News

Ryan Newman
No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger
Crown Royal 400 - Richmond International Raceway
Notes & Quotes
For Immediate Release - April 29, 2008 

• Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, has one victory in 12 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Richmond International Raceway. The win came during the 2003 fall race.
   
• In addition to one win at the .75-mile short track, Newman has one pole, four top-five and seven top-10 finishes. He has two runner-up finishes at Richmond, both coming in 2002. Newman also has posted two top-five and three top-10 finishes in NASCAR Nationwide competition at the Virginia track.
   
• Newman calls Richmond his favorite short track on the Cup Series schedule, and his stats back that up. Newman has completed 97.5 percent of the laps in the 12 races he has competed in at the track, with an average starting position of 8.8 and an average finishing spot of 11.1.
   
• This Saturday is the last chance for fans to enter to compete against Newman and the Alltel pit crew in the "My Circle 500." Fans can enter by texting RACE to 38229 or by visiting www.alltelracing.com. Ten finalists and their ‘Circle of Friends' will win an all-expense-paid trip to Charlotte, N.C., May 23-26 to compete in the "My Circle 500". The finalists will get in the driver's seat and take one lap around a 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 take home $200,000.
   
• Penske Racing is just two wins shy of reaching the milestone of 300 victories across a variety of racing series. Newman has claimed 24 of Penske Racing's win total.

RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES ON:
RACING AT RICHMOND:  "Richmond is a fun race. It's under the lights on Saturday night - it's always exciting. I think it is probably the best short track we have on the NASCAR circuit. The key to racing at Richmond is that you have to be considerate of the entries to the corners. Turn one is sweeping and you have to be sensitive to getting loose there. Turn three is pretty much a 90 degree corner and turn four opens up, so you will see a lot of passing there. Both ends are different so it really is a driver's race track. It's a place where it is rewarding to be patient and smooth, but you also have to be aggressive at times, too.

"We had a really good car at Phoenix, which is a sister track to Richmond. We sat on the pole, led quite a few laps, but then we had a motor problem that knocked us out early. We're looking forward to Richmond because we think that we have a really good car and a good setup for the race. We're hoping to build on the start we had at Phoenix and last weekend's top 10 at Talladega."

ROY MCCAULEY QUOTES ON:
KEYS AT RICHMOND: "At Richmond, the key is you have keep the car turning in the center-it is similar to Phoenix in that respect. You can't get too loose getting into the corners and you have to keep it turning. Richmond is different in that there's a little bit more of a problem with traffic there, so having good track position is key. Having track position and being able to pass is crucial."

SIMILARITIES TO PHOENIX: "Phoenix and Richmond are similar, but Richmond has its own characteristics, too. Running well at Phoenix does give us a little bit of confidence heading into this race, but I have confidence in the Alltel team and what we have been able to accomplish this season. And I have confidence in Ryan as a driver. You have to approach Richmond differently because it is an impound event, but I think we will do well there."

CHASSIS NOTES
PRS-561: The No. 12 Alltel Dodge for  Richmond this weekend is a brand new car for Newman. He will turn the car's first laps on a track on Friday morning in practice.

PRS-519: The backup Alltel Dodge for the Richmond race also served as the backup at Phoenix earlier this season.

UPCOMING EVENTS
4/29: Hear Ryan Newman talk about last week's top 10 finish at Talladega and the upcoming race at Richmond on his podcast at www.alltelracing.com.

5/2:Ryan Newman will be available for a Q&A with the media in the Richmond International Raceway media center at 10 a.m. ET.

2008 STATS:
STARTS:                       9
WINS:                            1
POLES:                         1
TOP FIVES:                  2
TOP 10s:                      4
CURRENT POINTS:  11th

CAREER STATS:
STARTS:                       233
WINS:                            13
POLES:                         43
TOP FIVES:                   63
TOP 10s:                      102

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.

NEWMAN'S RICHMOND INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY STATS