RYAN NEWMAN No. 12
ALLTEL DODGE CHARGER
DAYTONA 500 – NOTES & QUOTES
Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, will make his seventh Daytona 500 start on Sunday. Newman has one top-five and one top-10 finish in Daytona 500 competition.
Newman and his Penske Racing teammates — Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. — will be in the first Gatorade Duel on Thursday afternoon.
Newman has come close to victory in the Daytona 500. In 2006, was running up front for the final laps of the race. The eventual winner of the 2006 race (Jimmie Johnson) had drafting help while Newman was left without the benefit of draft. Newman wound up finishing third.
Newman won his first ever start at Daytona International Speedway in the ARCA Series in 2001.
The Daytona 500 marks Newman’s first points race with crew chief Roy McCauley calling the shots. Newman and McCauley were first paired together at Penske Racing in 2005 in a Nationwide Series effort that scored six victories in just nine starts. They won their last race at Homestead in 2005 —Newman says he hopes to pick up where they left off.
NEWMAN QUOTES
“Our outlook for the 500 is definitely good. We performed well last year, but we had duct work fail which failed the engine. I ran with the Car of Tomorrow car at Talladega last year and was strong (Newman finished fifth). I look forward to working with both Kurt (Busch) and Sam (Hornish Jr.) and trying to get Penske it’s first Daytona 500 win.”
“Everybody has been asking what it would mean to me to win the Daytona 500, and that’s a tough question. Just being in this race is an honor and a privilege. It would mean a lot to win the 500—I don’t think I can express it though until it happens.”
Newman finished 17th in the Budweiser Shootout on Saturday. He ran as high as sixth during the race.
“It was a good learning experience for us there. I think it’s definitely a leg up for the practice on Wednesday and for sure the Gatorade Duel on Thursday. I thought our car handled well, we just never put ourselves in position. All in all though, I think we learned some valuable information tonight for next week.”
MCCAULEY QUOTES
“I think we learned quite a bit in the Shootout (last weekend). We learned some important information about tire pressures and how to get the car balanced across a run. The only bad thing was we didn’t have a 30- or40-lap run, but we did get an indication of tire wear and how the car is going to react, so we are pretty pleased. We have an operating range for the car, and now we are going to work on fine tuning it the rest of the week.”
“I’d just be happy to win a Daytona 500 — the first, the last or the 50th. It’s the crown jewel. Ryan is better than he has ever been. There’s no reason that we can’t pick up where we left off and win this race. We just have to execute as a team.”
CHASSIS NOTES
PRS-521: This is the car that Newman raced at Talladega Superspeedway in the fall race. Newman finished fifth in that race.
PRS-515: The back-up car is the same car Newman ran in the Shootout at Daytona on Saturday. The car turned its first laps that night.
RYAN NEWMAN NIGHT AT VOLUSIA SPEEDWAY
Ryan Newman will take a break from Daytona 500 festivities to be Grand Marshal of the action at Volusia Speedway the half-mile, high-speed dirt track in Barberville, Fla. Alltel is the Official Wireless Provider of Fans, and those racing diehards with Alltel phones can meet Newman during an autograph session at 6 p.m. in the Alltel Fan Zone before he assumes his duties as host for a night of racing with UMP DIRTcar Late Models and the Big Block Modifieds of the Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series. In addition, Alltel will present a check to Newman for the Ryan Newman Foundation.
