RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES ON:
RACING AT TALLADEGA: “I wouldn’t say the cars have changed the racing other than the fact that we can bump draft a little bit more aggressively now than in the past. Talladega is a track where the driver means less than the car does. And the car can determine very easily if you’re going to be capable of winning.”

RESTRICTOR PLATE RACING AFTER WINNING THE 500: “Winning the Daytona 500 doesn’t give me an advantage going into Talladega. I think it may give me more confidence for this race, but I don’t think it makes me a favorite necessarily. We don’t have our Daytona 500 car, but the guys have worked really hard on a new car and they are really happy with what they have seen so far, so we are excited. We’ve had some good runs at Talladega in the past. We got a top-five there in the first COT race last fall, which gives the team a lot of confidence for the weekend. Kurt (Busch) and I worked really well together in that race last year, too. Hopefully, we will be able to help each other out this weekend.”

ROY MCCAULEY QUOTES ON:
NEW NO. 12 CAR DEBUTS AT TALLADEGA: “The big problem of winning the Daytona 500 is they keep your car after the race. So, after we got back from Daytona the guys went to work. They worked numerous hours in the fab shop and in the body shop to get a car ready for us that we feel is just as good, if not better than our Daytona car ready for Talladega. We’ve been to the wind tunnel numerous times, and we’re really happy with what we have seen. We’re really looking forward to the race.”

TEAMWORK KEY AT TALLADEGA: “Ryan and Kurt (Busch) work extremely well together at restrictor plate tracks, and we saw that at Daytona earlier this year and even last year at Talladega. Being able to work well with your teammates is crucial at tracks like Talladega — your teammate is your wingman. Your goal is to work together to put yourself and the organization as a whole in the position to win. And after finishing 1-2 at Daytona, we know that this is a team that has the ability to work together and win.”

CHASSIS NOTES
PRS-524: The Talladega primary car is a brand new No. 12 Alltel Dodge. After leaving the winning Daytona 500 car at the museum, the team went to work to perfect this car for Talladega.
PRS-515: Newman ran the backup No. 12 Alltel Dodge in the Budweiser Shootout in February at Daytona. Newman finished 17th in the Shootout. This car was also the backup for this year’s Daytona 500.

UPCOMING EVENTS
4/29: Newman will hold his bi-weekly podcast on www.alltelracing.com at 11:30 a.m. ET.

2008 STATS:
STARTS: 8
WINS: 1
POLES: 1
TOP FIVES: 2
TOP 10s: 3
CURRENT POINTS: 12th

CAREER STATS:
STARTS: 232
WINS: 13
POLES: 43
TOP FIVES: 63

ALLTEL “MY CIRCLE 500”
Alltel is once again sponsoring the “My Circle 500” sweepstakes, a national text-to-win promotion that puts race fans in the driver’s seat for a chance to win a grand prize of up to $500,000. From now until May 3, fans can enter the Alltel “My Circle 500” by texting RACE to 38229 or by logging onto www.alltelracing.com.

The 10 sweepstakes finalists and their ‘Circle of Friends’ will win an all-expense-paid trip to Charlotte, N.C., May 23-26 to compete in the second annual Alltel “My Circle 500.” The finalists will get in the driver’s seat and take one lap around the go-kart track. Then, it’s up to their ‘Circle of Friends’ to change four tires on the No. 12 Alltel Dodge. The fastest team will be declared the winner and take home at least $200,000. The champions will receive an additional $300,000 if they beat the time of 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman and the Alltel pit crew – increasing the grand prize purse to $500,000.