed tires could be better."
Quick Stats:
Lowe's Motor Speedway: 10
Races Led/Laps Led: 6/222
Best Starting Position: 1 (five times)
Best Finishing Position: 2 (2003)
May 2005 Start: 1
May 2005 Finish: 5
