News

Ryan Newman
No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger
Best Buy 400 - Dover International Speedway
Notes & Quotes
For Immediate Release - May 27, 2008 

• Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, has three wins, four pole positions, six top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 12 NASCAR Cup Series starts at Dover International Speedway.
  
• Newman swept both NASCAR Cup races in 2003 at Dover International Speedway. His most recent win at Dover came in the fall of 2004.   Newman's average finishing position at the "Monster Mile" is 10th.
   
• Last June at Dover, Newman scored the pole, led 135 laps and finished second in the first "Car of Tomorrow" (COT) race at the one-mile oval.
   
• Newman has started outside of the top five only twice in 12 races at the "Monster Mile." In addition to four poles, Newman has started on the outside pole twice. His average starting position at the one-mile concrete oval is 7.2.
   
• Newman has two NASCAR Nationwide Starts at Dover, and scored the pole both times (2001, 2005). In 2005, Newman and current Cup Series crew chief Roy McCauley had a dominant race car as they started on the pole, led 193 of 200 laps and won the race.
   
• Penske Racing is just one win shy of reaching the milestone of 300 victories across a variety of racing series since 1966. Newman has claimed 24 of Penske Racing's win total.

 RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES ON:
RACING AT DOVER: "Dover is one of my favorite race tracks. It's an  awesome track to race as far as being able to pass cars. It's a blast to drive around Dover because of the speed and most importantly because of the banking. The fact that it's concrete doesn't hurt anything either because it makes the track more consistent, which is good for all teams. At Dover, the entry into the corners is the toughest part. If you don't get a good entry, you're not going to have a good middle or a good exit. It's a give and take race track, so it is a lot of fun for the drivers. We've done well at Dover with our Alltel Dodge in the past, and I don't expect anything different."

QUALIFYING AT DOVER: "This is a fun track to drive for me. In qualifying, you have to hang it out. It's concrete, so it's on the edge and it's not very forgiving. But it's a lot of fun, too. It's a track that doesn't change a whole lot with the weather, which is kind of nice so your qualifying draw doesn't have a huge effect on where you qualify."

 ROY MCCAULEY QUOTES ON:
DOVER AS HIS HOME TRACK: "I consider Dover my home track, so I am always excited to go there. We have had a lot of success there as a company. Ryan has four wins there in Cup and one win there in Nationwide, and I can't even count the number of poles. I would like to win one for the team and for Alltel this weekend. There's a lot of home pride. It's about an hour and a half away from where I grew up. I know Ryan loves the track. We had a good car in Bristol this year, which is a little bit of a forerunner to Dover. So, we're looking forward to it." NOTE: McCauley hails from Davidsonville, Md. He graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in engineering.

RACING AT THE "MONSTER MILE": "Dover's a funny place. You show up there on Friday and there's no rubber on the track. You can be good on Friday and all of a sudden on Sunday once the track rubbers up you can be in a world of hurt if you're not careful. Dover's a thinking man's track from a driver's standpoint and a crew's standpoint."

CHASSIS NOTES
PRS-519: The No. 12 Alltel Dodge at Dover is the same car that Newman qualified 12th and drove to a 14th place finish at Atlanta in March. The car has also served as a backup car at several other races this season.

PRS-558: The backup No. 12 Alltel Dodge is the same car that Newman drove to a fourth-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this year. It was the backup at last weekend's Coca-Cola 600.

UPCOMING EVENTS
5/31: Ryan and Krissie Newman, along with their dog Mopar, will participate in the NASCAR Foundation Track Walk at Dover International Speedway at 6 p.m. EDT, immediately following the Nationwide Series race on Saturday. Fans have the  opportunity to walk with the Newmans and help raise money for the Ryan Newman Foundation. The event fee is $30. For more information visit www.ryannewmanfoundation.org.

6/4: Newman is one of several drivers participating in the fourth annual Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The charity race benefits the Victory Junction Gang Camp. The race will be broadcast live on HBO Pay-Per-View at 7 p.m. EDT. 

2008 STATS:
STARTS:                       12
WINS:                          1
POLES:                         1
TOP FIVES:                   2
TOP 10s:                      5
CURRENT POINTS:       14th

CAREER STATS:
STARTS:                       236
WINS:                           13
POLES:                         43
TOP FIVES:                   63
TOP 10s:                      103

ALLTEL RACING PODCASTS
Every two weeks, fans can tune into Alltel Racing podcasts on www.alltelracing.com. The podcasts give fans the opportunity to hear No. 12 Alltel Racing driver Ryan Newman's thoughts on a variety of subjects from racing to fishing to Alltel's latest commercials. Fans can call 1-800-279-5612 to record a personalized question for Newman or you can email questions to Newman at ryannewmanmailbag@gmail.com. By listening to the podcasts, fans also have the opportunity to win special Alltel Racing prizes.

This week's installment of the podcast features Penske Racing pit crew coach Trent Cherry. Cherry, who has worked with Newman since his first race at Penske, is also the rear tire carrier for No. 12 Alltel Dodge team. Cherry talks about being a pit crew member in NASCAR. To listen to the podcast, visit www.alltelracing.com. 

NEWMAN'S DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY STATS