Saturday, May 10, 2008
Race 11 of 36
FOX 7:30 p.m.

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

Track Facts

Banking/Turns: 25/23
Distance: 1.366 miles
Shape: Oval
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."

Contact Information

P.O. Box 500
Darlington, SC 29540
(866) 459-RACE

Track Stats

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" sweepstakes, 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.

Newman Quotes

• 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."

McCauley Quotes

• 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."