Dodge Challenger 500
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Race 11 of 36
7:30 p.m.
|
NEWS
LINKS |
|
PHOTO GALLERIES ARE AVAILABLE FOR
|
|
CHASSIS NOTES
|
PRS-552:
The No. 12 Alltel Dodge for Darlington
Raceway is one of Penske Racing’s new
cars. It's first race was at Las Vegas
in March. It was also the team's backup
car at Texas earlier this year.
PRS-519: The backup Alltel Dodge
for the Darlington race also served as
the backup at Phoenix and Richmond. |
|
|
 Darlington
Raceway|
Darlington, SC
|
Every driver who has strapped
on a helmet and climbed behind the steering wheel has
wanted to win at Darlington because the toughest is most
desirable. For those few select drivers who have won
races at the granddaddy of superspeedways, there is a
priceless satisfaction in knowing they've conquered the
unique egg-shaped oval nicknamed "Too Tough To Tame."
|
 |
|
Appearance
Schedule |
|
|
|
|
| DATE |
START |
FINISH |
LAPS
COMPLETED |
MONEY WON |
| Mar-02 |
3 |
5 |
293/293 |
$77,175.00 |
| Sep-02 |
12 |
2 |
367/367 |
$135,505.00 |
| Mar-03 |
2 |
14 |
293/293 |
$80,060.00 |
| Sep-03 |
1 |
23 |
359/367 |
$101,775.00 |
| Mar-04 |
6 |
3 |
293/293 |
$120,912.00 |
| Nov-04 |
7 |
34 |
330/367 |
$101,517.00 |
| May-05 |
2 |
5 |
370/370 |
$161,216.00 |
| May-06 |
2 |
6 |
367/367 |
$139,333.00 |
| May-07 |
29 |
4 |
367/267 |
$159,875.00 |
| STARTS: |
POLES: |
TOP 5s: |
TOP 10s: |
WINS: |
LAPS
COMPLETED: |
MONEY
WON: |
| 9 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
3,038/3,084 |
$1,077,368.00 |
|
|
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. |
|
|
|
|
 NEWMAN
FINISHES 37th AT DARLINGTON
DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 9, 2008) – Ryan Newman and the
No. 12 Penske Racing Alltel Dodge team endured a frustrating
night at the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway on Saturday,
finishing the Dodge Challenger 500 in 37th place.
A broken rear end at lap 238 caused Newman to spin under the
caution and hit the wall. Newman drove his Alltel Dodge to the
infield garage area for significant repairs and was able to
return to the race track and finish the race 73 laps down.
"It was just a disappointing night for the Alltel Dodge,” Newman
said. “We had problems throughout the race, and it ended up
costing us in the points. We're going to have to work harder and
hopefully rebound at Charlotte."
Newman is currently 13th in the NASCAR Cup points standings,
just two points shy of 12th-place cut-off for the NASCAR Chase.
After qualifying 32nd for the Dodge Challenger 500 on Friday,
Newman knew his team would have its work cut out for them. At
the drop of the green flag, Newman took off and was able to
power by several cars in front of him.
When the caution flag waved at lap 11, Newman had already moved
up to 25th place, but his problems began then. Newman had to
come down pit road for damage to his left front splitter. The
team quickly repaired and fueled the No. 12 Dodge, returning to
the track in 40th place.
Back on track, Newman reported that the No. 12 Alltel Dodge was
tight, especially in turns three and four. Despite the
ill-handling condition, he was making up ground. When green flag
pit stops began at lap 55, Newman was in 29th place.
Newman came down pit road under the green flag for four tires,
fuel and a track bar adjustment to help his tight-handling
condition. He returned to the track in 19th place, but was
forced to give up the spot and come back down pit road for a
pass-through penalty due to a tire violation on the pit stop.
Newman returned to the track in 40th place, two laps down to the
leading cars.
Despite having the ability to catch the leaders and getting one
of his lost laps back, Newman continued battling an ill-handling
race car. The Alltel team made several adjustments on a series
of pit stops to help the No. 12’s handling problems. The stops
helped as Newman moved up as high as 25th, one lap down to the
leader, before problems struck once more.
Following a pit stop under the yellow flag at lap 238, Newman
began to pull off pit road when he reported that it felt like
something was broken in the rear of the car. Once on the track,
the problem caused Newman to spin, damaging the right side and
the front of the car.
Newman pulled into the garage, and the team diagnosed the
problem as a broken rear end. After the extensive repairs and
body work, Newman was able to return to the track at lap 306 and
finish the race in 37th place.
The NASCAR Cup Series returns to action next Saturday night for
the NASCAR All-Star race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Concord,
N.C. The non-points race can be seen live on SPEED at 7:30 p.m.
EDT and heard on the PRN radio network.
 NEWMAN TO START 32nd AT
DARLINGTON RACEWAY
DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 9, 2008) - Ryan Newman, driver
of the Penske Racing No.12 Alltel Dodge Charger, will start 32nd
in the Dodge Challenger 500 at Darlington Raceway on Saturday
night.
Newman posted a lap of 175.666 mph (27.994 seconds). Pole sitter
Greg Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford, turned a lap of
179.442 mph (27.405 seconds).
“We were just too loose, so loose that I came close to hitting
the wall,” Newman said after qualifying. “The Alltel Dodge was
good in practice. I was really happy with it, but we have put
ourselves in a hole for tomorrow night’s race.
“We’ll just have to work our way up through the field, which I
know we can do. We’ll have our work cut out for us.”
Newman has one win (Daytona), one pole and five top-10 finishes
in the first 10 races of the 2008 season. He is currently 11th
in the NASCAR Cup points standings. At Darlington Raceway,
Newman has five top-five and six top-10 finishes in nine starts.
Last spring, Newman came from a 29th-place starting position to
finish fourth.
The Dodge Challenger 500 will air live on FOX on Saturday, May
10, 2008, beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The race will also be
broadcast live on MRN beginning at 7:20 p.m. ET.
PENSKE RACING TEAMMATES
- 5. Kurt Busch
23. Sam Hornish Jr.
ALLTEL PIT CREW READY
TO DEFEND TITLE
The No. 12 Alltel pit crew is set to defend its title in
the NASCAR Pit Crew Challenge on Thursday, May 15 at 7 p.m.
ET at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C. Last year,
the Alltel pit crew won the overall title as the fastest pit
crew in the challenge when they edged the No. 43 team by .33
seconds to grab the championship and the $70,300 prize.
Despite being assessed a five second penalty in the first
round for excessive fuel spillage, the Alltel Dodge team was
flawless for the remainder of the competition. In each of
the final four rounds, the No. 12 team posted the top time.
The team made the quarterfinal round in 2006 and the
semifinal round in 2005. “This competition is a big deal for
the teams,” said Trent Cherry, the team’s rear tire carrier
and pit crew coach. “It’s bragging rights for one team for
the rest of the year. We’ve been working hard this season,
and we want to win again.”
ALLTEL “MY CIRCLE 500”
Alltel is once again sponsoring the “My Circle 500”
weepstakes, a national text-to-win promotion that puts race
fans in the driver’s seat for a chance to win a grand prize of
up to $500,000. From now until May 3, fans can enter the Alltel
“My Circle 500” by texting RACE to 38229 or by logging onto
www.alltelracing.com.
The 10 sweepstakes finalists and their ‘Circle of Friends’ will
win an all-expense-paid trip to Charlotte, N.C., May 23-26 to
compete in the second annual Alltel “My Circle 500.” The
finalists will get in the driver’s seat and take one lap around
the go-kart track. Then, it’s up to their ‘Circle of Friends’ to
change four tires on the No. 12 Alltel Dodge. The fastest team
will be declared the winner and take home at least $200,000. The
champions will receive an additional $300,000 if they beat the
time of 2008 Daytona 500 champion Ryan Newman and the Alltel pit
crew – increasing the grand prize purse to $500,000.
Notes
- Ryan Newman, driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alltel
Dodge Charger, has one pole, five top-five and six top-10
finishes in nine NASCAR Cup Series starts at Darlington
Raceway. His best finish was a second-place effort in the
fall of 2002.
- In NASCAR Nationwide Series competition at Darlington,
Newman has two pole positions in four starts and a best
finish of fourth (Sept. 1, 2001).
- Newman and the No. 12 Alltel Dodge team were one of
three NASCAR Cup Series teams who participated in a
three-day Goodyear tire test at the freshly-paved Darlington
Raceway in March.
- Newman calls Darlington his favorite track. “It has
always been my favorite track because you are always
adjusting,” he says. “You adjust to the tires, the bumps,
the character of the track, the fact that you are running
right next to the wall is challenging. It's the most
challenging track that we have and that is why I enjoy it
the most.” And Newman’s stats reveal his love for the 1.366
mile egg-shaped track. In nine Cup starts, Newman has
completed 98.5 percent of the laps at Darlington. He has an
average starting position of 7.1 and an average finishing
spot of 10.7.
- Penske Racing is just two wins shy of reaching the
milestone of 300 victories across a variety of racing
series. Newman has claimed 24 of Penske Racing’s win total.
DARLINGTON’S NEW SURFACE: “The track is great. It’s
super smooth – the transitions are the same – it’s got a ton of
grip. It’s really fast. We ran a 28.12 on the ‘controlled tire’
and that I think is three seconds faster than the old race pace
in race trim – so it’s super fast. The track drives the same –
other than the fact that you don’t slip the tire.”
RACING AT DARLINGTON: “Racing wise, I‘ve always said
Darlington is not the perfect race track. To me, it’s my
favorite race track to drive – but racing wise – going three and
four wide – you’re not going to see it at Darlington. It’s going
to be a very important track position race in the essence that
if you’re out front – it’s going to be easier to stay out front
because it’s difficult to pass there. It’s always been a give
and take race track. It’s the give-and-take race track when it
comes to passing. We’ll have to adjust our speed and how the
cars handle there with this new pavement for sure.”
DARLINGTON’S NEW SURFACE: “After being at
Darlington for the test last month, I have to compliment the
track administration there because they did a fantastic job
of repaving the track. They had several million surface
points to replicate what was there. The track is exactly
like the old Darlington with the banking, with the grooves,
with the lines. They left everything exactly how it was. The
difference is there is a lot more grip.”
TESTING AT DARLINGTON: “The test that we did with
Goodyear was very good. I feel like we provided Goodyear
with a lot of information, and they had to make the decision
with the information that we provided and decide what they
were going to do for this race. I am pretty confident after
our test that Goodyear has all the information they need to
bring back the best tire possible. We’re looking forward to
this weekend.”
For news about Ryan Newman's charity work and
special events visit
THE RYAN
NEWMAN FOUNDATION WEBSITE
Be sure to vote for
Ryan everyday for
THE MOST POPULAR DRIVER AWARDS
By accessing this website and server you agree to
our Acceptable Use Policy and Terms of Use.
©2008 Ryan Newman Fan Club. All Rights Reserved
This is the official Ryan Newman Fan Club site. Do not
duplicate or redistribute in any form.
Ryan Newman®, Penske Racing®,
NEXTELCup®, NASCAR®, and NEXTEL Cup Series®
are registered
trademarks of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing,
Inc.
Photographs ©2000-2007 Steven Rose, Motorsports Memories
Photography.
Photographs ©2008 CIA Stock Photography.
Site Privacy and Refund Policy.
|
