Ryan Newman
No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger
Sylvania 300 Advance
NNCS Notes:
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, will make his 10th NASCAR Cup Series start at New Hampshire International Speedway on Sunday and his 179th in the NASCAR Cup Series.
NHIS is one of five tracks where Newman has earned four or more Bud Pole awards in his Cup series career. In July, Newman earned his fourth pole at the 1.058-mile track. He has just two starts outside the top 10 – a 13th in September 2005 and a 16th in July 2003 – and seven top-10 starts, including five from the top five. Newman’s average starting position at the track is 6.0.
NHIS is also one of only three tracks where Newman has earned multiple wins in the Cup series. Newman has won three Cup races at Dover International Speedway and two at Michigan International Speedway. At NHIS, Newman has two wins, including last September’s Sylvania 300. Newman has only two finishes outside the top-10 in nine starts with both being 33rd or lower. Five of those finishes have been in the top-five. His average finish at the New England track is 11.33.
Newman has led at least one lap in each of his nine races at NHIS for a total of 515 laps. Twice Newman has led the most laps, including his first win at the track in September 2002 when he led 143 laps. Newman has had only one DNF at the track – an engine problem in September 2004 – and has completed 2,548 laps of a possible 2,615, giving Newman a 97 percent completion rate at the New England oval.
Matt Borland, crew chief of the No. 12 Mobil 1 Dodge Charger, and the team will take chassis PRS-55 to this weekend’s Sylvania 300. This is the same car Newman drove in the July race at NHIS and to victory in September 2005. The car has been rebuilt a couple of times since then, however. In November 2005, the team took the same chassis to Phoenix where Newman was involved in a wreck during practice. The car was taken back to Phoenix in April 2006 and was involved in a wreck during the race.
The backup car for NHIS is chassis PRS-91. This car was run at the last two spring Richmond races. In May 2005, Newman finished third after qualifying second and in May of this year, Newman finished eighth after starting 14th.
Newman on New Hampshire International Speedway:
“New Hampshire is a good track for this team. We’ve had success there in the past and we won this same race last year. I like going to Loudon and I think the team enjoys going there as well. It’s definitely a place where we go into the race knowing that we can win.”
“With all the struggles this team has had this year, we could really use a win and everyone believes that this track definitely gives us a good shot at doing that this year. A win here would give this team some momentum going into the off season and preparing for the 2007 season.”
Quick Stats:
New Hampshire International Speedway: 9
Races Led/Laps Led: 9/515
Best Starting Position: 1 (three times)
Best Finishing Position: 1 (twice)
September 2005 Start: 13
September 2005 Finish: 1
