Newman Hopes Past Success Leads Him to Victory Lane in “Thunder Valley”

Statesville,NC – Ryan Newman and the Phoenix Racing team look to have a strong run at Bristol Motor Speedway this Friday night during the Food City 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Newman returns to the seat of the No. 1 Chevy displaying Pit Road Pets: NASCAR Stars and Their Pets, The Second Lap™ on the hood. It’s the same car he ran at Dover and Charlotte earlier this season, earning a pair of top-5 finishes.

“I love Bristol and I love the changes they made to it a few years back,” Newman said. “It’s as tough as ever and a great short track to race at. You are constantly battling for position or battling traffic – and you can easily get swept up in somebody else’s accident. You need to start the race strong with a good handling car because your night can go from good to bad quick. Concentration, patience and a car that is handling is important.”

Newman is a previous series winner at Bristol (2005). In seven starts, he’s earned a pole position, two top-5′s and five top-10′s,making his average starting spot 6th overall, which is not to bad for the track noted as a “fish bowl” and “bull pen”.

Racing at the 0.533-mile track has always been tight.Bristol isn’t easy to get around, but the challenge and the excitement of racing at the high-banked track makes for a great race.

“Due to how tight the track is, in addition to the steep banking, it’s really easy to lose speed at Bristol,” Newman said.Passing can be pretty difficult at times. A good handling car is important at a short-track like Bristol. You really have to work in practice to get the car where you want it for the race. Staying out of trouble is the key. A lot of guys are involved in accidents running in the back, so want to qualify well and start up front. That’s the first obstacle – qualify decent. If you do that, you have a better shot of staying with the leaders, staying on the lead lap and avoiding a huge wreck.”

Before taking the green flag Friday night, Newman returns to the seat of the No. 7NYModified sponsored by Aggressive Hydraulics and Menards in tonight’s UNOH Perfect Storm Whelen Modified race. He will join Kevin (Bono) Manion for the first time since winning at New Hampshire in July.

It’s been a long wait for the duo, which had a disappointing showing in the inaugural event.

“I’ve been waiting to get back in the Modified carat Bristol,” Newman said. “We had a miserable day last year. Rain canceled qualifying and we started at the back. From the drop of the green flag things went down hill. We won a few weeks ago at Loudon and I know Kevin’s cars are awesome. We need the weather to be on our side and I think we can get another win.

“The tight confines of racing side-by-side at Bristol is hard in a stock car, but when you are in a Modified, the high-banked short track can lead to a pretty beat up car. I don’t want to be in the garage early, so we’ll just be patient and make a clean run for it.”