RYAN NEWMAN

'Ryan Joseph Newman' (born December 8, 1977 in South Bend, Indiana) is a driver in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. He drives the #12 Alltel, Mobil Oil Dodge Charger for Penske Racing. Newman, along with the late Alan Kulwicki, is one of the few NASCAR racers with a college degree, graduating from Purdue University in 2001 with a B. S. in vehicle structure engineering (Kulwicki's degree was in mechanical engineering).^[1]
In 2002, he was the Raybestos Rookie of the Year.

Contents

Racing career

Races won

Charity

Trivia

References

External links

Racing career

Ryan's large number of Bud Poles in such a short time period has earned him the nickname of Rocket Man. Ending with the 2005 MBNA RacePoints 400, Ryan had a streak of 20 straight races started in the top ten. In the Busch Series Ryan has 23 starts, 7 wins, 9 top 5's, 15 top 10's and 9 Bud Poles. In 2005, Ryan ran 9 Busch races, winning 6 times and breaking a record for 5 consecutive wins in a row and finishing out of the top 5 only once. Nineteen races into the 2006 season Ryan's best finish came at the Dodge/Save Mart 350 where he finished 2nd. He has yet to win a race in 2007, but has won four poles, his first of 2007 coming at Atlanta, making him eligable for the Bud Shootout. He has won three consecutive poles, at the Coca Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway on May 25, 2007, the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover International Speedway on June 4 and the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway on June 10. At one point, the rate of Newman's poles was 1 in every 3 races. ^[2] bringing his pole total to 41 for his career, tied with Mark Martin for 6th on the Modern Era Pole winners list.^[3] Newman's pit crew also won the NEXTEL All-Star Challenge Pit Crew Competition.

Races won

===Winston/Nextel Cup (12 career wins)===

★ 2005 (1 win) Sylvania 300 (Loudon)

★ 2004 (2 wins) DHL 400 (Michigan), MBNA America 400 (Dover)

★ 2003 (8 wins) Samsung/Radio Shack 500 (Texas), MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 (Dover), Tropicana 400 (Chicago), Pennsylvania 500 (Pocono), GFS Marketplace 400 (Michigan), Chevy Rock and Roll 400 (Richmond), Dover 400 (Dover), Banquet 400 (Kansas)

★ 2002 (1 win) New Hampshire 300 (Loudon), Rookie of the Year
===Busch Series (7 career wins)===

★ 2005 (6 wins) Zippo 200 (Watkins Glen), Domino's Pizza 250 (Michigan), Food City 250 (Bristol), Dover 200 (Dover), Dollar General 300 (Charlotte), Ford 300 (Homestead)

★ 2001 (1 win) NAPAonline.com 250 (Michigan)
===International Race of Champions (1 career win)===

★ 2004 (1 win) Race 1 (Daytona)

Charity

Ryan and his wife Krissie operate the Ryan Newman Foundation. The foundation primarily focuses on assuring that adequate care is provided for unwanted dogs and cats in shelters and pounds. Ryan helped fund the construction of the Catawba County, North Carolina Humane Society shelter, in the county where he lives.

Trivia

★ Newman's car was featured on the cover of the 2005 EA Sports computer game NASCAR SimRacing and was actively involved in its development.

★ Newman has been invited to the International Race of Champions three times, in 2003, 2004, and 2006, finishing second in the standings to Matt Kenseth in 2004.

★ After his wild flip at Daytona International Speedway in February 2003, he joked about the incident, saying "they don't have any rides like that at Disney World,".

★ A fishing fanatic, he also enjoys working on vintage automobiles, particularly 1950s Chryslers.

★ His mentor is Buddy Baker.

★ He shares a birthdate with Kevin Harvick (December 8).

★ He had the most wins in 2003 (8).

★ Newman is also the only driver to have a lap time of under 15 seconds at Bristol Motor Speedway at 14.908, set in 2003 and it still stands today

References

1. A Breed Apart
2. Newman Wins Third Consecutive Pole
3. Modern Era Pole Winners

External links

★ Alltel Racing Website

★ Official Fansite

★ Kodak Motorsports Website

★ NASCAR Driver Website

★ Penske Racing

★ Ryan Newman: Bio, Team, Stats and News.