News

LONG POND, Pa.  (August 1, 2008) - Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No.12 AVIS Dodge Charger, will start sixth in the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 on Sunday afternoon.

Newman turned a quick lap of 166.784 miles per hour (53.962 seconds). Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, won the pole for the second consecutive week with a lap of 168.215 miles per hour (53.503 seconds).

"I have always said that I enjoy this race track. It's a tricky track, but it's a driver's track and I like that," Newman said. "We had a pretty good lap. I was tight in turn one. I nailed turn two, and I think I may have gotten a little over confident and overdrove it a little bit in turn three.

"It wasn't the perfect lap for the AVIS Dodge, but we're going to have a good starting spot and I think we're going to have a top 10 finish on Sunday."

In 13 starts at Pocono, Newman has one win, five top-five and six top-10 finishes. Newman is currently 16th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He is 144 points away from the cutoff for the Chase for the NASCAR Cup. Newman has one win, two top-five and seven top-10 finishes in the 2008 season.

Coverage of the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 begins on the ESPN television network on Sunday, August 3 at 1 p.m. EDT. The race can also be heard on the MRN Radio Network at 1:15 p.m.

DRIVER: Ryan Newman
STARTING POSITION: 6th

POLE: Jimmie Johnson

PENSKE RACING TEAMMATES
10. Kurt Busch
26. Sam Hornish Jr.