Vegas Team Report - 39 - True Speed Communication

RYAN NEWMAN
Haas Automation Racing Team Report
Round 3 of 36 – Shelby 427 – Las Vegas
Car No.: 39 – Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing
Teammate: Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing
At Track PR Contact: Wendy Belk with True Speed Communication (704-756-6171, [email protected])
Primary Team Members:
Driver: Ryan Newman
Hometown: South Bend, Ind.
Crew Chief: Tony Gibson
Hometown: Daytona Beach, Fla.
Car Chief: Kevin Pennell
Hometown: Kannapolis, N.C.
Engine Builder: Hendrick Motorsports
Headquarters: Concord, N.C.
Engine Specialist: Jay Nolan
Hometown: Jacksonville, Fla.
Spotter: Greg Newman
Hometown: South Bend, Ind.
Over-The-Wall Crew Members:
Gas Man: Michael Moore
Hometown: Springfield, Mass.
Front Tire Changer: Adam Davis
Hometown: Walnut Cove, N.C.
Catch Can: Andy Rueger
Hometown: Seymour, Ind.
Front Tire Carrier: Josh Mick
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Windshield: Jay Guarneri
Hometown: Naples, Fla.
Rear Tire Changer: Brandon Blake
Hometown: Concord, N.C.
Jackman: Andrew Turner
Hometown: Coloma, Mich.
Rear Tire Carrier: James Houk
Hometown: Fair Play, Mo.
Other Crew Members:
Truck Drivers: Rick Hodges and Todd Cable
Hometowns: Raleigh, N.C., and Shelby, N.C.
Tire Specialist: Ray Osian
Hometown: Salisbury, N.C.
Shock Specialist: Brian Holshouser
Hometown: Charlotte, N.C.
Engineer: Johnny Klausmeier
Hometown: Perry Hall, Md.
Mechanics: Joe Cline and Shawn Warren
Hometowns: Maiden, N.C., and Concord, N.C.
Gas Runner/Pit Support: Chris Morris
Hometown: Kannapolis, N.C.
Chassis No. 39-494:
This is a brand new car that has only been tested in the wind tunnel. The race weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway will mark the
first time Chassis No. 39-494 has hit the racetrack.
-more-
Haas Automation Racing Team Report – Shelby 427
Ryan Newman’s History at Las Vegas Motor Speedway:
Year
Event
Start
UAW-Dodge 400
15
2008
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
39
2007
×UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
11
2006
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
1
2005
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
5
2004
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
3
2003
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
2
2002
UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400
35
2001
Page Two
Finish
14
8
43
9
27
7
4
33
Status/Laps
Running, 267/267
Running, 267/267
Accident, 88/270
Running, 267/267
Running, 265/267
Running, 267/267
Running, 267/267
Running, 256/267
Laps Led
0
1
0
44
0
3
50
0
Earnings
$144,400
$143,225
$112,125
$148,511
$114,117
$128,025
$162,125
$49,675
× Race length extended due to green-white-checker finish.
Las Vegas Speedway Notes of Interest:
•
The Shelby 427 will mark Newman’s 263rd career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his ninth Sprint Cup start at Las Vegas.
•
Las Vegas will be Newman’s third Sprint Cup race with Stewart-Haas Racing, which is co-owned by two time Sprint Cup
champion Tony Stewart and Oxnard, Calif.-based Haas Automation, the largest CNC machine tool builder in the western world.
Haas Automation is Newman’s sponsor this weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
•
Newman has recorded one top-five and four top-10 finishes and led a total of 98 laps in his eight previous Sprint Cup starts at Las
Vegas.
•
Newman’s best Sprint Cup finish at Las Vegas is a fourth-place effort at the 1.5-mile track during his rookie season in 2002.
Newman started on the outside pole and led 50 laps before finishing fourth. It was his third top-five finish in just 11 Sprint Cup
starts to that point.
•
The South Bend, Ind., native scored the pole position at Las Vegas in 2005. It is his only pole position at the track, but he has
started in the top-five on four occasions. Newman has now collected 43 poles since making his Sprint Cup debut in 2000. He is
tied for 10th in all-time career poles with Buck Baker. Newman’s last pole came at Phoenix International Raceway in April 2008.
Newman is second among active full-time drivers in Sprint Cup poles.
•
Numerology and Newman’s No. 39 – For Newman, the No. 39 has been lucky for him throughout his racing career. His first
major USAC win came in May 1997 when he drove the No. 39 Midget car to victory in the 52nd Night Before the 500 race at
O’Reilly Raceway Park near Indianapolis on the Saturday night prior to that year’s Indianapolis 500. It was the biggest win of
Newman’s young career, and one that he credits with putting him on the map. In 2005, Newman piloted the No. 39 in NASCAR
Nationwide Series competition for Penske Racing. His team was dominant during a limited schedule, winning six of nine races
entered that season. Newman finished outside the top-three only once in those nine races. This weekend, Newman hopes he and
the No. 39 will find “Lady Luck” in Las Vegas as he looks to be the first driver ever to wheel the No. 39 to victory lane in the
Sprint Cup Series.
•
More “Lady Luck” – Newman and his No. 39 Haas Automation team continued to be victims of circumstance during last
Sunday’s Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Newman’s race got off to a rocky start when during a pit stop
on lap five the left side wing-plate on the car’s rear spoiler was inadvertently damaged. Meanwhile, the lap-recording transponder
affixed by NASCAR to all cars competing in the race quit working on the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevy. NASCAR called
Newman back to pit road, where the Tony Gibson-led crew could replace it without losing any positions on the racetrack – or so
they thought. As Newman exited pit road after the transponder change, the left side wing-plate broke and fell onto the
racetrack. Under NASCAR rules, the wing-plates must be attached, so Newman had to return to pit road to have it replaced. The
additional pit stops for the repairs left Newman in 43rd-place when the race restarted on lap 23. Newman nearly made it into the
top-20, but with just 25 laps remaining, he radioed to the team that his car’s oil and water temperatures had climbed to dangerous
levels. The crew quickly diagnosed the problem – a plastic tear-off discarded from another car’s windshield was covering nearly
the entire front grill opening of the No. 39 Chevy, negating the cooling effects the grill offers to the engine. As his oil and water
gauges spiked, Newman was forced to pit so that the team could clean the car’s grill, costing the team another lap and several spots
on the racetrack.
•
Newman has a career total of 13 wins, 43 poles, 63 top-five and 106 top-10 finishes. His most recent Sprint Cup win came 36
races ago in the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in February 2008, ending a winless streak of 81 races that dated back to New
Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon in 2005.
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