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Ryan Newman

Born	December 8, 1977 (1977-12-08) (age 32)
Hometown	South Bend, Indiana
Awards	1996 USAC Silver Crown Rookie of the Year 1999 USAC Weld Racing Silver Crown Series champion 2002 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Sprint All-Star Race XVIII Winner 2003 Driver of the Year 2008 Daytona 500 winner
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series statistics
Car #, team	#39 - Stewart Haas Racing
2009 Sprint Cup position	18th
Best cup position	6th - 2002, 2003, 2005
First race	2000 Checker Auto Parts/Dura Lube 500 (Phoenix)
First win	2002 New Hampshire 300 (New Hampshire)
Last win	2008 Daytona 500 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles 13 121 45
NASCAR Nationwide Series statistics
2009 NNS position	42nd
Best NNS position	28th - 2001
First race	2001 Alltel 200 (Rockingham)
First win	2001 NAPAonline.com 250 (Michigan)
Last win	2005 Ford 300 (Homestead)
Wins Top tens Poles 7 27 12
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series statistics
2009 NCWTS position	49th
Best NCWTS position	49th - 2009
First race	2008 E-Z-GO 200 (Atlanta)
First win	2008 E-Z-GO 200 (Atlanta)
Last win	2008 E-Z-GO 200 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 3 1
Statistics current as of March 15, 2010.

Ryan Joseph Newman (born December 8, 1977)^[1] is a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. He drives the #39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala for Stewart Haas Racing under crew chief Tony Gibson. Newman graduated from Purdue University in 2001 with a B.S. in vehicle structure engineering.^[2], and is the only active NASCAR driver to have a college degree. In 2002, he was the Raybestos Rookie of the Year.

He enjoys driving and working on vintage cars, particularly 1950s Chryslers. Newman's car was featured on the cover of the 2005 EA Sports computer game NASCAR SimRacing, and he was actively involved in its development.

Racing career

Early days

Newman made his racing debut in 1993 in the United Midget Auto Racing Association and the All-American Midget Series, winning both Rookie of the Year and the championship. His 100 feature wins and two titles have him in the Quarter Midget Hall of Fame. Moving to USAC in 1995 running the C.E. Lewis #39 Drinan Chassis powered Brayton Motor, he was ROTY again in both the Midget Series and the Silver Crown in 1996. In 1999, he was the first driver to win in all three divisions while being the Silver Bullet Series champion in the #14 Beast Chassis powered Chevy.

Beginnings with Penske

Newman began working for legendary racing icon Roger Penske in 2000, winning 3 of the five ARCA RE/MAX Series races he entered, and making his Winston Cup debut at Phoenix International Raceway. In 2001, Newman continued in both ARCA and NASCAR, while attending Purdue. Newman ran 15 Busch Series races that season, winning poles in his 2nd and 3rd career starts and scoring his first career win at Michigan International Speedway in just his 9th career start. He also had a series-high 6 poles. Around this time he would meet racing legend Buddy Baker, who would eventually become his mentor on superspeedways.

"Rocket Man"

In 2002, Newman won a season-high 6 poles, breaking the record set by Davey Allison.^{[citation needed]} In September, he won his first career Winston Cup race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway after starting from the pole. Newman also became the second rookie since Dale Earnhardt Jr. to win the The Winston, and beat out Jimmie Johnson for the Rookie of the Year award on the strength of rookie records in top-fives (14) and top-tens (22).^{[citation needed]}

Newman's sophomore season began with a flip at the 2003 Daytona 500 after contact with Ken Schrader. Though finishing the season with a series-high eight wins and eleven poles, he also suffered seven DNF's, which left him sixth in points. His number of poles during the season led to him being nicknamed "Rocket Man."^{[citation needed]}

In 2004, Newman qualified for the inaugural Chase for the Cup by finishing seventh in points with two wins and nine poles. He made the 2005 Chase as well, while returning to the Busch Series after a four-year absence, winning six out of the nine races he entered, including a series-record five straight.

Newman endured his first winless season in 2006, finishing a career-worst 18th in points, while his longtime crew chief, Matt Borland, left for Michael Waltrip Racing. His pole ratio between his rookie year and 2006 was one in every three races, tying him for fifteenth on the all-time poles list.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, despite a streak of three consecutive poles, Newman again failed to win a race, including a near win at Lowe's Motor Speedway that was spoiled by a blown tire.^[3] His winless drought ended after he won the 2008 Daytona 500 on February 17, 2008. It was also the first Daytona 500 win for Penske.

Newman's 2008 Daytona 500 car, on display at the Daytona 500 Experience

Move to Stewart-Haas

On July 15, 2008, Newman announced that he was leaving Penske at the end of the season, and a month later, it was confirmed he was joining newly-formed Stewart Haas Racing in 2009, in the number 39^[4] (his number during his midget-driving years) Chevy Impala. U.S. Army signed on for a three-year sponsorship deal, though only for 23 races of the 2009 season.^[5]. Despite a slow start, Newman has given his career a boost since the move. Including a pole, 5 top fives, and 12 top tens, and an average finish of 14.0, his best since his 8 win season in 2003. On September 12 at Richmond, Newman finished 10th and clinched a spot in the Chase for the first time since 2005. On November 1st, 2009, at the Amp Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, Newman was involved in a heavy crash on the back stretch in which he flipped over on top of Kevin Harvick entering Turn 3. He ended up on his roof, and because the roof was crushed, crews had to use the Jaws of Life to pry the roof off the car after NASCAR officials flipped it back over. Newman was unharmed.

Nationwide Series

Ryan Newman made his Nationwide Series debut on February 12, 2001 at Rockingham) in the Alltel 200. He started second and finished ninth; it was his first of fifteen appearances in the 2001 season, where he finished with one win and eight top-10 finishes. He regularly averages five series races per season.^[6]

He joined Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s JR Motorsports for the 2009 campaign as the driver of the #5 Fastenal Chevy, signing on for four appearances for the year.

Craftsman Truck Series

Newman made his Truck Series debut on October 25, 2008 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, starting 10th in the 33 truck field driving Kevin Harvick's #2 Truck and passed his teammate Ron Hornaday with less than five laps to go to pick up his first truck series win in his first start making him the first driver to get their first Truck win at Atlanta and becoming the 4th driver to win in their first Truck race and joining the list of drivers who have won in all three of NASCAR's top series. He was also one of four drivers who picked up a truck win on their first start.

Charity

Newman and his wife, Krissie, operate the Ryan Newman Foundation, whose mission is to educate and encourage people to spay or neuter their pets and to adopt dogs and cats from animal shelters; to educate children and adults about the importance of conservation so the beauty of the great outdoors can be appreciated by future generations; and to provide college scholarship funding through the Rich Vogler Scholarship program, of which Newman himself was a recipient, to students interested in auto racing careers. The Newmans themselves have rescued and care for five dogs: Digger, Mopar, Harley, Socks and Fred.^{[citation needed]} He helped fund the construction of the Catawba County, North Carolina Humane Society shelter, in the county where he once lived.^{[citation needed]}

Honors

On April 29, 2008, the St. Joseph County, Indiana Board of Commissioners dedicated a half-mile stretch of newly-rerouted Lincoln Way West (formerly U.S. Route 20) near the South Bend Regional Airport to Newman.^[7]

Races Won

Sprint Cup (13 wins)

2008

• Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway - February 17, 2008

2005

• Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway - September 18, 2005

2004

• DHL 400 at Michigan International Speedway - June 20, 2004
• MBNA America 400 at Dover International Speedway - September 26, 2004

2003

• Samsung/Radio Shack 500 at Texas Motor Speedway - March 30, 2003
• MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 - Dover International Speedway - June 1, 2003
• Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway - July 13, 2003
• Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway - July 27, 2003
• GFS Marketplace 400 at Michigan International Speedway - August 17, 2003
• Chevy Rock and Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway - September 6, 2003
• Dover 400 at Dover International Speedway - September 21, 2003
• Banquet 400 at Kansas Speedway - October 5, 2003

2002

• New Hampshire 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway - September 15, 2002

Nationwide Series (7 wins)

2005

• Zippo 200 - at Watkins Glen International - August 13, 2005
• Domino's Pizza 250 - at Michigan International Speedway - August 20, 2005
• Food City 250 - at Bristol Motor Speedway - August 26, 2005
• Dover 200 - at Dover International Speedway - September 24, 2005
• Dollar General 300 - at Charlotte Motor Speedway - October 14, 2005
• Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway - November 19, 2005

2001

• NAPAonline.com 250 at Michigan International Speedway - August 18, 2002

Camping World Truck Series (1 win)

2008

• E-Z-Go 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway - October 25, 2008

Career NASCAR Cup Series Statistics

References

External links

• Official U.S. Army Racing website
• Official fansite
• NASCAR profile
• Stewart Haas Racing
• Official Ryan Newman Foundation website

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