The two-time Sprint Cup champion started an uncharacteristic 42nd after struggling on Friday during practice and qualifying. The struggle came as a surprise to many considering Stewart has one pole, one win, four top-three, six top-five and eight top-10 finishes in 26 career Sprint Cup Series starts at Bristol. In addition to leading 1,354 laps, prior to tonight, his average start was 13.5, his average finish was 17th and he had a lap completion rate of 96 percent. But, this was not an average Bristol night for him.

“It was better than it was shaping up to be, yesterday,” said Stewart, who won at Bristol in August 2001. “Thanks to our teammates for the help that we got from them. That definitely made us better, for sure. It was just a rough night, but we struggled through it.”

Ryan Newman, Stewart’s teammate and driver of the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Realtree Chevrolet Impala for SHR, started from the pole and finished eighth. He ran with the leaders most of the night to score his 12th top-10 finish at Bristol and his 12th top-10 of the season.

Brad Keselowski won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his fourth career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Bristol.

Martin Truex Jr. finished .951 of a second behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot, while Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Newman, Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were six caution periods for 42 laps with eight drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

With round 24 of 36 complete, Newman continues to lead the SHR duo in the championship point standings. He remains seventh and now has 762 points, 68 markers back of series leader Kyle Busch and 73 points ahead of 11th-place Keselowski. Stewart remains 10th and now has 710 points, which puts him 120 points behind Busch while giving him a 21-point cushion over Keselowski.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Sept. 4 AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

It was Newman’s 12th top-10 finish in 20 career starts at Bristol and his 12th top-10 result of 2010.

More importantly, the driver of the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Realtree Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), put more distance between himself and those drivers on the outside of the top-10 in points. He entered the race seventh in the standings with a 55-point cushion between himself and 11th-place Clint Bowyer, and he exits Bristol still seventh but with a 77-marker lead over the new occupant of 11th, Brad Keselowski, who won the Irwin Tools Night Race.

Following the conclusion of the Sept. 10 Sprint Cup race at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, the Chase field will be set with the top-10 drivers in the standings qualifying for the Chase. Spots 11 and 12 in the Chase will be occupied by drivers with the most wins this season who are between 11th and 20th in the standings.

“It was a good points day for us, looking at the big picture,” Newman said. “It is going to take a better performance than that in those last 10 races to be a champion, but I feel like we have something to work with, for sure.”

During Friday qualifying, Newman captured his 48th career Sprint Cup pole, his second of the season and his third at Bristol. With his pole, he remained 10th on the all-time pole-winners list but is now just one pole behind Bobby Isaac, who occupies the ninth spot.

Newman jumped to the lead from the pole position and led the first four laps around the .533-mile oval before being passed by four-time champion Jeff Gordon on lap five. From there, Newman never held the point again but remained in the top-15 for the entire 500-lap race.

The critical moment of the night came on lap 415, when Newman pitted under caution while in 14th place. Crew chief Tony Gibson made the call for two tires and fuel and sent Newman on his way, gaining him 11 spots and putting Newman in third place for the restart.

After the green flag flew on lap 420, other drivers with four fresh tires were able to work their way around Newman in the final 80 laps, but he hung on for a solid eighth-place result.

“It was a good call there at the end to put two tires on,” Newman said. “We just weren’t as good as we should have been, car-wise, all night. We had about a sixth- to 10th-place car depending on what run it was and we finished eighth. I’m proud of the guys. I have to thank Bass Pro Shops and Realtree for jumping on board with our Chevrolet.”

Newman’s SHR teammate, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala for SHR, finished 28th. Stewart remains 10th in the Sprint Cup Series standings with 710 points, which puts him 120 points behind series leader Kyle Busch while giving him a 21-point cushion over Keselowski.

Keselowski’s victory in the Irwin Tools Night Race was his fourth career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Bristol.

Martin Truex Jr. finished .951 of a second behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot, while Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Newman, Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were six caution periods for 42 laps with eight drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Sept. 4 AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala for SHR, finished 28th.

Brad Keselowski won the Irwin Tools Night Race to score his fourth career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Bristol.

Martin Truex Jr. finished .951 of a second behind Keselowski in the runner-up spot, while Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Jamie McMurray rounded out the top-five. Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Newman, Carl Edwards and Marcos Ambrose comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were six caution periods for 42 laps with eight drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

With round 24 of 36 complete, Newman continues to lead the SHR duo in the championship point standings. He remained seventh and now has 762 points, 68 markers back of series leader Kyle Busch and 73 points ahead of 11th-place Keselowski. Stewart remained 10th and now has 710 points, which puts him 120 points behind Busch while giving him a 21-point cushion over Keselowski.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the Sept. 4 AdvoCare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The race starts at 7:30 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by ESPN beginning with its pre-race show at 6:30 p.m.

It is Newman’s 48th career Sprint Cup pole, his second of the season and his third at Bristol. He remains 10th on the all-time pole-winners list but is now just one pole behind Bobby Isaac who occupies the ninth spot.

“This is huge,” said Newman, who has 11 top-10 finishes in 19 career Sprint Cup starts at Bristol. “I’m happy for everyone at Bass Pro Shops, Realtree, the U.S. Army, Tornados, Haas Automation and Chevrolet. We’re in a great starting spot and we’ve got a great pit stall. I’m just looking forward to the race.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala for SHR, will start 42nd after turning a lap of 16.485 seconds at 116.397 mph.

“Obviously we’re not happy with our lap,” said Stewart, who won at Bristol in August 2001. “Really proud of Ryan and the guys on the 39 car. They put down a great lap.”

Carl Edwards (15.642 seconds at 122.670 mph) qualified second, while Matt Kenseth (15.643 seconds at 122.662 mph), Jeff Gordon (15.654 seconds at 122.576 mph) and Mark Martin (15.658 seconds at 122.544 mph) rounded out the top-five.

Forty-six drivers attempted to qualify for the Irwin Tools Night Race. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were T.J. Bell, J.J. Yeley, and Jeff Green.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot with Newman’s pole-winning run. Ford was next best via Edwards’ second starting spot, while Dodge was the third-best make thanks to eighth-quick Brad Keselowski (15.683 seconds at 122.349 mph). Ninth-quick Joey Logano (15.688 seconds at 122.310 mph) carried the flag for Toyota.

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

HOW WAS PRACTICE?
“Well, we’re just fighting a tight car right now. If we can get it to cut I think we’ll be fine, but we’re struggling right now.”

ON DANICA PATRICK RUNNING SOME CUP RACES FOR STEWART-HAAS RACING IN 2012
“We’re excited about it. She’s putting 100 percent into it and that’s something that we’re excited about. She is definitely deserving of an opportunity like this and we’re excited and honored that she chose us to do it with.”

ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT DANICA PATRICK RUNNING IN A CUP CAR AT THE DAYTONA 500 NEXT YEAR?
“We’re worried about other stuff right now. We’re working on her schedule and when we have a schedule, we’ll let you guys know what those races are going to be. But right now, we have a lot of things to work on.”

WHEN DO YOU HAVE TO START THINKING ABOUT PERSONNEL?
“A month ago. You don’t make decisions like this and not already start that process.”

HOW FAR ALONG THAT ROAD ARE YOU?
“We’ll let you guys know. We’re working on it, guys. We’ve got a lot of stuff to do. There’s a lot of stuff not done yet; there’s a lot of stuff that has to be done and we’re in that process. We are in the middle of getting it all done.”

ON KEEPING THE CAR IN THE TOP-35 EVERY WEEK, DO YOU HAVE ANY THOUGHTS ABOUT GETTING THAT CAR ON THE TRACK FULL-TIME?
“Yeah, we’d love to. If we can put together a package to run somebody in the rest of the races, we would love to do that. It’s in everybody’s best interest to do that and I know it would be good for us as a team to be able to go ahead and run that car full time next year if that opportunity presents itself.”

IS THERE A SENSE OF EXCITEMENT AT STEWART-HAAS RACING ABOUT THE DANICA PATRICK ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE TEAM?
“Well, I was gone yesterday. Unfortunately I had a previous media engagement that I had to fulfill yesterday, but I’m sure next week when we get around the shop I’m going to get a better sense of that for sure. It’s been hard to keep it quiet around our shop obviously, but all along we’ve wanted to be a third and fourth-car team, so now having that opportunity to add a third car, I know that’s going to create a lot of excitement.”

ON KYLE BUSCH HAVING MUCH SUCCESS AT BRISTOL
“Well, he runs three nights a week when he comes here. That’s an easy way to win a lot of races when you run three times the races everybody else does.”

YOU HAVE THREE RACES TO GO TO LOCK YOURSELF INTO THE CHASE, CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE PRESSURE?
“I’m more worried about just getting our program back on track. Just like today. We’re kind of struggling today. I want to make the Chase more than anything. I want it for our sponsors. I want it for our organization. But most of all, I just want us to get back on track. If that means we miss the Chase in the process, we do. But we’re going to try to do everything we can to make it. Like I say, the most important thing is getting our program back on track.”

WILL THE DECISION ON WHICH RACES DANICA PATRICK RUN NEXT YEAR IN CUP BE A SPONSOR DECISION OR WHAT WILL IT BE BASED ON?
“When we have that we’ll let you know. When we have the schedule, we’ll let you know. We don’t have it set yet. We’ll figure it out.”

I GUESS WHAT I’M ASKING IS…
“I know what you’re asking. I don’t have an answer to your question. When we have the schedule done, we will let you know.”

OBVIOUSLY THERE IS ENOUGH TIME TO MAKE THE CHASE, BUT IS THERE ENOUGH TIME TO BE A CHAMPIONSHIP CONTENDER?
“I think so. If things can get turned around, and obviously if we knew what the problem was, we would fix it. But you know it could turn around in a week; it may not turn around the rest of the year. We don’t know. But the thing is, that’s our main goal right now is to get this program turned around and get us back on track and get us where we know we need to be and deserve to be. We’ll keep working hard toward that and we’ve got to take it one day at a time. I would love for it to be sooner rather than later, obviously.”

IT SEEMS LIKE BY WHAT YOU SAID LAST WEEK, IT WOULD BE A BIG CHANGE. HOW OFTEN DO YOU SEE BIG CHANGES HAPPENING IN A FIVE TO SIX-WEEK PERIOD IN THIS SPORT? IS THAT POSSIBLE?
“Like I say, if I knew what the change was, we would have made it by now. I don’t know what the change is or what we’ve got to do to get it right. But we’re not going to stop until we figure it out. We will keep working until we get it sorted out and figured out. We won’t quit on it.”

WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES ARE YOU FACED WITH AT ATLANTA BY GOING FROM DAYLIGHT INTO NIGHT RACING?
“Just the balance change, really. If you notice the track cools down at Atlanta and it gains a lot of grip. It’s a very temperature-sensitive race track. So, the biggest thing is just keeping your balance and keeping up with it as it cools off. Normally, I can’t say that it changes a bunch balance-wise, it just changes a lot grip-wise. So, just having the car adjustable enough from the start of the race to the end of the race.”

AS A DRIVER, WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT ATLANTA?
“Just understanding what you’re going to have at the beginning isn’t what you’re going to have at the end of the day; you have to be patient until it gets dark and until that temperature cools down. And once it starts settling into the nighttime hours, you can kind of get a better idea on what you’re going to have for the rest of the day.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY DESIRE TO RUN DANICA PATRICK IN A FULL SCHEDULE IN CUP NEXT YEAR?
“No, that’s why we’re running her in a partial schedule next year.”

WELL THERE WAS SOME TALK THAT MAYBE SHE WOULD TRY TO JUMP IN. BUT DID YOU FEEL LIKE THE SCHEDULE THAT’S PLANNED IS THE BEST FOR HER?
“Yes. Absolutely. The way it’s laid out is a really good schedule. For her to be able to just be in a stock car every week is going to be great for her. It’s going to be a great experience and then to run her in the amount of races we’re going to run her in will be good to get her ready for Cup in 2013.”

DANICA PATRICK SAID THAT WON’T FIGURE OUT THAT SCHEDULE UNTIL SHE SITS DOWN WITH YOU AND THAT YOU WILL BE THE PRIMARY INFLUENCER. WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU’LL HAVE A CHANCE TO SIT DOWN WITH HER?
“As soon as we can; as soon as we can. Like I said, we want to get it locked in now so we can be making plans ahead of time for it and get her program ready.”

KELLEY EARNHARDT SAID SOMETHING ABOUT STEWART-HASS RACING BEING UNDER THE JR MOTORSPORTS UMBRELLA. IS IT MORE THE HENDRICK UMBRELLA? WHAT DID SHE MEAN BY THAT?
“I’m not exactly sure (laughs), to be honest with you. I’m sure somebody does in our organization, but I’m not exactly sure what she means by that. I’m just worried about making sure that the races that we run, that we’re doing a good job of giving her the best equipment that we can and give her the best opportunity to succeed in her goals.”

RYAN NEWMAN met with media and discussed the challenges of racing at Bristol, adding Danica Patrick as a new teammate at SHR next year, his goals leading into the Chase to the NASCAR Sprint Cup, and more. Full Transcript:

TALK ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN HERE AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY AND YOUR MINDSET FOR TOMORROW NIGHT
“First thing that comes to mind is patience because it can be a track that really challenges your mentality.  And obviously you have to have a good car, and good pit stops and the things that we talk about every week but here more so than most race tracks.  It’s that mental stamina of controlling your emotions and controlling the race car according to your emotions and making the best of all the situations that you are in.”

RYAN WE UNDERSTAND THAT YOU ARE GOING TO RUN A SPECIAL PAINT SCHEME AND THE NO. 08 AT ATLANTA NEXT WEEK IN THE CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES TO HONOR A FRIEND OF YOURS THAT IS AN UP AND COMING DRIVER.
WHAT DID HE DO TO MAKE SUCH A FAVORABLE IMPRESSION ON YOU? 
“He was a good man and it’s just as simple as that.  He became a friend of mine and we actually met the Slocumb family at Atlanta Motor Speedway and I had asked Ed for a good place to go fishing in the area and he said ‘why don’t you come down to the Slocumb house?’  So I drove about 50 minutes down to the Slocumb house and fished for a little while and got a chance to meet Beau and the rest of the family and turns out he became a very good friend and we had a lot of things similar, lifestyle-wise and long story short he lost a battle with cancer.

“He was employed at Turner Motorsports and working on the trucks and it was his dream to race a truck and he had raced an ARCA car for Steve Turner there a couple times and think his best finish was 4^th at Kansas if I remember right but it’s just a way to remember him and give his family an opportunity to see something that he always wanted to do and his name is going to be on the passenger side on top of the roof and just real thankful for having Realtree and Brandt to step up and sponsor the race for us and for a way to just give back to the memory of someone else.  Steve Turner may have been a bigger Beau Slocumb fan than I was and never got a chance to watch Beau race much but he was a very genuine man and was raised right and that is what struck me first and foremost.”

CAN YOU SPEAK ABOUT HOW MENTALLY DEMANDING THIS TRACK IS AND HAS THE NEW CONFIGURATION CHANGED THAT AT ALL?
“It isn’t quite as demanding as it used to be physically.  Part of that is that the bumps and part of it is that the speed is down just a little bit.  And when you are on a 16 second lap instead of a 15.70, it doesn’t sound like much but repetitively it’s not as physical, so like when I started my comments, mentally and emotionally it’s probably more challenging than it is physically.  But it is still extremely physically challenging here.”

HOW MUCH DIFFERENT DO YOU DRIVE THIS TRACK IN YOUR SPRINT CUP CAR THAN YOU DO THE MODIFIED LIKE YOU WON IN ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT?
“I was just looking at the Nationwide cars which are typically slower than the Cup cars which are running a 16.0 or whatever it is, and we qualified a 15.0 in the modified.  So the corner speed is extremely high in the modified as compared to the Cup cars and the straightaway speed is much lower.  It seems like as crazy as it sounds as with the modifieds you are actually going much faster in the corner than you are on the straightaway.  The track as far as the way you drive it doesn’t change much, the way the cars and the way the tires react are a good bit different.  Bias-ply tires versus the radials is the first part and the second part of that is the width and the contact surface of the tire on those Hoosiers.  The bias-plys are much bigger.
“You try to set the cars up to do the same things because ideally there is an ideal line around the race track but in the end, they are different.”

WHERE WERE YOU THIS WEEK WHEN THE EARTHQUAKE HIT?
“It was weird.  I had some guys out to the house to work on the air conditioning and I am actually up with these guys on the eve of the house and all the sudden I felt…………and I didn’t feel the vibration but I heard…….this is an entirely wood, log house…….and I could hear the wood cracking and it didn’t crack long but it cracked and it was kind of a joke for us because we were all standing in an area that is an overhang of the house, and it was like wow.  I think I made a fat joke of myself actually.  And turned out it was an earthquake and didn’t expect it on this side of the Mississippi.   And we got in the truck afterwards and drove down the road and one of the guys that works for me got the phone call that, ‘hey we just had an earthquake’.   And then that explained the shaking of the house and the cracking but.”

HOW DO YOU THINK THE ADDITION OF A NEW TEAMMATE ON A PART TIME BASIS NEXT YEAR IS GOING TO AFFECT YOUR PROGRAM?  DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA OF HER SCHEDULE?
“I don’t think there has been any part of the schedule announced and I don’t know that there is a true idea of what she wants to do, or the sponsor wants to do.  I really don’t know how its going to affect our entire organization but obviously there is a lot of hype around it and we have seen around other areas of the sport with a lot of hype there can be much disappointment so its something that I think we are all looking forward to just the experience of working with, for me, working with her.  I am sure there are times where (Tony) Stewart is going to tell her what to do and there are times where she might tell us what to do.  I think there are different ways of looking at it communication-wise, marketing-wise, team-wise.  The partial schedule versus a full schedule…..I don’t know how that will affect the organization.

“I think if you look where we are at with our teams and cars there are a lot of things that have to be done to present a successful team when it goes to the race track as far as building cars and putting a team together.  I don’t know that there has been any announcements about who the personnel is going to be so there is a lot of work to be done but at the same time there is a lot of hype because of her to get good people and make it happen.”

YOU HAVE THE SAME EQUIPMENT THAT TONY DOES AND YOU HAVE EIGHT TOP FIVES VERSUS TWO TOP-FIVES FOR HIM, HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THAT DIFFERENCE?  HAVE YOU SEEN ANY OF THE FRUSTRATION THAT TONY EXPRESSED LAST WEEK?
“I know his frustration because if you look at last year it was just a flip flop of performance as far as top-fives for him and top-fives for me and top-10’s for that matter.  But and again, we had the same equipment but it’s not just equipment, its personnel.  Its attitudes, its personalities, and a lot of things that can be more powerful than a right front spring.  So I understand his frustration because of his success in the past and especially the past two years, being in the Chase and not that he isn’t in the Chase right now or running for the Chase but it’s no fun, I will say for sure in being that guy that is on the bubble or close to that bubble and I am extremely happy for our team and where we are at and at the same time I can understand the emotions of being that guy in that position this time of the year.”

WITH THREE RACES TO GO BEFORE THE CHASE, WHAT MORE NEEDS TO BE DONE AND WHAT MORE NEEDS TO BE REFINED FOR YOUR TEAM TO BE HITTING ON ALL FOUR CYLINDERS BEFORE GOING INTO THE CHASE?
“You know it’s about strengthening our team emotionally, not that we are weak, but you have to be………Jimmie (Johnson) is standing at the back of the room and he can tell you how strong you have to be those last ten races to win it five years in a row but just that emotional strength is much stronger when it comes to the demand that you put on yourself and the demand that others put on you with the level of competition we have in the Sprint Cup Series these days.  You can swap springs and change sway bars and change shocks all day long but if you are not emotionally ready to go for that ten-race stretch, then you are not going to be a contender.

“From our team standpoint if you look at the last six races, with the exception of the road course races, we have been really strong and we have had a really good average.  And I am not going to say we can do that the next six races, because that is reading into the future and we are not capable of doing that but I feel we have the tools that we need and our team is clicking and our performance has been good.  You know we are not out there leading the most laps every other race but when it comes to finishes and whether we are in the media center or in the top-ten, we are knocking on the door of both of them.”

“The Rocket” started the race in the fourth position and quickly made his way to the lead, battling with with Todd Szegedy and Justin Bonsignore throughout the event.

“This is awesome,” Newman said from Victory Lane. “Kevin (Manion) (Crew Chief) couldn’t be here because of what happened in New Hampshire (Newman’s winning car was disqualified for a rules infraction). We had to overcome a lot of things. This is a backup engine in this car.”

Newman’s victory was his second in a row in the UNOH Perfect Storm 150 and fourth career Whelen Modified Tour victory.

“I felt today that we had a more competitive car than last year,” he said. “I don’t think anyone anticipated all the cautions we had early. We missed Kevin Manion. I think we redeemed ourselves after Loudon.

While Newman led much of the race, pit strategy helped seal the deal for the South Bend, Ind. native.

“Szegedy was on older tires so we had an advantage over him late,” Newman said. “It was a fun race, the caution flags slowed everything… It is a lot of fun to come out here and redeem ourselves and prove again I can do it.

“Everyone I was around did a good job and drove clean. I didn’t see what happened with some of the crashes. I thought everyone showed respect except for the wrecks I didn’t see.”

Szegedy drove his UNOH-sponsored machine to a third place finish.

“I’ve got to thank UNOH for being on the car,” Szegedy said. “We did an engine swap before the race… I was in the middle of a lot of wrecks. People were wrecking everywhere. Then, a plug wire came off and I went a lap down. I couldn’t take it easy for fear of wrecks because I didn’t want to go down a lap again. We avoided the wrecks and worked our way up to the front.”

Bonsignore had his machine near the front all night, but came up just short, coming home in second.

“We avoided some wrecks we should have been in,” he said. “Our car was good up top. I got up to fifth or sixth, then we decided to pit. I don’t know if Newman was playing with us, but he took off with about 15 to go and we salvaged what we could. I didn’t have a chance to catch him. We were way too tight.”

James Civali and Patrick Emerling rounded out the top five. Eric Beers, Ronnie Silk, Frank Fleming, Andy Seuss and Eric Goodale finished sixth through 10th.

The UNOH Perfect Storm kicked off the Wednesday doubleheader at BMS, with the O’Reilly Auto Parts 200 the nightcap event.

For Newman, fishing is about being one with nature. It’s just a man and his fishing rod. There’s nothing that he enjoys more than the monotonous routine of casting his line, waiting for a bite, reeling it in and then tossing the fish back into the pond – only to do it all over again. That’s how the South Bend, Ind., native escapes from his hectic reality and takes in a little peace and quiet.

At the racetrack, Newman’s escape is the moment he straps into his No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Realtree Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR). It’s all about a man and his 3,400-pound machine.  As he puts on his helmet and pulls his belts tight, Newman can shut out the outside world – the cheering fans, the roaring engines – and focus solely on his task at hand, which this weekend will involve turning laafter laat the .533-mile bullring known as Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in Saturday night’s Irwin Tools Night Race.

Newman’s goal both during his time spent fishing on the pond and racing on the track are one and the same: to hook and reel in the biggest prize. On the pond, he’s always hoping to catch the biggest smallmouth bass among his buddies. At the racetrack, the prize is a little more spectacular, of course. The ultimate goal is to get his hooks in a NASCAR Sprint CuSeries championshibut, for now, reeling in a coveted berth in the 2011 Chase for the Championshiwill suffice.

This weekend, Newman & Company rolls into Bristol with what appears to be a stronghold on a top-10 spot in the points.

After last weekend’s fifth-place finish at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Newman moved ever closer to earning that all important spot in the Chase, which would make him eligible for a run at the championship. With three races remaining until the Chase begins, Newman moved uone spot to seventh in the standings and now has 725 points, 74 markers back of series leader Kyle Busch and 55 points ahead of 11^th-place Clint Bowyer.

This weekend, while the mentality that defines Bristol is “you-never-know-what-you’re-going-to-get-because-it’s-all-a-crapshoot,”Newman and his No. 39 SHR team have been at their best on short tracks. In five starts at Bristol since joining SHR in 2009, Newman has posted four top-10 finishes with his worst finish at the half-mile track being a 16^th-place effort in the spring of 2010.

To survive Bristol and the inherent challenges of short-track racing – having someone wreck in front of you, having nowhere to go, thus being wrecked – Newman can draw on his experiences at the fishing hole.

Yes, for Newman there are similarities in the mental skills needed for both fishing and racing. And at Bristol, it is crucial to have your head in the game at all times.

As Newman explains it, one of the keys to being successful at fishing and racing is to be patient and take your time. You can’t get frustrated because that can really affect the outcome. And physically, you do have to hit your marks on both the racetrack and in fishing in order to be successful.

So, maybe there is something to Newman’s love for fishing and his success in racing, particularly at Bristol with Bass Pro Shops/Realtree being prominently featured on his No. 39 SHR Chevrolet. No other sponsor in the sport knows more about how fishing and NASCAR Sprint Curacing mirror one another. The world’s largest retailer of all things bass fishing has been a longtime sponsor of not only SHR and team co-owner Tony Stewart, but the sport, in general. That can’t be a coincidence.

In 19 career starts at Bristol, Newman has two poles, a top-five finish and 11 top-10s. Newman also holds the qualifying record at the track, which he earned by turning a blistering-fast laof 128.709 mph (14.908 seconds) in 2003.

This weekend, while Newman may not be able to spend as much time dipping a line in some of the spectacular fishing spots near Bristol, what he does plan on doing is adding to those racing stats and build on his points position in hopes of catching his spot in the Chase and eventually reeling in that first NASCAR Sprint CuChampionship.

RYAN NEWMAN, Driver of the No. 39 Bass Pro Shops/Realtree Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing:
 

Bristol seems to be a good track for you and the No. 39 team. Why is that?
“It’s just a great racetrack and a great short track. I’ve always liked the banked racetracks, in general, over the flatter racetracks. So, I guess in some ways you could say I’m more comfortable at Bristol. I think Bristol has always been one of those short tracks that everybody loves. And, obviously, that’s changed with the different surface and the way they have changed it a little bit. But, ultimately, it’s still a great short track. I really love the banking and I love the fact it’s concrete and doesn’t seem like it changes a whole lot. Once you get a car right, it’s typically right for 500 laps, which is difficult to get on some of the racetracks.

Honestly, there’s just 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 uin somebody else’s wreck in the blink of an eye. You have to really be on your toes at Bristol. Everything happens so fast there. You don’t have time to think or blink. 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.”

After a fifth-place run in Michigan last weekend, you are currently seventh in points – 74 behind leader Kyle Busch and 55 ahead of 11th-place Clint Bowyer. How do you feel about your spot in the Chase with three races remaining?

“We moved ua spot in the points after Michigan and we gained on the guys behind us, too, and that is the other part of it. We’re as far into the Chase right now as we were out of it last year and we only have a few races left. That’s what we have to do every week. I know that Tony Gibson wants to go into Richmond with a race lead so all we have to do is start the race. I feel we’re in a good position. We’ll try to have a good next few races and then we’ll have a better shot at the championship. We have three more races and every lais different, so I don’t know that I can sit here and tell you the strategy on each lap, each restart, each racetrack or, for instance, the weather that we get at them. To me, it’s just going and attacking them as we need to attack them and putting ourselves in a position to keegaining points. We’ve done a good job, like I said, uto this point. By no means do we feel like we’re – I shouldn’t say – a championship-caliber team, but I think we have some room that we need to grow to be more successful and have ourselves a better opportunity at winning the championship.”

What are some of the challenges at Bristol for a driver? Since it has been resurfaced, does the driver play less of a factor in the finish than before?
“It’s different every race there. Last fall, of the 500 laps, I bet I was in sixth place for 490 of them, it felt like. And I’ve been here before, where I’ve gone from first to 35^th to 12^th to 36^th to third – that’s not exact, obviously. It changes every time the way the race plays out there. Because of where the yellows fall is basically what it amounts to. The way our fuel windows work there at the racetrack, it changes a lot of things the way guys cannot maneuver their fuel verses tire situation. That’s the biggest question mark in everybody’s mind – that and getting a good qualifying effort and you get those pit selections because this is one of the toughest pit roads. It’s just different every time, first of all. It can go a lot of green-flag runs and a lot of single-file racing, or it can be crazy and it can get randomly crazier. If I think back to my first time at Bristol, I don’t necessarily remember it but I know there have been a lot of different things that have happened every time I’ve been there.”

Why do you say that the racing is better at Bristol now? What are the key differences in the way it used to be and the way it is now?
“I like the racing better now than it was before. The track to me, before, was more demanding. Now, it’s smoother and there’s more maneuverability. If you miss your line just a little bit, you wash uthe racetrack and you come down the hill and you come back off the corner where, before, if you missed your line a little bit, you were going to get freight-trained maybe 10 or 15 spots back. I think the racing from a driver’s perspective is much better than it used to be with the old configuration. I think one of the best races we ever had there was when it was brand new, with that combination of track and tire, we ran three-wide in the Nationwide race the last 20 or 30 laps and it was awesome. It was like, ‘Holy cow, what is going to happen next.’ Each lawas different. I like it the way it is.”

What is it about short-track racing that you and your No. 39 team like so well?
“I like using the middle pedal (brake). In all seriousness, I think it adds another parameter of a driver’s input when you have to modulate that third pedal. We have to go to places like Vegas and you’re using very little brake. When you are using a little bit, it’s hard to screw it up. I think our team has done a really good job with the brake package we have. I like the short tracks. I like having the character added to the program of modulating the brake. Places like Bristol, Martinsville, Phoenix and Richmond, we’ve been really strong as a team.”

Explain the similarities that you see between fishing and racing in terms of the mental or physical skills needed to be successful?
“I see the similarities with the mental skills that you need for both fishing and racing more so than the physical skills. One of the keys to being successful at both is to be patient and take your time. You can’t get frustrated because that can really affect the outcome. Physically, you do have to hit your marks on both the racetrack and in fishing to be successful.”

RYAN NEWMAN’S BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY PERFORMANCE PROFILE

† Qualifying canceled due to weather, starting position set via car owner points.

× Race length extended due to green-white-checker finish.

Newman returns to the seat of the Aggressive Hydraulics/Menards No. 7NY Chevy and the team definitely has something to prove after the win at New Hampshire in July was taken away from them.

“As a racer you always look forward to Bristol,” said Newman. “Getting back in the modified car this week has been on my mind ever since getting the win taken away at New Hampshire, and I’m sure all the guys that work on the car are anxious to get to the track. The team and the guys have never let me down, and I’m sure they won’t disappoint me come Wednesday. They build great cars and have proven we have what it takes to run up front and win against the guys that run the series each week.”

Newman is the defending series winner at the 0.533-mile track and hopes to have a little fun and take home another trophy before strapping into his Cup car on Friday.

Racing at Bristol is extremely tight, and it isn’t easy to get around, but the challenge and the excitement of racing at the high-banked track makes for a great race and one Newman enjoys.

“Bristol is a lot of fun to race at and handling is important,” according to Newman. “You need a strong car from start to finish. It’s not the easiest track to get around and you’re constantly battling traffic and passing is tough. Patience is key for a good outcome. It’s a nice change from the other tracks we go to, and I’m sure the fans enjoy watching the races here.”

Due to how tight the track is in addition to the steep banking, it’s really easy to lose speed at Bristol. Passing can be difficult and frustrating 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 I 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.”
“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. The goal is to stay out of trouble, have patience and go to the garage only when the race is over and we’ve collected our trophy.”

Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR

It was Newman and the No. 39 Tornados team’s third consecutive top-10 finish of the 2011 season and the No. 39 team’s fourth top-10 in five starts at the Bristol bullring.

“I think our Tornados Chevrolet was probably better than where we finished today,” said Newman, who earned his 11th top-10 in 19 starts at Bristol. “We fought getting loose during the course of a run almost all day and then, at the end of the race, we just got way too tight. I’m not really sure why that happened or what caused that, but all in all it was another good top-10 finish for our team and another good points day for us. We got kind of behind, there, on our qualifying. But we worked really hard on Saturday and got the car right for the race today and we were in the mix, there, most of the day. I’m just really proud of the entire Tornados team today and how we have started this season.”

Newman started Sunday afternoon’s race 21st in the 43-car field after what he and crew chief Tony Gibson called a disappointing qualifying effort. However, after two practices on Saturday, the driver-crew chief duo was confident it had found the right balance to help the No. 39 Tornados Chevrolet move through the field.

When the first caution of the afternoon waved on lap 27, Newman told Gibson his car was a little too tight in the center but that his biggest problem was being mired in traffic in 18th place. Soon after, the caution flag waved at lap 50 for a NASCAR-mandated competition caution to check for excessive tire wear.

Under the yellow flag, Newman told Gibson not to touch the car as it was “pretty good.” Newman also wanted to see how the car would react to tires as the race continued. So, Gibson opted to help his driver gain the valuable track position by changing right-side tires only, adding fuel and making an air-pressure adjustment. The two-tire strategy helped Newman return to the track for the lap-56 restart in fourth place.

Two laps later, Newman took over the lead, where he stayed for 26 circuits before turning it over to eventual race-winner Kyle Busch on lap 83. Although Newman gave up the lead, he was able to maintain a spot in the top-five until the caution waved once again on lap 128.

Under caution, Newman told Gibson his car was still a little tight in the center. For the second time, Newman asked Gibson not to make any changes to the chassis of the Tornados Chevy, so the team opted for four fresh tires, an air-pressure adjustment and fuel. Newman returned to the track in sixth place for the restart on lap 136.

Unfortunately, the changes weren’t quite what Newman and his No. 39 Tornados Chevrolet needed. Instead, Newman’s car now had the opposite problem as it was too loose. As the run progressed, Newman continued to get looser, which caused him to lose several spots. By lap 200, Newman had dropped six positions back to 12th place and was finding it difficult to hold onto a spot in the top-15.

When the caution came out at lap 246, Newman was running in 13th place. Newman brought the Tornados Chevy to the pit crew’s attention for four tires, fuel, an air-pressure adjustment and a wedge adjustment in hopes of improving the car’s balance. Newman returned to the track in 13th place for the restart on lap 252.

Thanks to the changes, the No. 39 machine seemed to take off when the race restarted. Newman picked up three spots and was back in the top-10 by lap 265. However, once again his car began to get loose during the green-flag run causing him to drop back through the field.

Another caution at lap 344, afforded the Tornados team another opportunity to work on the No. 39 machine’s loose-handling issues. Newman told his crew the changes during the last pit stop were all positive changes, but they just didn’t quite go far enough. Once again, Gibson called for four tires, fuel and air-pressure and wedge adjustments.

With 150 laps remaining in the race, Newman restarted in 12th place. Once again, he was able to get a solid restart and, within five laps, the No. 39 had moved into the top-10.

By lap 400, Newman, who was running in ninth place, told his crew that the car had gotten too loose, once again. Crew chief Gibson told his driver that his car was one of the faster cars on the racetrack when he didn’t have to overcorrect for the car’s loose condition. The team planned on making wedge and air-pressure adjustments to help correct the car’s handling at the next opportunity.

Newman pitted under caution for the final time on lap 428, and the crew continued to adjust on the No. 39 Chevy with wedge and air-pressure adjustments, along with four fresh tires and fuel. Newman returned to the track in ninth place.

Typical of the Bristol short track, the final 50 laps had a rash of cautions and restarts. Newman was able to avoid getting caught up in the myriad of crashes and maintain his top-10 run. In the end, Newman was able to hold off several hard-charging cars with fresh tires and finished 10th.

Newman’s SHR teammate Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala, finished 19th.

Kyle Busch won the Jeff Byrd 500 to score his 20th career Sprint Cup victory, his first of the season and his fifth at Bristol. Busch has won five consecutive NASCAR events at Bristol. He won yesterday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race and last August swept the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series races.

Carl Edwards finished .946 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth and Paul Menard rounded out the top-five. Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne and Newman comprised the remainder of the top-10.

There were 10 caution periods for 57 laps, with seven drivers failing to finish the 500-lap race.

With round four of 36 complete, Stewart and Newman are tied for third in the Sprint Cup championship point standings. Each driver has 138 points and is 12 markers back of leader Kurt Busch.

The next event on the Sprint Cup schedule is the March 27 Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., where Stewart is the series’ most recent winner. The race starts at 3 p.m. EDT with live coverage provided by FOX beginning with its pre-race show at 2:30 p.m.