Despite Bristol’s reputation of being a crapshoot and a treacherous racetrack where anything can happen, Newman and his team looked forward to racing on the concrete oval nestled in the East Tennessee mountains. After all, Bristol played to the team’s strong suit — its short track program. And once again, Newman and his No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team left Bristol with a top-10 effort.

In 10 races at tracks under 1-mile on the Sprint Cup circuit, Newman and the No. 39 team have finished outside of the top-10 just once.

Unfortunately for Newman, the top-10 effort didn’t aid his efforts to make his second consecutive Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship as two of his competitors for the 12th and final spot — Jamie McMurray and Clint Bowyer — finished just ahead of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet in third and fourth spots, respectively. Newman fell one position to 15th in the standings. He has 2,802 points and is 118 markers back of 12th-place Bowyer, who currently holds the final spot in the Chase, which will be decided in the next two races.

“Unfortunately, sixth didn’t end up being as good of a points night for us as we hoped because Bowyer and McMurray finished in front of us. If we could’ve kept Bowyer out of that situation, we would’ve gained on him and Mark (Martin),” Newman said after the race. “But that’s neither here nor there. It was a good team effort for everyone on this WIX Filters Chevrolet. We can’t expect to make everything up in one race. Another top-10 effort on a short track is good for our team. We’ll just go on into Atlanta and keep fighting, which is what this team does. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”

Newman started sixth in Saturday night’s 500-lap race, which is the position he held for most of the night. He climbed to as high as fourth during the early stages and never fell out of the top-10.

Throughout the race, Newman fought the same handling issue, as his car would start out too tight, making it difficult to get through the center of the turns, but it would get looser and looser as the run progressed. Crew chief Tony Gibson and the No. 39 crew tried a variety of track bar, air pressure and wedge adjustments during their pit stops, but they couldn’t hit on the right combination to aid the handling of Newman’s car on the long runs. In the end, Newman couldn’t battle with the leaders and finished the race where he started — in sixth-place.

Newman’s SHR teammate, Tony Stewart, endured a tough outing at Bristol. Two tangles — one involving a competitor running into the back of his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala and the other being a scrape with the turn two wall — conspired to leave him 27th when the checkered flag dropped.

Stewart dropped two spots to sixth in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He now has 3,107 points and is 414 markers behind series leader Kevin Harvick and 287 points ahead of 13th-place McMurray, the first driver on the outside looking in at the 12-driver Chase after round 24 of 36.

Kyle Busch won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his fourth at Bristol. Busch pulled the Bristol hat trick, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night, the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night and the Sprint Cup race Saturday night. It was the first time any driver has swept NASCAR’s top-three touring divisions in a single race weekend.

David Reutimann finished .677 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while McMurray, Bowyer and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five. Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 39 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before returning to action at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Sept. 5 Emory Healthcare 500.

The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) finished a disappointing 27th after a strong start had him running second to Jimmie Johnson for the race’s first 125 laps.

Stewart’s night began to unravel in typical Bristol fashion when he slowed down to avoid a spinning David Ragan on lap 126. The two-time Sprint Cup champion wooed his red and black Chevy down in plenty of time, but the same could not be said of Tony Raines, who clipped the right-rear corner of Stewart’s ride as the field bunched up.

The damage was cosmetic, but it still took two trips to pit road for the Office Depot/Old Spice team to repair the right-rear quarterpanel and rear decklid well enough to continue. The quick work by the pit crew allowed Stewart to stay on the lead lap, albeit in 25th-place.

With a racecar that was loose on entry and exit into the track’s high-banked corners, Stewart was holding on with all he could to his lead-lap status.

On lap 212, the rear end of the No. 14 car stepped out on Stewart and it slapped the turn two wall — first with the right-rear quarterpanel and then with the right-front fender. That car was hurt, but well enough to soldier on.

Still, telltale smoke began billowing from beneath the right-side wheel wells whenever Stewart sailed into the track’s corners, as the crinkled fenders rubbed the tires. On lap 224 came the inevitable from Stewart: “We got a tire coming apart.”

With the race still running under green and the rest of the field lapping the half-mile oval in 16 seconds, Stewart went three laps down as his crew changed right-side tires.

It proved to be a deficit he could not overcome, for the pace of the leaders was torrid. When the checkered flag dropped, Stewart was six laps down in 27th, breaking a five-race string of top-10 finishes. Stewart’s last result outside the top-10 came July 3 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway where he was caught up in a multi-car accident and placed 25th.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet Impala for SHR, had a much better evening. He finished sixth to score his sixth top-10 of 2010 and his 10th at Bristol.

Kyle Busch won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his 19th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his fourth at Bristol. Busch pulled the Bristol hat trick, winning the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race Wednesday night, the NASCAR Nationwide Series race Friday night and the Sprint Cup race Saturday night. It was the first time any driver has swept NASCAR’s top-three touring divisions in a single race weekend.

David Reutimann finished .677 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while Jamie McMurray, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top-five. Newman, Juan Pablo Montoya, Greg Biffle, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were seven caution periods for 39 laps, with eight drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

With round 24 of 36 complete, Stewart dropped two spots to sixth in the Sprint Cup championship standings. He now has 3,107 points and is 414 markers behind series leader Kevin Harvick and 287 points ahead of 13th-place Jamie McMurray, the first driver on the outside looking in at the 12-driver Chase for the Championship, which will be decided in the next two races. Newman fell one position to 15th in the standings. He has 2,802 points and is 118 points back of 12th-place Bowyer, who holds the final spot in the Chase.

The Sprint Cup Series takes a rare weekend off before returning to action at Atlanta Motor Speedway for the Sept. 5 Emory Healthcare 500.

“I’m happy with that lap,” said Stewart, who won at Bristol in August 2001. “The car felt good. I’m really happy with the way that it ran. Proud of Darian (Grubb, crew chief) and all the guys on this Office Depot/Old Spice team.”

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet Impala for SHR, qualified sixth with a time of 15.680 seconds at 122.372 mph.

“We have a great WIX Filters Chevrolet,” said Newman, who has nine top-10 finishes in 17 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol. “The car feels pretty good in race trim. We have a good package. We picked up right at two tenths from what we practiced – maybe a tenth-and-a-half. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and the guys did a great job. It’s been a lot of fun today.”

The last time both SHR cars qualified in the top-10 came three races ago at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway where Stewart qualified second and Newman qualified fifth.

Four-time and reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson captured his 24th career pole, his first of the season and his first in 18 career Sprint Cup races at Bristol by posting a lap of 15.540 seconds at 123.475 mph. Carl Edwards will start alongside Johnson on the outside of row one as he timed in at 15.608 seconds and 122.937 mph. Joey Logano was third (15.630 seconds at 122.764 mph), while Stewart and David Reutimann (15.664 seconds at 122.497 mph) rounded out the top-five.

Forty-nine drivers attempted to qualify for the Irwin Tools Night Race. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Dave Blaney, Joe Nemechek, Kevin Lepage, J.J. Yeley, Brian Keselowski and Mike Bliss.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot thanks to Johnson’s pole-winning mark. Ford was next best at the hands of Edwards, while Toyota was the third-fastest make via Logano. Brad Keselowski carried the flag for Dodge by qualifying 15th (15.728 seconds at 121.999 mph).

The Irwin Tools Night Race gets underway at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ABC beginning with its pre-race show at 7 p.m.

Transcript follows the video.

TALK ABOUT HOW YOUR FIRST PRACTICE WENT AND YOUR OUTLOOK FOR BRISTOL SATURDAY NIGHT:
“Definitely it was different than what we have seen in the past. It is kind of cool that we are seeing everybody use pretty much the whole race track already in practice. That is something you don’t normally see until the race. It is kind of encouraging already that we know we are going to have a lot of guys clear up on the top of the track if practice is any indication of that. We still have a little bit of work to do and am glad we have another 45 minutes coming up and we’ll see what we can do with it.”

THERE HAVE BEEN SOME THINGS IN THE NEWS THIS WEEK ABOUT SOME POTENTIAL THINGS FOR SHR SPONSORSHIP WISE NEXT YEAR, CAN YOU TELL US WHERE YOU STAND ON IT: “When we have something to tell you, we’ll tell you. I’ve always told you guys that, as soon as we have something to tell you about, we promise we won’t leave you out of the loop.”

HAS THIS TRACK CHANGED A LOT FROM WHEN YOU WERE HERE IN THE SPRING AND ARE YOU GOING TO HAVE TO HAVE A SETUP TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU HAD THEN?
“I think so. It’s not because the track has changed as much as the tires change. Goodyear has brought a different tire here and I think a lot of us are kind of scrambling around trying to figure out what we had here in the Spring I don’t think is what this tire likes. We’re all kind of thrashing around trying to figure it out. Like I said, the one encouraging thing is that the guys are all over the race track now, so, it’s not going to be a one groove race track for sure. I think we have got potential to see “old school” Bristol race with a lot of guys up on the top all night which I always thought was really cool here. Kind of excited to see what happens tonight in the Nationwide race, I think that will give us a good indication of what we are going to have tomorrow night. I think tomorrow night we will have a lot of cars on the top of the race track again.”

SATURDAY NIGHT IS THE PLAN TO BE MORE OFFENSE OR DEFENSE DEPENDING UPON WHERE YOU ARE RUNNING IN THE RACE?
“I think it depends on how our car handles to be honest. I think if we have a really good handling car and something that we feel like is really stable and solid, I think we will be more offense. But, we are not in a bad position in the point standings right now, but, we don’t need a disaster so we don’t need to put ourself in any bad positions on a night that we really don’t have a lot to gain by it. If we feel like we have a shot to win the race, you are going to take chances. If you know for sure that you’re not going to have a shot at winning it, then you are going to be a little more careful and make sure that you give yourself that little bit of a cushion going into Richmond, hopefully.”

HOW MUCH DIFFERENT DOES THIS PLACE DRIVE THAN IT DID A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO BECAUSE YOU ARE A GUY THAT TRADITIONALLY RUNS THE BOTTOM OF THE RACE TRACK AND NOW IT SEEMS LIKE THE TOP GROVE IS THE FAST WAY AROUND?
“I think it is just like any of the other places we go to now, as time goes on the bottom is starting to get worn out and the top is actually a little bit smoother even than the bottom is. It is just a matter of getting it cut in to where we finally get that rubber up there. It just seems like it is changing. I’ve always run good on the bottom but I’m not opposed to running the top either. I like running the top of race tracks. It is a matter of getting your car balance to get up there and do that. That is what we are trying to figure out right now.”

JEFF GORDON SAID IT WOULDN’T BOTHER HIM TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP IF HE DIDN’T WIN A RACE, IS IT MADE A BIGGER DEAL OF RIGHT NOW BECAUSE 10 POINTS IN THE LARGER SCHEME OF THINGS ISN’T VERY MUCH SO WOULD IT BOTHER YOU TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP WITHOUT A WIN?
“Not in the least bit. I’ll take the check. I’ll take the trophy. I don’t care if I didn’t finish in the top-10 the last 10 weeks if I got enough points to win the championship, I don’t care where I finish as long as I get more than the rest of them do.”

IS THE BONUS POINTS OVERSTATED RIGHT NOW?
“I don’t think anybody really cares if they win a race to win the championship. I don’t think that is what it is about. We all know what the format it. We all know what we have to do to accomplish that goal. It doesn’t matter how you get there, it is accomplishing the goal. The journey getting there doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if you go through rain, sleet, snow, hail; all you care about is that you get there at the end of the day.”

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE AS A CAR OWNER IN THESE ECONOMIC TIMES, IS IT TOUGHER FOR A YOUNG GUY TO GET A SHOT IN EITHER NATIONWIDE OR CUP SIMPLY BECAUSE SPONSORS MAY WANT A VETERAN IN THE CAR?
“I think it is going back to the way it used to be. I think there was a wave there of car owners hiring drivers for extremely cheap retainer fees to give them a shot and try to find the next great thing. But, I think it is back to guys have to earn their way and prove themselves in the Nationwide Series before they get their opportunities in Cup. I think that is the direction it is probably going to go.”

ANY REACTION TO THE RYAN NEWMAN/JOEY LOGANO DUST-UP?
“No, I was in the shower. I didn’t pay attention to it and there wasn’t anything to worry about going to the NASCAR trailer, nobody got called there so obviously it wasn’t a big deal.”

DIRECTV Channel 795: Tony Stewart will make his 416th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 24th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … Has one win (August 2001) and eight top-10 finishes in 23 starts at Bristol … The 39-year-old Columbus, Ind., native has won 37 races and has 243 top-10 finishes in 415 Sprint Cup starts … 2010 marks Stewart’s 12th full year in Sprint Cup and he won the points championship in 2002 and 2005 … Started fourth and finished sixth last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn … Ranks fourth in Sprint Cup points with 13 top-10 finishes.

DIRECTV Channel 796: Greg Biffle will make his 282nd career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 16th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … Has nine top-10 finishes in 15 starts at Bristol … The 40-year-old Vancouver, Wash., native has won 15 races and has 107 top-10 finishes in 281 Sprint Cup starts … 2010 marks Biffle’s eighth full year in Sprint Cup with a career-best point finish of second in 2005 … Started sixth and finished fourth last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn … Ranks 11th in Sprint Cup points with one win and 13 top-10 finishes.

DIRECTV Channel 797: Kyle Busch will make his 210th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 12th at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … Has three wins (March 2007, March 2009 and August 2009) and eight top-10 finishes in 11 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol … The 25-year-old Las Vegas native has 18 wins and 96 top-10 finishes in 209 Sprint Cup starts … 2010 marks Busch’s sixth full year in Sprint Cup with a career-best point finish of fifth in 2007 … Won 2009 NASCAR Nationwide Series championship … Started 18th and finished 18th last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn … Ranks eighth in Sprint Cup Series points with two wins and 11 top-10 finishes.

DIRECTV Channel 798: Dale Earnhardt Jr., will make his 387th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 23rd at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway … Has one win (August 2004) and 12 top-10 finishes in 21 starts at Bristol … The 35-year-old Kannapolis, N.C., native has won 18 races and has 148 top-10 finishes in 386 Sprint Cup starts … 2010 marks Earnhardt’s 11th full year in Sprint Cup with a career-best point finish of third in 2003 … Won 1998 and 1999 NASCAR Nationwide Series championships … Started 38th and finished 19th last week at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn … Ranks 17th in Sprint Cup points with six top-10 finishes.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver held off a late charge from seven-time tour champion Mike Stefanik over the closing laps to secure his second win of the season. Newman also won at New Hampshire Motor Speedway driving the Modified owned by Kevin Manion, crew chief for Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray.

James Civali was the top NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour driver in the annual combination race in third place overall. The event is the annual combination race between the two Modified tours and drivers received points for their finish in respective to other drivers in the same Tour.

NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour drivers Bobby Santos and Todd Szegedy rounded out the top five.

Newman powered by Civali and Ted Christopher in one swoop in traffic on Lap 128, and chased down Stefanik three laps later. Stefanik pulled alongside Newman twice in the final five laps but was unable to complete the pass.

Rookie Justin Bonsignore, who won his first career Coors Light Pole Award earlier in the day, finished sixth, followed by Dale Quarterley, Eric Goodale, Ryan Preece and Erick Rudolph.

The race was slowed just three times by yellow flags, including the competition caution at the halfway point.

Christopher led 80 of the first 125 laps before encountering engine trouble and pulling off the track suddenly on Lap 140 while running third. He finished 26th, nine laps down, and lost the points lead to Santos. Santos now leads Christopher by 32 and Stefanik by 61.

L.W. Miller also lost the NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified Tour points lead because of mechanical issues. He finished 39 laps down in 29th overall. Civali leads Miller by five and Andy Seuss by 32.

The NASCAR Whelen Southern Modified will return to the track in the Triad Commercial Services 150 at Caraway Speedway in Asheboro, N.C., on Saturday, Aug. 28. The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will race next in the F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday, Sept. 18.

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.”

After all, the Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol is infamous for its treacherous demeanor. Don’t blink, because anything can happen at any time. It’s all part of the inherent challenges of short-track racing at Bristol – having someone wreck in front of you, having nowhere to go, thus being wrecked.

With that in mind, Newman & Company will surely welcome the help from WIX Filters, the number one filter in NASCAR and an exclusive NASCAR Performance product, as they try to “filter” out all the bad that can happen at the .533-mile bullring nestled in the mountains of East Tennessee.

Heading into the “World’s Fastest Half-Mile,” Newman sits 14th in the championship standings, 103 points away from the 12th-place cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship with three races to go. Although a spot in the Chase isn’t lost for Newman, it’s going to be a tall order, and now is the time for him to make his move starting at the concrete short track.

Now Bristol, and the “you-never-know-what-you’re-going-to-get-because-it’s-all-a-crapshoot” mentality that the track is known for, wouldn’t appear to be the most logical place for Newman and his team to believe they will make big gains. But it’s difficult to argue with their short-track performance.

Since joining forces in 2009, Newman, crew chief Tony Gibson and the No. 39 WIX Filters team have posted solid performances on tracks under a mile in length. In nine combined starts at Bristol, Martinsville (Va.) Speedway and Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, Newman has finished outside of the top-10 just once – and that was a 16th-place effort at Bristol last March.

In 17 career starts at Bristol, Newman has two poles, one top-five finish and nine top-10s. The South Bend, Ind., native also holds the qualifying record at the track – which he earned by turning a blistering fast lap clocking in at 128.709 mph (14.908 seconds) in 2003.

Prior to his 16th-place effort at Bristol this past March, Newman had posted two consecutive top-10 finishes at the .533-mile oval – a seventh- and a sixth-place finish, respectively.

In fact, it was at Bristol in March 2009 where Newman and his team made huge gains to turn around a season in which they were seemingly teetering on the edge. The team was 32nd in owner points and in danger of falling out of the top-35. Despite the bad luck that Bristol can instigate, Newman and his team marched into the short track with no fear.

They qualified on the outside pole, led 25 laps and finished seventh. It was the first top-10 finish of the 2009 season, and it marked the beginning of a run for the No. 39 team that saw Newman record seven top-10 finishes in the next 10 races and move from 27th to fourth in the championship.

To kick off the next three races, Newman and his No. 39 WIX Filters team hope and believe a solid performance at Bristol Saturday night can once again serve as a springboard that helps catapult them into the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. And the key to that solid, momentum-building finish is simple in Newman’s eyes – to be able to “filter” out all the bad luck.

RYAN NEWMAN, Driver of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing:

This will be the 100th Sprint Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway. What are your favorite memories of Bristol?
“Bristol is always fun, on and off the racetrack. As a fan, watching (Dale) Earnhardt rattle cages was always interesting there. Even going back in history, watching cars smoke the right-rear all the way around when it was asphalt was cool. For me, personally, I’ve had some good memories there. I won a Nationwide race at the track. I guess running that 14.90 lap in qualifying back in 2003 was probably the most special moment for me, personally. That was definitely a fast lap, and I would be lying if I told you I didn’t shock myself. And in the end, it’s how I ended up with my nickname. I’m not really sure if it was Mike Joy or Larry Mac (McReynolds), but one of them said during the live broadcast of qualifying that it looked like I rocketed off the corner. And they may have gone on to say it was like I was a ‘Rocketman.’ I’m not really sure, but I do know it stuck. From that moment on, people started calling me ‘Rocketman,’ or using ‘Rocketman’ in their headlines about me. So that’s how it happened.”

Talk about running the WIX Filters Chevrolet at Bristol this weekend?
“I am excited. I know that it is a big race for everybody. For us, it is crunch time. Where our points position is, and the fact that it’s Bristol, makes this a really big race. And to have WIX come on board with us and give some fans a chance to have some fun at the racetrack is cool. Of all places to have WIX on the car, I’m really glad it’s Bristol because, hopefully, they can help us filter out all the stuff that we don’t need to happen to us on the racetrack. Things happen to fast at Bristol. Any extra help we can get is something we will most definitely take. I’m definitely excited about having WIX Filters on the car and, hopefully, we’ll be able to give them a big run that will help us build some momentum and get our spot in the Chase.”

Following last week’s race at Michigan, the No. 39 team is now 14th in points, 103 back of the 12th-place cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Does that change how you approach racing at Bristol? Is a spot in the Chase still attainable?
“Yes, a spot in the Chase is still attainable. And getting that spot in the Chase is still our goal. We’re obviously not in the situation we want to be in because we’re not already in the Chase. But we are glad we are in the situation we’re in because we still have a shot of locking ourselves into the Chase. I don’t know that we can approach it any differently. We know we have to have a good points day and that some of our competitors have to have a bad points day. I guess, in some ways, it’s out of our hands. We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing. We race for wins every week, and we do the best we can. Sometimes we finish fifth, sometimes 15th, but we’re always racing for the win. Bristol will be no different. I think if we have a chance to gamble and gain points or spots in the end, that’s something we’ll probably have to do because of the position we’re in. The one thing that’s important, though, is that I have a lot of faith in this team and what we can accomplish. I’m definitely excited about a couple of short tracks being part of the next few races to get into the Chase. That’s a strong point for us, and I think that will be instrumental in the points race.

The No. 39 team has enjoyed a lot of success at the short tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit. You have only one finish outside of the top-10 in nine combined starts at Bristol, Martinsville and Richmond. That finish was a 16th-place effort at Bristol last March. What is it about short-track racing and Bristol that has been so good for this team?
“The short tracks have really been where the No. 39 team has excelled. You didn’t mention Phoenix on that list, but that’s where we got our first win as a team, too. We’ve just been good on the short track. We had a really good short-track program from the get-go. I really like Bristol and I always have. Then, you add the fact that Bristol is one of Tony Gibson’s favorite racetracks, and I think you saw that my driving style and the package Gibson put underneath me really worked well for us. We finished seventh and sixth there last year, and that seventh-place finish last spring was a finish that gave us some momentum and built confidence for us and helped us click off some top-10s and really make a jump in the standings. In March, I’m confident we had another top-10 car for the race, but we ended up with a lug nut issue on the next-to-last pit stop that just trapped us in traffic and we finished 16th, which was disappointing. I’m confident that we’re going to have a good car right off the truck, and if we can stay out of trouble, I’m expecting to have a good night in the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet.

Talk about racing at Bristol Motor Speedway. How has the track evolved as your racing style has over time?
“There’s no place like Bristol. I’ve told people before that Bristol is like a baby superspeedway. If something happens in front of you, it may not be your fault, but you can get caught up in somebody else’s wreck in the blink of an eye. You have to really be on your toes at Bristol, and that seems to be where frustrations can rise and flame up quicker than at any other racetrack. Everyone will tell you Bristol has always been a game of survival. Everything happens so fast there. You don’t have time to think or blink. I learned that in 2003, when I won the pole there. I knew I had a good car but I never anticipated I could put down a lap that fast. You just don’t realize how quickly everything happens at Bristol. You could have the best car out there, but everything is completely out of your hands. One minute, you could be running in the lead and, just seconds later, you could be wrecked in the corner and out of the race and it would be no fault of your own. You won’t even realize what has happened to you until afterward.

“I think the racing and the track are definitely better the way they are now. I think it’s more a combination of the tire and the track than it is the age of the concrete. Concrete doesn’t change very much, if at all, over time. It’s more the combination of the tire and the racing we can do with that tire. With the tire Goodyear has been bringing, the racing has been very good. I think we put a lot of emphasis on qualifying because Bristol is a track where, if you miss the first run set-up wise, you’ll be a lap down before you know it. We’re going to make the best of it, like any other track. It just happens to be Bristol, and everything happens very fast. To me, the racing is at an all-time high at Bristol, compared to the way it used to be. We can race side-by-side and actually gain spots without having to wreck someone.”

TONY GIBSON, Crew Chief of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Short tracks have really been this team’s forte. Why do you think that is the case, and what is it about Bristol?
“I like racing everywhere but, for some reason, for me, my setups seem to work better at those tracks. They fit Ryan and they fit whoever I’ve been with. It just fits both our styles a little bit better. Ryan really likes short tracks, and he really likes the high banks of Bristol because I think they remind him of Winchester (Ind.) and Salem (Ind.) and these tracks he used to run and enjoy. He likes the speed and the banking. For me, Bristol is probably my best track. I’ve had a lot of success in the past and it really hasn’t mattered who I’ve worked with. Everybody I have been with over the years, from Alan Kulwicki up until now, we’ve done well. It’s my favorite track. I’ve had a lot of success, and the biggest thing – probably traumatic – that’s happened to me was the year Alan got killed and we all showed up. So, it’s an emotional track for me. It means a lot for me to go there and run well. Hopefully, this weekend, we can go there and get a win, lead some laps and get some bonus points and be solid. And that’s really all we can do. We have to do as much as we can on our side, and just see what happens to those other guys.”

Following Michigan, the No. 39 team is sitting 14th in the points, 103 back of the 12th-place cutoff for the Chase for the Championship. Do you approach Bristol any differently with that deficit? And what are your thoughts on the No. 39 team making the Chase?
“Last weekend at Michigan hurt. We went in being 83 points out, and it looked like we were going to have a good day, but we got turned around on the track and we ended up ending up 103 points out of 12th. So it hurts, but we all know we can do it. It’s a setback, but it’s not the first setback we have had. At Daytona in July, we were 15 points out before the race and, after the race, we were 88 points out. We came back from that, and we put ourselves back in contention. You know, we gained 55 points after Watkins Glen. So, we know it’s just as easy to gain those points as it is to lose them. And we know we can gain back as much as we did two weeks ago, if not more, if the circumstances are in our favor at Bristol. We know we’re going to have to be really aggressive, and we know we’re going to have to take some chances. And you don’t wish bad luck on anybody, but some of those guys are going to have to have some problems for us to get in. It’s definitely feasible. We just have to have a strong mental attitude as a team, and go into it with a positive outlook and just see what cards we are dealt.”

You mention Alan Kulwicki a lot when you talk about Bristol. You were Kulwicki’s car chief and you worked with him from 1986 until he died in a plane crash in 2003. Are there a lot of special memories that get stirred up when you go to Bristol? Would a win at Bristol be more special to you because of that connection to Alan Kulwicki?
“We used to fly into Bristol – back when I worked with DEI (Dale Earnhardt, Inc.) and Hendrick (Motorsports) – and every time I flew in there, I couldn’t help but look down. It would just bring back memories of that plane laying on the ground and the pictures of it broken in half. I’ll never forget it. Every time I fly into Bristol, and now just drive around that area, I think of Alan. I’ll never forget riding out of Bristol in the hauler with Peter Jellen when it was pouring rain and heading back to Charlotte. There’s just a lot of emotion around Bristol for me. There are a lot of good times and some bad times there. But I think it’s a good thing for me, because it keeps me in the game with my heart and my mind.

“With him getting killed going to Bristol, it was pretty tough to take. We were supposed to have been on that plane. Our luggage was on the plane. We were running late, and we ended up driving up and he went on to his appearance. Things just didn’t work out, or we would have been on that plane, too.

“Every time I walk into the track, I think of Alan and I think about the times we had. We won the last race there when it was pavement (1992). We won two in a row and I think the last one that we won was the last race on asphalt. There are a lot of memories there, a lot of good times and, of course, there’s the one bad time. Every time I walk into Bristol, I feel like Alan is by my side and he’s helping me make decisions and do some cool stuff, so it means a lot for me to go to Bristol.”

The driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing is fourth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings with a 300-point buffer over 13th-place Mark Martin, the first driver on the outside looking in at the 12-driver Chase, which will be decided in the next three races. With a maximum of 161 points that could be lost in a single race, it would take a catastrophe for Stewart to topple out of the top-12 when the Chase field is set following the conclusion of the Sept. 11 race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway.

But that sort of thinking doesn’t even enter the mind of Stewart, a two-time Sprint Cup champion who is the only driver to win a title under the old, season-long championship format (2002) and the current-era Chase (2005). To boot, Stewart is the last Sprint Cup driver not named Jimmie Johnson to win the series championship, for Johnson has taken the crown the last four years.

Instead, Stewart’s thinking is this – win and the points take care of themselves. It’s a mantra that has obviously worked in his 11 previous Sprint Cup seasons, for Stewart has never finished lower than 11th in points, and his average point finish is fifth. That number – buoyed by his two championship efforts – are due in large part to his 37 career victories, but also to his 150 career top-fives and 243 career top-10s. And we shouldn’t forget that his 10,806 career laps led total has allowed him to acquire an astounding 1,250 bonus points.

While we’re on the subject of points, if Stewart leaves Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway – site of Saturday night’s Irwin Tools Night Race – with a 391-point advantage over the 13th-place driver in the standings, he will clinch his spot in the Chase. Considering that Stewart has scored 1,500 points in the last 10 races – only two shy of championship point leader Kevin Harvick, who leads the series in this category – it would surprise no one if Stewart picked up the necessary points and locked himself into the Chase. After all, he’s rallied from 13th in points to fourth in that span.

And it would surprise no one if Stewart earned that berth by winning at Bristol. The Columbus, Ind.-native has been on a tear leading into the .533-mile bullring, notching 10 top-10 finishes in the last 12 races – two of which were runner-up results. Yet, 23 races into the 2010 Sprint Cup season, Stewart is winless, despite leading 155 laps.

But Bristol is the site of a second-place result in March, and it’s also where he already has a win – the 2001 Night Race. And in his 23 previous visits to the East Tennessee oval, Stewart has logged 1,353 laps led – fourth most among active Sprint Cup drivers, and the most with fewer than 600 starts.

Stewart’s hunger for a victory, and the 10 bonus points that will be added to his Chase tally if he ends Saturday night’s 500-lap contest first, are the driving forces behind his 3,400-pound Chevy Impala. Yes, his Hendrick-built V-8 puts out over 850 horsepower, but on a track that’s been likened to piloting a jet inside a gymnasium, hunger and moxie often times win out at Bristol, and those are two tools Stewart has in his arsenal when the green flag drops on the Irwin Tools Night Race.

TONY STEWART, Driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing:

Now that the Chase for the Championship seems to be taking shape, have you thought about a strategy to use during the final 10-race stretch to the finish?
“If you win races the points take care of themselves. Every week when we go to the track we’re going to try to win the race, and if we can’t win we’ll finish as high as we can and get as many points as we can. Once we do that, the points will just have to be what they are.”

With the pressure upon some drivers to make the cut for the Chase, will it make Bristol an even more aggressive race?
“I don’t think it’ll be any different. I still think when it comes to racing, guys are simply just racing. I think at the end of the day they look at the point standings, but for the most part, the whole time you’re out there you’re worried about winning the race or doing as well as you can. I really don’t think people’s mindsets will change.”

You had another strong run last Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where you finished sixth to log your 10th top-10 finish in the last 12 races. With the Chase three races away, are you where you need to be, or is there still some ground you need to gain?
“We’re still in a period of transition with this new car. What you find that works right now may work for only three or four weeks. The engineers are doing such a good job of continuing to find things with these cars that they’re finding bigger chunks quicker. I think that’s why we see spurts from different organizations.

“Do I feel like we’re right where we need to be? Not exactly. Do I feel like we’re gaining on it? Yes. I’m excited about the fact that I feel like we’re looking up the hill and not looking back at where we’re sliding to. So, I feel like we’re gaining on it. I’m not sure we’re exactly where we want to be yet, but right now we’re making progress, and that’s the progress that we want going into the Chase, versus last year where at this part of the season the wheels started falling off.

“I’m happy with the progress the team has made this year. It’s easy to go from having a first year like we had last year that went so well for so long, and to have the disappointment this year of not running as well as we’d like. No one gave up or lost their enthusiasm or their drive, and that’s something that I’m really proud, and that goes to my guys at our shop at Stewart-Haas over to the engine department at Hendrick and the chassis department there. I feel like they’ve continued to push hard. We’ve got a good group of guys that are really focused on what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Even though you’re only in your second year as a car owner, how do you manage the inevitable peaks and valleys that come with running a top-tier Sprint Cup team?
“You’re giving me way too much credit. I wish I was that smart to know how to do that. Richard Childress is a guy who’s been able to figure out how to do it single handedly. And with that, I think that makes him one of the strongest car owners in the series. He’s just an average guy that loves this sport and has poured his heart and soul into it. There have been a lot of valleys and at times there have been peaks, but even through when times aren’t good he fights, and he won’t give up, and that’s what you have to do as a car owner at this level. Everything is great when things are going well. When times are tough is what shows you the true character of an organization. I think that’s why Richard has been as successful as he has for so long – because he’s one of those guys that just will not stop and will not quit. He stays focused and knows how to get the job done.”

Can you summarize your history at Bristol?
“Bristol is one of those places where you’ve got to have everything kind of go your way. If you have one hiccup, it’s hard to recover from it. We’ve only won one race there and we’ve kind of been all over the board. It’s been feast or famine for us. It’s like if you have one problem in the first half of the race, it’s hard to recover from it. It makes for a very long day. We’ve had more long days than good days.”

How important is track position at a place like Bristol, where everything happens so quickly?
“It’s really important. What you’ve got to keep in mind is that every time the competition gets closer, it makes it harder and harder to start further back and pass cars. If you’re a half-second faster than the 20 cars in front of you, you’re probably going to be able to work your way through. If you’re half of a tenth of a second faster, it’s a lot harder to make up those spots. With the sport and the competition level going up every week, passing is harder. That’s why track position is so important. The thing about Bristol is that, at the end of the day, you still have to have a good-handling racecar. You can get good track position, but if you don’t have a good car, you’re not going to be able to hold onto it.”

And playing a large part in WIX Filters’ activation of the sponsorship is the company’s “Racing with Ryan” sweepstakes, with the grand prize being two coveted tickets to the Sharpie 500, which will run under the lights at the world’s fastest half-mile oval.

So sought after are tickets to Bristol’s annual night race that they’re willed to family members, fought over contentiously in divorce proceedings, and even offered up as collateral. Yet when the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series makes its 100th visit to the .533-mile bullring nestled in the East Tennessee mountains, attending the Sharpie 500 could be as easy as registering for the “Racing with Ryan” sweepstakes.

But there is no time to waste, for fans have only until July 31 to enter. Limit one entry per person. Official rules can be found online at www.WIXsweeps.com/ryannewman.

There will be 39 total prizes given away as part of the “Racing with Ryan” sweepstakes. Beyond the grand prize, 12 second-prize winners will receive a signed 1:24 die-cast of the No. 39 Chevy with display case, a $100 O’Reilly Auto Parts gift card, and a WIX Filters prize pack. Twenty-six third-prize winners will receive a $75 gift card to the NASCAR.com Superstore and a U.S. Army pit hat.

“This promotion provides us with a way to give back to the fans that support WIX and our partners, O’Reilly Auto Parts and Stewart-Haas Racing,” said Jeff Blocher, brand manager for WIX Filters, a member of the Affinia Group family of brands. “The sweepstakes provides 39 chances to win, along with a grand prize that we think equates to every race fan’s dream weekend.”

While a dream trip for fans, the upcoming Bristol race weekend is business as usual for WIX. That’s because WIX Filters’ sponsorship of Newman and the No. 39 Chevy is more than skin-deep. Stewart-Haas Racing uses WIX Filters to help maintain its edge in the highly competitive Sprint Cup Series.

With Stewart-Haas Racing, we have an excellent partner for putting together a great national promotion featuring Ryan Newman, but we also have a NASCAR team that uses our products to help them win races and perform at the top level of the sport,” Blocher said. “It’s a point of pride when the guys working on the racecars come up and tell you they like using your products and they have great confidence that WIX Filters will get the job done every weekend.

“Our relationship with Stewart-Haas Racing also gives WIX a product relationship with Tony Stewart Racing in USAC and the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, along with track sponsorship at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, where we’re able to bring the WIX brand to fans of grassroots racing.”