News

Ryan Newman
No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger
Aaron's 499 - Talladega Superspeedway
Notes & Quotes

• Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, has three top-five finishes in 12 starts at the 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway. Newman's best finish was a fourth place run (during the fall races in 2003 and 2005).
  
• Last fall, Newman notched a fifth-place effort in the first "Car of Tomorrow" race at Talladega. The car he drove in that race - PRS-521 - is the same car that Newman drove to victory in the 50th running of the Daytona 500. That car is now enshrined in the Daytona 500 Experience in Florida.
   
• Newman scored his, and Penske Racing's, first victory on a restrictor plate track earlier this season at Daytona International Speedway. Penske Racing cars finished one-two in that race, with Kurt Busch giving teammate Newman the "push from heaven" which helped propel the No. 12 Alltel Dodge to the lead on the final lap.
   
• Ryan Newman will join NASCAR legend Bobby Allison and The Conservation Fund to announce Racing for Wildlife's second project - the protection of 1,200 acres within Talladega National Forest.  A press conference will take place on Friday, April 25, at 10:30 a.m. CDT in the Talladega Superspeedway media center.
   
• Penske Racing is two wins shy of reaching the milestone of 300 victories across a variety of racing series. Newman has claimed 24 of Penske Racing's victories.
  

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
TOP 10s:                   101

NEWMAN TALLADEGA SUPERSPEEDWAY STATISTICS