Goody's Cool Orange 500
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Race 6 of 36
1:30 p.m.
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NEWS
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PHOTO GALLERIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR
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CHASSIS NOTES
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PRS-513:
This No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger has
been the backup car for most of the 2008
season’s races. The Martinsville race
will mark its first time on track this
season.
PRS-509: The No. 12 Alltel team
tested this week’s backup Charger at
Phoenix International Raceway last
month.
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 Martinsville
Speedway
Martinsville, VA
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Appearance
Schedule |
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| DATE |
START |
FINISH |
LAPS
COMPLETED |
MONEY
WON |
| 4/1/2002 |
10 |
41 |
257/500 |
$44,165.00 |
| 10/1/2002 |
1 |
15 |
499/500 |
$72,475.00 |
| 4/1/2003 |
3 |
38 |
436/500 |
$74,685.00 |
| 10/1/2003 |
8 |
5 |
500/500 |
$90,225.00 |
| 4/1/2004 |
3 |
5 |
500/500 |
$113,242.00 |
| 10/1/2004 |
1 |
3 |
500/500 |
$132,517.00 |
| 4/1/2005 |
2 |
4 |
500/500 |
$132,241.00 |
| 10/1/2005 |
4 |
10 |
500/500 |
$120,391.00 |
| 4/1/2006 |
4 |
18 |
498/500 |
$114,358.00 |
| 10/1/2006 |
4 |
13 |
500/500 |
$114,658.00 |
| 4/1/2007 |
24 |
14 |
500/500 |
$107,175.00 |
| 10/1/2007 |
12 |
2 |
506/506 |
$181,625.00 |
| STARTS: |
POLES: |
TOP 5s: |
TOP 10s: |
WINS: |
LAPS
COMPLETED: |
MONEY
WON: |
| 12 |
2 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
5,696/6,006 |
$1,297,757.00 |
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PIT
CREW |
| Crew Chief |
Roy McCauley |
Davidsonville, Md. |
| Team Engineer |
Travis Geisler |
Pittsburgh, Penn. |
| Car Chief |
Bryan Dilly |
Ringwood, N.J. |
| Front-tire Carrier |
Scott Reiniger |
Salisbury, N.C. |
| Front-tire Changer |
Ben Brown |
Charlotte, N.C. |
| Jackman |
Bryan White |
Knoxville, Tenn. |
| Rear-tire Carrier |
Trent Cherry |
Charlotte, N.C. |
| Rear-tire Changer |
Joe Piette |
Wausaw, Wis. |
| Gasman |
George Whitley |
Chocowinity, N.C. |
| Catch Can |
Britt Goodrich |
Gastonia, N.C. |
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 NEWMAN BATTLES
ILL-HANDLING RACE CAR, FINISHES 19th
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 30, 2008) – Ryan Newman,
driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger,
struggled with an ill-handling race car throughout the course of
the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday
afternoon, finishing in 19th place.
It was a tough top-20 finish for the No. 12 Penske Racing team,
which included a spin-out incident near the mid-point of the
race.
Newman is currently 11th in the championship driver points
standings, 174 points behind leader Jeff Burton. “We just missed
it today – plain and simple,” Newman said. “I had my hands full
all day with the Alltel Dodge. Looking at the day, it could have
been a lot worse and we did recover to get a top-20 finish, but
I know we are a lot better than that.”
Newman had qualified the No. 12 Alltel Dodge in 13th place, but
he wasn’t able to hold on to his position once the green flag
dropped. By the time the first caution flag waved on lap 20, the
No. 12 had slid back 12 spots to 25th place and Newman radioed
his crew that the car was too tight in the center of the corners
and upon corner-exit would snap to a loose-handling condition,
which affected his ability to gain positions on the race track.
Despite these handling issues, the team elected not to pit and
Newman restarted the race in 17th place.
Another caution period a mere 20 laps later gave the Alltel team
their first opportunity to work on the No. 12 Dodge and its
tight-handling condition. The pit crew changed right side tires,
added fuel and made a track bar adjustment, returning Newman to
the track in 13th place.
By lap 70 Newman was able to briefly move into the top-10, but
the same handling issues continued to hamper his efforts,
contributing to his slide back through the field.
Under the fifth caution period at lap 105, Newman pitted to
address the No. 12’s handling and the crew made wedge and air
pressure adjustments and added four fresh tires and fuel.
However, the changes didn’t help Newman’s problems, and the No.
12 Alltel Dodge fell one lap down to the leaders at lap 169.
When the caution waved again at lap 180, Newman had fallen back
to 31st place.
“We need some pretty big changes,” Newman told crew chief Roy
McCauley. “This car just isn’t good.”
McCauley and the team elected to pit soon thereafter for
substantial wedge and track bar adjustments, an air pressure
adjustment and four tires and fuel. Over the following 100 laps,
Newman continued to battle with the car and the rest of the
field as he attempted to pick up spots on the track and put
himself in the position to gain his lap back. By lap 292, Newman
had moved into the 25th spot, the first car one lap down and was
poised to get back onto the lead lap.
Bad luck struck on lap 295 when Greg Biffle attempted to go
three-wide with Newman and Jimmie Johnson. Biffle tagged Newman
in the left rear quarter panel, causing both the No. 12 Alltel
Dodge and Johnson’s car to spin.
“He was going three-wide, and I had someone on the outside of
me,” reported Newman. “That’s what is going to happen. It’s just
a racing deal.”
Following the spin, Newman came down pit road for yet another
track bar and wedge adjustment, four tires and fuel. He
restarted the race in 31st place, still one lap down to the
leaders.
Unfortunately the No. 12 Alltel Dodge never got better, although
the team made several more pit stops and adjustments in hopes of
improving the car. Newman patiently worked to find a racing line
that suited the car and would help him gain spots on the race
track.
Despite handling problems, Newman was able to break into the top
20 before the checkered flag waved, finishing in 19th place.
“The car just never felt good all day,” Newman said. “It didn’t
even feel like the same car that I drove in practice all
weekend, and we just couldn’t get a handle on it. The pit crew
did a good job making all the changes, and we were able to
recover and get a top 20 out of it. We need to get back on the
right track in Texas next week.”
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action at Texas Motor Speedway
on Sunday, April 6 for the Samsung 500. The race will air live
on FOX at 1:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast live on PRN Radio
at 2:00 p.m. ET.
 NEWMAN TO START 13th IN GOODY’S COOL ORANGE 500
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (March 28, 2008) - Ryan Newman,
driver of the Penske Racing No.12 Alltel Dodge Charger, will
start 13th in the Goody’s Cool Orange 500 on Sunday afternoon at
Martinsville Speedway.
Newman, who finished second at Martinsville Speedway in last
year’s fall race, posted a fast lap of 95.079 mph (19.916
seconds). Pole winner Jeff Gordon, driver of the No. 24 DuPont
Chevrolet turned a lap of 96.288 mph (19.666 seconds).
“It was a decent run for the Alltel Dodge today,” Newman said.
“We picked up from practice, but so did most of the other guys.
We want to be able to start in the top 15 here because pit
selection in so important at this track.
“We were a bit on the tight side, but Roy (McCauley) and the
guys will get to work on this Alltel Dodge tomorrow and make it
better.”
Newman has one win (Daytona) and two top-10 finishes in the
first five races of the 2008 season. He is currently eighth in
the NASCAR Cup points standings.
At Martinsville Speedway, Newman has accumulated five top-five
and six top-10 finishes in 12 starts, including last year’s
runner-up finish.
The Goody’s Cool Orange 500 will air live on FOX on Sunday,
March 30, 2008, beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET. The race will also be
broadcast live on MRN.
PENSKE RACING TEAMMATES
- 20. Kurt Busch
- 26. Sam Hornish Jr.
Notes
- Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alltel
Dodge Charger, has two poles at Martinsville Speedway.
Newman also has five top-five and six top-10 finishes at the
.526-mile oval in 12 NASCAR Cup starts. Newman’s best finish
at Martinsville was a second-place effort last fall.
- Newman calls his October 2007 second-place finish at
Martinsville, “one that got away.” With less than 10 laps
left in the race, Newman had patiently made his way into the
second spot and was quickly chasing down leader Jimmie
Johnson. However, just as Newman caught up with Johnson, the
caution flag waved, handing Johnson the win.
- “Certainly there was some disappointment,” Newman said
of the second-place finish. “If I could have run that last
lap, I might have won, but we'll never know.”
- Crew chief Roy McCauley has a win to his credit at
Martinsville. McCauley was the race engineer for Ricky
Craven, when he won at Martinsville in 2001.
- Martinsville Speedway played a key role in the formation
of the Ryan Newman Foundation (www.ryannewmanfoundation.org).
In 2004, a fan at the track gave a letter to Krissie Newman
which reduced her to tears. The woman and her family had
taken in a stray dog which had become pregnant and gave
birth to 15 puppies. The woman’s family did not have the
means to provide veterinary care and food for all their
dogs. Feeling like she had nowhere to turn and not wanting
to shirk the responsibilities of caring for the dogs, the
woman enlisted the advice of her favorite NASCAR driver and
his wife Krissie. The woman had seen television interviews
with the couple about their love for animals, and she
thought that if anyone could help her, the Newmans could.
The Newmans paid a local veterinarian to spay/neuter and
vaccinate all the dogs and took a majority of them to a
no-kill animal shelter in North Carolina. Realizing that
this problem was nationwide, the Newmans established the
Ryan Newman Foundation in January 2005. One of the
Foundation’s primary focuses is to ensure that the
much-needed services of no-kill animal shelters and public
low-cost spay/neuter clinics are available in communities
across the U.S.
THE KEYS TO MARTINSVILLE: “Martinsville is a good bit
different that Bristol, but you kind of have to race it the
same. It’s 500 laps. It’s a place where you have to be patient.
The brake pedal is as important as the gas pedal there, and you
don’t want to get a lap down.
“The banking and all the loads on the driver is a lot less at
Martinsville than at Bristol, so it is a lot easier to drive as
long as you have a fast car. The Alltel Dodge was extremely fast
at Bristol, even after we wrecked. If our Alltel Dodge at
Martinsville is anything like what we had at Bristol, I think
we’ll have a good weekend. We’ve had some really good
Martinsville finishes, and we would like to continue that trend
this weekend.”
LAST FALL’S RUNNER-UP FINISH AT MARTINSVILLE: "It’s
the one that got away. I still wish we had that last lap back. I
got inside of (Jimmie Johnson) and then the white and yellow
came out. I know I would have a shot. I had my nose at his left
rear tire at the start-finish line getting the white flag. But
it just never happened."
THE KEYS TO MARTINSVILLE: “Being able to turn in
the center of the corner is the secret to Martinsville. If
your car can’t turn in the center, you burn your brakes up
and you’re done. If you can’t roll through the center with
speed, the driver by nature will overcompensate, which means
that they are going to overdrive the car and that’s going to
hurt us over the course of 500 laps. The braking at
Martinsville is just as important as going fast, so having a
car that handles well in the corners is key.”
RACING AT MARTINSVILLE: “Martinsville is one of my
favorite tracks. It’s a real race track, and the history
there is something that you really have to respect. Ryan had
a really great run there last fall and was very close to
getting the win. We want to go back there and pick up where
he left off last fall, and try and get some of those points
back that we lost last weekend at Bristol after getting
caught up in another person’s wreck. We would like to go to
another short track and show just how fast we can be.”
For news about Ryan Newman's charity work and
special events visit
THE RYAN
NEWMAN FOUNDATION WEBSITE
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