Newman Starts 11th for Sharpie 500 at Bristol
August 22, 2008
BRISTOL, Tenn. (August 22, 2008) - Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No.12 Alltel Dodge Charger, qualified 11th for the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday night.
Newman turned a quick lap of 120.512 miles per hour (15.922 seconds) at the .533-mile concrete oval. Carl Edwards, driver of the No. 99 Office Depot Ford, won the pole with a lap of 121.860 miles per hour (15.746 seconds).
"I'm happy that we improved our Alltel Dodge from where we were at in practice earlier today," Newman said. "Considering that we were down in the speed charts during practice, we'll take it. I'm looking forward to our second practice tonight.
"We had a really fast car here in the spring, and I'm hoping we can be just as good here tomorrow night."
In 13 previous starts at Bristol, Newman has one top-five and six top-10 finishes. Newman is currently 17th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings. He is 211 points away from the cutoff for the Chase for the NASCAR Cup.
Live coverage of the Sharpie 500 begins on the ESPN television network on Saturday, August 23 at 7 p.m. EDT. The race can also be heard on the PRN Radio Network at 7:15 p.m.
DRIVER: Ryan Newman
STARTING POSITION: 11
POLE: Carl Edwards
PENSKE RACING TEAMMATES
19. Kurt Busch
35. Sam Hornish Jr.