Newman Starts Ninth at Infineon Raceway
June 20, 2008
SONOMA, Calif. (June 20, 2008) - Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No.12 Alltel Dodge Charger, qualified ninth for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on Sunday. It is the first of two road course races this season.
Newman posted a lap of 91.519 miles per hour (78.279 seconds). Kasey Kahne, driver of the No. 9 Budweiser Dodge, scored the pole position with a lap of 92.153 miles per hour (77.740 seconds).
"I lost a lot of my time in turn two," Newman said after the lap. "I stayed on the track but missed the corner, and it definitely cost me some time out there. Then, I got a little loose in the esses, but overall it was a good lap.
"The Alltel Dodge was competitive today, and we're happy with the lap. We'll do some more work on it tomorrow in practice to make it better, and we'll look forward to the race on Sunday."
Newman, who is currently 17th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, has four top-10 finishes in six starts at Infineon Raceway. His best finish was a second-place effort at the 1.99-mile road course in 2006. Newman is 123 points out of 12th-place in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings, the cutoff for the Chase for the NASCAR Cup.
Coverage of the Toyota Save-Mart 350 begins on the TNT television network on Sunday, June 22 at 3:30 p.m. EDT. The race can also be heard on the PRN at 5 p.m. EDT.
DRIVER: Ryan Newman
STARTING POSITION: 9th
POLE: Kasey Kahne
PENSKE RACING TEAMMATES
3. Kurt Busch
17. Sam Hornish Jr.