The Official Ryan Newman Website

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MICHIGAN MASTER - Newman's NASCAR Nationwide Series stats at MIS are impeccable. In only two starts (2001, 2005), he earned two wins. He has led 126 laps. Newman's 2001 victory was also his first career victory in the NNS. His average finish is 1.0, with an average start of 20.0.

RECORD HOLDER - Newman is tied for first place in all-time wins at Michigan with two. He shares the distinction with Todd Bodine, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Mark Martin, but he is the only driver to earn two wins in only two starts. Additionally, he is tied for first place in wins among active drivers with Earnhardt Jr. and Martin.

JRM STATS - In two starts with JRM this year, Newman led five laps and earned both a top-five and top-10 starting spot, but finishes of 32^nd and 22^nd, respectively.

NEWMAN'S 2009 NATIONWIDE SEASON - In four starts Newman has one top-five, and two top-10 finishes. His season average finish is 15.5, along with an average start of 3.2. Newman has led 26 laps on the year. Five of those laps came in the Fastenal Chevrolet for JRM at Chicagoland.

CHART TOPPER - Newman tops the charts in many of NASCAR's statistical data at Michigan. He is second in average running position with an average of 5.9. He tops the list in average driver rating with a 123.2 and is the fastest on restarts (172.034 mph). In green flag speed, Newman is second only to JRM team co-owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. at 174.342 mph.

MAN ON A MISSION - This marks Newman's third start with JRM and Fastenal in the 2009 season. Newman's fourth and final start for JRM comes next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway. The South Bend, Ind. native will attempt to make history when he competes for the "Bristol Grand Slam" - racing in four NASCAR-sanctioned events at the half-mile track all in the same week. By doing so, Newman would become the first NASCAR driver to accomplish the feat.

NO. 5 AT MICHIGAN - Mark Martin drove the No. 5 GoDaddy.com Chevy to a fourth-place finish after a 10^th-place starting spot at Michigan in 2008.

NATIONWIDE SUCCESS - Newman holds seven wins and 12 poles in the Nationwide Series in only 45 starts. Six of his victories came during a stellar 2005 season, in which he scored eight top-fives in nine starts and led nearly half of his completed laps (800 of 1,658 laps). He owns 15 career top-five and 24 top-10 finishes.

CHASSIS INFO - The Fastenal team will race chassis No. 402 this weekend. It last raced at Chicagoland and had a fourth-place qualifying effort. The Fastenal team went on to finish 22^nd in that race.

"DALE JR'S GREAT GIVEAWAY" TO AWARD MORE THAN 60 PRIZES - JR Motorsports announced the beginning of its six-week online promotion, "Dale Jr.'s Great Giveaway", in which fans can register at http://www.dalejrsgreatgiveaway.com/ to win 60 prize packages. Beginning Aug. 14^th, prizes will be distributed each week for six weeks. The prizes include gift certificates, product packages, autographed merchandise, personal driver meet-n-greets, and race-weekend giveaways. Each of the prizes was donated by 12 of JR Motorsports' sponsorship partners. Registration began on Aug. 7^th, and runs through Sept. 18^th. For complete rules, regulations, and a list of all 60 prizes please visit http://www.dalejrsgreatgiveaway.com/.

EDUCATION FOR ELI: With the effort and support of the entire NASCAR community, a college fund has been set up for Eli Ross, the 2-year-old grandson of late motorsports journalist David Poole, who passed away on April 28. Anyone interested in contributing to the "Education for Eli" fund can do so by sending donations to the following address:

Eli Samuel Ross

Bank of Stanly

Attn: Misty Nordan

P.O. Box 539

Oakboro, NC 28129

(Please make checks payable to "Eli Ross Account" at Bank of Stanly.)

For more information, please call the Bank of Stanly at 704.485.3435.

DEGREE V12 CHALLENGE - NASCAR fans can now team up with Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Brad Keselowski in the Degree V12 Challenge. The Degree V12 Driving Challenge features five road races that give players a unique and exciting online race experience. Players compete against each other for a chance to win a variety of prizes including a trip to the Degree V12 300 in Atlanta on September 6, 2009 and a chance to meet Dale Jr. Visit http://www.degreeracing.com/ to register for the Degree V12 Challenge and begin racing to win. (No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. Void where prohibited. Ends 12/27/09. Visit http://www.degreeracing.com/ for complete rules.)

IN SEARCH OF REAL FANS: The search continues for the Hellmann's NASCAR Real Fan of the Year! Three contest winners have been chosen so far, but there are still four more spots on the car and fans can log on to http://www.realfanoftheyear.com/ to enter for their chance to win. Finalists will get to meet Dale Jr. and have their face on the hood of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Nationwide Chevrolet this October for the Dollar General 300 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. (No purchase necessary. Must be 18 to enter. Void where prohibited. Ends 8/31/09. Go to http://www.realfanoftheyear.com/ for complete rules.)

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NEWMAN (on what makes Michigan such a driver-friendly racetrack) - "I always look forward to going to Michigan. It is a great track for a driver. In fact, I normally tell people that anyone can drive Michigan. It is so wide that cars can race three and four wide there every lap. It is one of my favorite racetracks. Because the track is so wide, you can pass there every lap. The track has long sweeping corners, which helps to promote some really good racing. There are a couple of keys to success there - the first is speed. You have to have horsepower to get around this ultra-fast racetrack. I know we'll have the speed covered with our Hendrick engine. The second is handling. The handling of the racecar is crucial especially in turns two and three. The car can't get too tight off two or be too loose off three."

NEWMAN (on his success at Michigan in the NNS) - "I was fortunate in the Nationwide cars earlier in my career, and have come away with two wins in two starts at Michigan. Like I said, it is a track that I love - in any kind of car. In both of those races, I had really fast racecars. I look forward to having the chance to continue my success at Michigan in the Nationwide Series with JR Motorsports in the No. 5 Fastenal Chevrolet this weekend. We definitely haven't had the runs that we wanted with them in two earlier outings, but I know I have the car, the horsepower and the team to be successful this weekend at Michigan."

JR MOTORSPORTS RACE REPORT: Michigan

Keselowski Hometown Hero with MIS Victory;

Newman Earns Second-Consecutive Top 10 for No. 5 team

BROOKLYN, Mich. (Aug. 15, 2009) - Brad Keselowski fulfilled a dream of winning at his home track, Michigan International Speedway, with a dramatic three-wide pass of Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch on the white-flap lap of the CARFAX 250 to score the victory. It was Keselowski's second victory in the last three races with the No. 88 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet. It was also his 12^th top-five and 17^th top-10 this season. The Rochester Hills, Mich. native gained track position late with a pit stop for two tires, which put him in position to battle the dominant cars of Busch and Vickers, and ultimately beat them. In his third start with JRM, Ryan Newman and the Fastenal team battled back from handling issues to finish sixth. The finish marked Newman's best finish to date with JRM, and Fastenal's second-consecutive top-10 finish. It was also his third-consecutive top-10 at MIS. Following Keselowski to the checkered flag was Brian Vickers and Kyle Busch. David Ragan and Kevin Harvick rounded out the top-five finishers.

No. 88 GoDaddy.com Team / Keselowski
Start - 13^th / Finish - 1^st / Laps Led - 3 / Points - 190 / Point Standings - 3^rd

With two laps to go in the 250-mile race, Keselowski was in third place and just behind an intense battle for the lead between Busch and Vickers. But in jockeying for position, the two Toyotas raced out of the preferred groove, leaving the door open for Keselowski to make his move. Keselowski made a sweeping move off of turn 4 from the bottom of the track to the top and made it three-wide going into turn one. Busch couldn't make the bottom work, while Keselowski and Vickers drag raced down the backstretch on the final lap. But as the two entered turn three, Vickers could not hold the position. Keselowski took the lead for the last time coming out of four, slid up in front of Vickers, and took the checkered flag in front of his home crowd, which included many friends and family. This was his first win at Michigan and the third win for primary sponsor GoDaddy.com.

"I saw Brian and Kyle bobble there at the end with one to go," Keselowski said from victory lane. "I knew at that point that I could get to the outside and had a shot at the win. I am really just speechless about this...being able to win at home in front of these great fans and my friends and family. Winning here at this track is a major accomplishment for me and something that JR Motorsports and GoDaddy can be proud of. I just can't believe that I'm in victory lane here in Michigan."

Starting 13^th, Keselowski had made his way to third by a lap-46 caution and stayed there despite pit stops and several adjustments to during the first 100 laps. The caution flag waved on lap 106, and Keselowski came to pit road for fresh tires. At the last second, crew chief Tony Eury Sr. made a quick call to change only the right sides, preparing his driver for a short, green-flag run to the finish. On the ensuing restart, Keselowski took the green in the second spot and had to dive low to miss contact between Justin Allgaier and Vickers.

After the caution flag waved for the final time on lap 116, Keselowski restarted in the third spot. setting up the seven-lap shootout to the finish. Patience prevailed, as the Toyotas of Busch and Vickers - clearly the dominant cars all afternoon - raced hard for the win, only to see Keselowski use clean air and an uninhibited line to steal the win away.

WIN NOTES: The win was Keselowski's third this season and fifth in his career, all coming at JR Motorsports ... He led only twice for three laps on Saturday ... Win No. 3 gives him the second-most wins among Nationwide Series regulars this season (Busch leads with six) ... Keselowski remains 389 points behind Busch, but gained on Carl Edwards and is only 50 points out of the second spot ... After leading three laps in Saturday's race, Keselowski has led in 10 races this season ... This is Keselowski's second win at a companion weekend, his first coming at Dover in May. Ironically, that win came in similar fashion, in which Keselowski went from third to first on the final lap after the misfortune of the front two cars.

No. 5 Fastenal Team / Newman
Start - 11^th / Finish - 6^th / Laps Led - 0 / Points - 150 / Point Standings - 31

Newman looked to add to his impressive win streak at Michigan after qualifying 11th for the 125-lap race.

The Fastenal Chevy broke inside the top 10 from the drop of the green flag and ran 10th until lap 41, when Newman brought the No. 5 to pit road for the team's first pit stop. The crew changed four tires, made air pressure and wedge adjustments, and topped off on fuel. On lap 46, shortly after the No. 5 emerged onto the track, the race's second caution flag waived, and caught Newman in 16th position.

The field restarted on lap 49 and within two laps the Fastenal Chevrolet picked up six spots and was scored in 10th. Over the course of the next 15 laps, a severe loose condition developed on the No. 5 and Newman drifted back to 14th.

The team's third and final pit stop of the day came under the yellow flag on lap 107. Crew chief Brian Campe took a big swing at the handling issues on the No. 5. In addition to four tires and fuel, the crew made a major chassis adjustment to tighten up the Fastenal Chevy.

Newman lined up for the lap-113 restart in seventh. Six laps later on the final lap, he managed to wrestle the sixth spot away from Justin Allgaier to take the checkered flag. The Fastenal team's sixth-place finish was its second-consecutive top-10 finish, and eighth top-10 finish of the year. Additionally, it was Fastenal's fourth top-10 finish in its 10th race with JRM.

"This was a good day for our Fastenal Chevrolet," Newman said after earning Fastenal its second-best finish of the season. "We battled a loose condition today, but the guys took a big swing at it toward the end there. It tightened it up to where we needed to be and we were able to pick up a few more spots. I think if we had a few more laps we could have earned a top-five finish. We'll look ahead to accomplish that next week at Bristol."

Next Up for JR Motorsports:
Event: Food City 250 at Bristol Motor Speedway
Date: Friday, August 21 / 8:00 p.m. EST
TV/Radio: ESPN2 (coverage begins at 7:30 p.m. EST) / PRN (broadcast begins at 7:30 p.m. EST)
JRM Entries: No. 88 Degree V12 Chevy (Brad Keselowski), No. 5 Fastenal Chevy (Ryan Newman)