Ryan Newman/Michigan Advance
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, will make his 10th NASCAR Cup Series start at Michigan International Speedway on Sunday and his 167th in the NASCAR Cup Series.
All but two of Newman's nine starts have been from inside the top-10; the other two starts were from the 12th position. Newman has one pole at MIS, which he earned in last year's Batman Begins 400 in June. Newman has a 6.5 starting average at the 2-mile trioval.
Newman has been quite successful at MIS. He has two victories in the NASCAR Cup Series to go along with two wins in the NASCAR Busch Series. Along with the two victories, Newman has finished in the top-15 in seven of the nine races, including four top-five finishes. His other two finishes were a 41st and 31st. He has an average finish of 13.67 at the track.
Newman has led six races at MIS for 83 laps. He has completed 1,637 of a possible 1,800 laps. That is a 91 percent finishing rate. Newman has completed every lap at MIS, including 250 laps in two NASCAR Busch Series races, except during the June 2003 race when his car developed engine problems on lap 37. That is Newman's only DNF at MIS.
Matt Borland, crew chief of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge, and the Alltel team will take chassis PRS-76 to this weekend's 3M Performance 400 presented by Post-It Picture Paper. This is the same car Newman drove three weeks ago at Lowe's Motor Speedway in the Coca-Cola 600, where he finished 35th after starting 18th. 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 2005 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 Michigan International Speedway: "MIS is one of my top-three tracks that we go to. I've had success here in the past and I've always enjoyed coming here, both as a driver and as a fan. This is the track my dad would take me to when I was young to watch the races. It's almost like a home track to me because it's so close to where I grew up in South Bend, Ind."
"I'm excited to be going back to MIS. The past couple of weeks, we've been getting good finishes, but we need to be a whole lot better if we're going to make it into the Chase this year, and I think Michigan will be a good place for the entire Alltel team."
Quick Stats:
Michigan International Speedway: 9
Races Led/Laps Led: 6/83
Best Starting Position: 1 (June 2005)
Best Finishing Position: 1 (twice)
June 2005 Start: 1
May 2005 Finish: 15
