News

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.  (July 4, 2008) - Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No.12 Alltel Dodge Charger, will start 32nd in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday night.

Newman, who won the 50^th Running of the Daytona 500 in February, turned a quick lap of 183.760 miles per hour (48.966 seconds). Paul Menard, driver of the No. 15 Menards Chevrolet, won the pole with a lap of 185.916 miles per hour (48.409 seconds).

"The Alltel Dodge was really good in race trim in practice yesterday," Newman said. "We never made a qualifying run in practice yesterday, so we didn't know how we would do in qualifying. We don't have a great starting spot, but that's not all that important for tomorrow's race.

"This is the same car we raced with in Talladega. They took our car after the win in here in February and put it in the Daytona 500 Experience. I think this car has potential for tomorrow night's race. It handled well. It felt good in practice - we'll just have to see what happens."

Newman is currently 15th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He is 111 points away from the cutoff for the Chase for the NASCAR Cup. Newman has one win, two top-fives and three top-10s in 13 starts at Daytona International Speedway. His best finish in Daytona's 400-mile July race is 11^th.

Coverage of the Coke Zero 400 begins on the TNT television network on Saturday, July 5 at 6:30 p.m. EDT. The race can also be heard on the MRN.

DRIVER: Ryan Newman
STARTING POSITION: 32nd

POLE: Paul Menard

PENSKE RACING TEAMMATES
36. Kurt Busch
42. Sam Hornish Jr.