RYAN NEWMAN
NO. 12 ALLTEL DODGE
NASCAR NEXTEL ALL-STAR CHALLENGE
LOWE’S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Notes:
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, will make his sixth start in the All-Star Challenge Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Newman, who won the event in 2002 when it was still known as The Winston all-star race, is locked into the event until 2012.
Newman has an average start of 9.4 and an average finish of 7.8. He has three top-five starts, including a pole position in 2005.
In five starts, Newman has three top-five finishes in the annual all-star race. Newman won the 2002 race after winning the No Bull Sprint to earn a spot in the all-star event that year.
Newman has completed 406 laps out of a possible 450, giving him a 90.2 percent completion rate.
Ryan’s Remark… on the All-Star Race
“I like running this race every year. You don’t have to worry about points and you can just go out and have fun. My team has always been excited about this race and this year, it has many more features to it than just the race. The Pit Crew Challenge on Wednesday night will decide qualifying order for Friday night, so the over-the-wall guys play a bigger role in this year’s race. I think this whole week is fun for all the teams involved. We have a really good bunch of guys on the pit crew and they did an amazing job for me in the pits at Darlington. I think they have a really good chance of winning the Pit Crew Challenge. I know we’re going to have a good car on Saturday night, too, and I think we will be contending for our second all-star win.”
Chassis
PRS-053: This car has never run before. It is an older chassis that was built for the No. 2 team. The Alltel team has updated the car to current specifications and tested at Lowe’s Motor Speedway last week during the NASCAR test and put down the fifth-fastest time during the evening session on Day 2 with a lap of 29.126 seconds and a speed of 185.401 miles per hour.
PRS-076: This car has not raced this year, but has been the back-up car for every intermediate race in 2007.
