Ryan Newman
No. 12 Alltel "Fastap" Dodge Charger
Richmond Advance
NNCS Notes:
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel “Fastap” Dodge Charger, will make his 10th NASCAR Cup Series start at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday and his 178th in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Newman has two starts outside of the top 10 – an 11th in his first Cup start at RIR in May 2002 and a 14th in his last start at the track in May of this year. His other seven starts include six top-fives and a pole in September 2004. His average starting position at the track is 5.44.
Newman’s finishes at RIR have not been that bad, either. All but one of his finishes was inside the top 20 – 39th in May 2003 was his lowest finish – including six top-10s and four top fives. Newman won the inaugural Chevy Rock & Roll 400 in September 2003. He has an average finish of 10.67.
In nine races, Newman has led six of them – all before the 2005 season. He has led 354 laps and has completed a total of 3,476 laps of a possible 3,593, giving Newman a completion rate of 96.7 percent.
Matt Borland, crew chief of the No. 12 Alltel “Fastap” Dodge Charger, and the Alltel team will take chassis PRS-097 to this weekend’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400. This car ran twice in 2005 – in August at Indianapolis where Newman finished 34th and in November at the season finale in Homestead where the team placed sixth.
Newman on Richmond International Raceway: “Each week is a new beginning for this team. We’ve struggled on and off all year long, so we can’t dwell on the previous week’s race or it will just have more negative effects on next week’s race. This team has done a good job of coming to the shop after a bad race and working hard for the next one. It seems as if each time we have a good race, the next week won’t go so well for us.”
“We’ve done well at the short tracks this year and in the past. We’re all looking forward to going to Richmond this weekend where we all believe we have a chance to win. We ran well in May at this track and both our primary and backup cars finished in the top 10 the last time each of them ran, so we know we have good equipment for this weekend and I’m just hoping to have a better finish than we did in California.”
Quick Stats:
Richmond International Raceway: 9
Races Led/Laps Led: 6/354
Best Starting Position: 1 (September 2004)
Best Finishing Position: 1 (September 2003)
September 2005 Start: 8
September 2005 Finish: 12
