News

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.  (July 26, 2008) - Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No.12 Alltel Dodge Charger, will start third in the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard on Sunday afternoon.

Newman, a native of South Bend, Ind., turned a quick lap of 180.970 miles per hour (49.732 seconds). Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, won the pole with a lap of 181.763 miles per hour (49.515 seconds).

"We had a great draw and good solid lap in the Alltel Dodge today," said Newman, who went out second in the morning qualifying session. "Everything felt really good out there. I missed it a little bit in turn two, but overall it was a great lap and we got a great starting position out of it."

In eight starts at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS), Newman has never started outside of the top eight. This marks the second time he has started third at the 2.5-mile oval - Newman also started third at IMS last year. He has one top-five finish.

"We started third last year, but the outcome wasn't so good. Hopefully, we will have better results this time around," Newman said. "We ran eight laps in race trim in practice yesterday, and the car felt good.

"We have two more practices today to work on the Alltel Dodge. We have a good package for this race, and I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."

Newman is currently 16th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He is 189 points away from the cutoff for the Chase for the NASCAR Cup. Newman has one win, two top-five and seven top-10 finishes.

Coverage of the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard begins on the ESPN television network on Sunday, July 27 at 1 p.m. EDT. The race can also be heard on the IMS Radio Network.

DRIVER: Ryan Newman
STARTING POSITION: 3rd

 POLE: Jimmie Johnson

PENSKE RACING TEAMMATES
7.   Kurt Busch
38. Sam Hornish Jr.