Often in restrictor-plate racing at Daytona and its sister track at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, the lead car is in a precarious position – especially on the last lap. If the cars that are behind pull out of the draft, they can slingshot around the defenseless lead car, which is what Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray and Denny Hamlin did to Newman as the four-car pack exited turn four on the 75th and final lap of the Budweiser Shootout.

“Well, I knew I was a sitting duck,” said Newman, who notched his third top-five finish in nine Budweiser Shootout starts. “I wish it would’ve been just a two-car battle instead of a four-car battle, but that’s selfish of me. I want to thank WIX Filters for the opportunity and to come here and sponsor us for this race.

“I didn’t know what to expect other than the fact that I knew it was going to happen off of (turn) four. I didn’t know if he (Hamlin) was going to go high or low, and I didn’t know if I was going the right way, pointed in the right direction that the No. 22 (Busch) and the No.1 (McMurray) were going to go. It’s a unique race and I’m glad we got back to the finish line in the way we did. That’s the least scratched car we’ve ever had at a superspeedway in my history at Stewart-Haas Racing.”

Hamlin actually crossed the finish line first, but was awarded 12th-place after NASCAR officials ruled he went below the double-yellow line at the bottom of the racetrack in order to advance his position. Because of the rule violation, Busch was declared the winner, while McMurray and Newman finished second and third, respectively.

Throughout the race, every car needed to draft with a second car in order to achieve maximum speed. Rather than running in one large pack as in previous years, the cars were separated into pairs for much of the night, while achieving speeds in excess of 200 mph. At the end of the race, however, a four-car pack formed, which surprised Newman.

“From what I had seen in practice, at times depending on the two cars that got together, they could break away from other two cars that were together, and we didn’t see that at the end of the race tonight,” Newman said. “So, I don’t know if my car was off in speed or if it was just the way things worked out and the way the cars lined up between my car getting pushed by Denny’s Toyota and a Dodge getting pushed by a Chevrolet or just the combination of four cars together. I’m not sure what we’re seeing as far as the variations in that two-car or four-car breakaway.”

Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing, led three times for four laps before finishing 11th.

The Budweiser Shootout is an exhibition race featuring the following, with eligibility based on a driver having competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series within the last two seasons:

· The 12 drivers who qualified for the 2010 Chase for the Championship

· Past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions

· Past Budweiser Shootout winners

· Past Daytona 500 winners

· Past Coke Zero 400 winners

· Past Rookies of the Year

Newman earned his way into the race by winning the 2008 Daytona 500. Stewart is a three-time winner of the Budweiser Shootout and a two-time Sprint Cup champion.

This year’s field included 24 drivers.

Busch’s victory was his first in the Budweiser Shootout and his first restrictor-plate win of any kind. Defending Daytona 500 champion McMurray finished .058 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five. Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Bobby Labonte comprised the remainder of the top-10.

“I wish I knew what I did wrong to turn Michael,” said Stewart after finishing outside the top-10 for only the second time in 12 career Budweiser Shootout starts. “I honestly don’t know. You can only see the car in front of you.”

Stewart was a mainstay at the front of the field until the end of the race’s first segment on lap 25. He led laps 1-2, 7 and 12, but following the 10-minute break, he lost radio communication with his team. It came back just as the field returned to green, but went in and out the rest of the race, and played a role in Stewart’s contact with Waltrip.

With drivers having to align themselves in two-car drafts to make any headway toward the front of the field, it created a dicey game of bumper cars that sometimes led to drivers involuntarily spinning out their drafting partner. It happened when Mark Martin tagged Kyle Busch on lap 37 and it happened to Stewart when he got Waltrip loose in turn three on lap 49.

Stewart was able to continue on, but with his radio issues preventing him from always hearing his spotter, he played it safe for the rest of the race and rode behind his former teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing – Bobby Labonte – to finish 11th.

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet Impala for SHR, finished third after leading three times for 18 laps. In fact, Newman held the lead on the very last lap, but coming off turn four, his challengers used sling-shot moves to scoot around his WIX Filters Chevy, relegating him to third.

The Budweiser Shootout is an exhibition race featuring the following, with eligibility based on a driver having competed in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series within the last two seasons:

· The 12 drivers who qualified for the 2010 Chase for the Championship

· Past NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champions

· Past Budweiser Shootout winners

· Past Daytona 500 winners

· Past Coke Zero 400 winners

· Past Rookies of the Year

Newman earned his way into the race by winning the 2008 Daytona 500. Stewart is a three-time winner of the Budweiser Shootout and a two-time Sprint Cup champion.

This year’s field included 24 drivers.

Kurt Busch won the Budweiser Shootout to score his first Budweiser Shootout victory and his first restrictor-plate win of any kind. Defending Daytona 500 champion Jamie McMurray finished .058 of a second behind Busch in the runner-up spot, while Newman, Jimmie Johnson and Greg Biffle rounded out the top-five. Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer and Bobby Labonte comprised the remainder of the top-10.

• Newman earned his entry into the 33rd annual Budweiser Shootout, his ninth start in the non-points event, via his 2008 victory in the 50th Running of the Daytona 500. Newman is also eligible for the Shootout via his 2002 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year title.

• In eight starts in the Shootout, Newman has posted two top-five finishes. The nine-year Sprint Cup veteran finished fourth in 2003. His best finish came in 2005, when he scored a second-place effort. Newman finished .199 seconds behind race-winner and five-time and reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

• In 18 starts in point-paying Cup races at Daytona, Newman has one win (February 2008), two top-five finishes and three top-10s.

• Three Victories in Three Series at Daytona – While Newman’s recent starts at the famed 2.5-mile racetrack haven’t ended on a high note, the South Bend, Ind., native has savored the sweet taste of victory on three separate occasions in three different divisions. Newman earned his first Daytona victory in the ARCA Series in 2001. He started 11th and led 12 laps en route to his first win in his first-ever start at the superspeedway. Three years later, Newman won the season-opening IROC Series race at Daytona in February 2004. He started on the pole and led five laps during the 40-lap event to claim his first and only win in the IROC Series. It was four seasons later, in 2008, when Newman scored the biggest victory of his racing career by winning the 50th Running of the Daytona 500. Newman led just eight laps during the 200-lap race. He took the lead for the final time on the last lap on the backstretch of the 2.5-mile superspeedway and never looked back as he took the checkered flag.

• Time for a Reversal of Fortune for the No. 39 – To say that restrictor-plate tracks – particularly Daytona – have been a real sore spot for Newman and the No. 39 team could be a bit of an understatement. In the five races Newman has run at Daytona since joining SHR in 2009, the team has never finished better than 19th and has three finishes of 26th or worse. The team’s first outing during Daytona Speedweeks 2009 can serve as a microcosm of what the team has endured each trip to the Florida racetrack.  Here’s a look at the trials and tribulations Newman’s team faced that week:  the No. 39 was involved in an on-track incident in his Gatorade Duel qualifying race while running in third place, forcing him to a backup car for the Daytona 500. Then, in the final practice of the weekend, he had a right-rear tire explode, forcing him to a second backup car in as many days. He finished that race in 36th. Since then, Newman has finished 20th (July 2009 Coke Zero 400), 19th (not finishing the 2010 Budweiser Shootout), 34th (not finishing the 2010 Daytona 500) and 26th (not finishing the July 2010 Coke Zero 400).

• Flashback to 2008: A Daytona Dream-Come-True – On Feb. 17, 2008, Newman achieved a lifelong dream by capturing a win in the 50th Running of the Daytona 500. Newman, who had led only a handful of laps during the 200-lap event, took the lead on the backstretch of the 2.5-mile superspeedway on the final lap and was pushed to victory by then-teammate Kurt Busch, with Newman’s father Greg spotting. It was, without a doubt, the biggest moment of Newman’s racing career and it provided a huge sense of accomplishment as everything he and his family and friends had worked for over the years culminated in a large celebration in the sport’s most famous victory lane.

• Newman has a career total of 14 wins, 46 poles, 72 top-fives and 135 top-10 finishes in 332 Sprint Cup starts. His most recent Sprint Cup win came 29 races ago at Phoenix International Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., to end a winless streak of 77 races dating back to the 50th running of the Daytona 500 in February 2008.

“You Must Be a Local” – Three members of the WIX Filters Racing Team are from Florida:

• Crew chief Tony Gibson is from Daytona Beach, Fla.
• Mechanic and driver support Jay Guarneri is from Naples, Fla.
• Engine tuner Jay Nolan is from Jacksonville, Fla.

Ryan Newman's WIX Filters car at Bristol. photo courtesy http://www.facebook.com/wixfilters

KANNAPOLIS, N.C.- To say that restrictor-plate racing has been the Achilles’ heel for Ryan Newman and his No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) team is without a doubt an understatement.

For Newman, it’s been an ongoing series of “wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time” incidents at both superspeedways on the circuit since joining SHR in 2009. In fact, over the past two seasons, the South Bend, Ind., native and his No. 39 Chevrolet have become the poster child for rotten luck and hard crashes at the high-speed racetracks at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.

It’s just bad racing luck, Newman says. Good thing for Newman and his No. 39 team that luck can change.

As Newman & Co., prepares for its third go-round at Daytona Speedweeks, there is confidence that this year’s February outing to the famed “World Center of Racing” will be the charm.

So it seems somewhat appropriate that the team kicks off Speedweeks with WIX Filters on board the No. 39 Chevrolet Impala as the primary sponsor for Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout. The team will definitely appreciate the help from WIX as it works to “filter” out all the bad luck it has endured at Daytona and turn its racing luck around.

Of course, Daytona hasn’t been all bad for Newman during his first nine years in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In fact, Newman has tasted victory at Daytona and celebrated in the sport’s most famous victory lane on three different occasions.

Before joining the full-time ranks of the Cup Series, Newman earned his first win at Daytona in the ARCA Series in 2001. In his first-ever outing at the high-banked superspeedway, Newman started 11^th and led the final 12 laps of the 80-lap event to win by more than two-tenths of a second.

Three years later, in 2004, Newman scored his only IROC Series victory at Daytona.

And then three years ago, in 2008, Newman celebrated the greatest moment of his racing career at the historic 2.5-mile oval. On that February evening, Newman achieved a lifelong dream when he stole the lead on the backstretch on the final lap of the season-opening race. He never looked back, winning the 50^th Running of the Daytona 500.

It is that victory that earned Newman his berth in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout.

There’s no doubt Newman knows what it takes to win at Daytona. But, as Newman says, the driver and the team only control a very small part of what the outcome will be at the 2.5-mile layout. A lot of what it takes to win at Daytona is pure racing luck, and Newman and his No. 39 WIX Filters team just need a little help to “filter” out all that bad luck to make room for the good.

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

Your team has endured a lot of bad luck at Daytona since you joined Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009. How important is it for you to turn that luck around and start off this year on a high note?

“There’s a lot of emphasis on Speedweeks. Everybody brings their A-game. Everybody wants to get off to a good start but, ultimately, you control only a part of it and racing luck controls the other part of it. And Daytona is a tough place. It always has been. And, honestly, I think our last two years have been bad luck in the way our season has started. Last year, starting the season, we got involved in a wreck. And, the year before, we got involved in multiple wrecks before the 500 ever started and we were on our third racecar by the time we took the green flag for the 500. Both years, we have had to dig ourselves out of that hole. Two years ago, we did that. This past year, we didn’t. We won in Phoenix but did not put ourselves in the Chase. You never know what’s going to happen. That’s why we all enjoy NASCAR Sprint Cup racing and, hopefully, it’s a good start to the season for us this year.”

Everyone is always optimistic heading into a new season. What is your level of optimism going into Daytona?

“If you look back at our last two races of 2010, we have a lot to be excited about. I would probably even go back further than that. If you look back to Bristol in August, I think our team was really coming on strong. We had some really good runs and some really good finishes, I think, with the exception of a mistake I made early in the race at Charlotte and losing our rear gear at Martinsville, we would have been a top-five car in each one of those last 10 races. I think we have momentum on our side going into 2011, so I look forward to it. It’s the strongest end to a season I’ve had in a long time and I think that carries over into the start of the next.”

Talk about Daytona’s new surface and all the changes we’re going to see when the teams get to Daytona. Does that make the Budweiser Shootout an even more important race for you and your team?

“I think it will be the biggest potential change of events at Daytona that we’ve ever had with the asphalt and new nose, the restrictor plate being as small as it is, the fuel cans and the lack of that extra man coming over to be the catch can man. I think there are a lot of things that have changed up in reference to the tires. If you look at what we are going to go through at Daytona, it might be two sets of tires. The things we typically did we don’t necessarily have to do, so the emphasis gets put on other areas to be better or faster.

“The new Daytona is definitely going to change the racing. It’s going to change the way we race. It’s going to change a lot of things in respect to the Daytona 500 but, in the end, there’s still going to be a victor and we’re still going to see a lot of drama and unexpected things happening, just like any other time in NASCAR. To me, just that extra grip and the way we draft is going to make it more like Talladega, but it’s still not going to be Talladega. It’s going to be Daytona.

“And the whole fuel can situation is going to be very critical this year with the way that can inserts and needs to be pulled out. So there’s emphasis this year, specifically, at Daytona and throughout the season, in areas we have not had to worry about or have not had to work on, so those are going to be the things I think can make a difference. You could see something unexpected happen.

“We tested down there, but we never got more than two or three drafting in a pack, so I think being part of the Budweiser Shootout is going to be a really big deal. Not just to see how the cars react in the draft, but also to see what happens on pit road with the new fuel can. The Shootout will be the first live action for the pit crews and, while I know they’ve been practicing with this for quite some time, now, I think they will learn a lot in the Shootout. There are still a lot of unknowns for the teams, so being part of the Budweiser Shootout is a big deal and it potentially will give us an idea of maybe what we can expect in the Duels and then again for the Daytona 500, both on the track and in the pits. To be honest, everybody talks about how excited they are to kick off the season and get to Daytona but, to me, I think everyone is anxious. We want to see how all the pieces of the puzzle are going to fit together.”

The biggest win of your career came at Daytona in 2008 when you won the 50^th Running of the Daytona 500. Talk about that day and what the win means to you.

“Winning at Daytona was an incredible experience. I won the ARCA race there in 2001, but nothing will ever compare to winning the 50^th Running of the Daytona 500 in 2008. That was a dream-come-true. After the race, I said I could hear my dad’s teardrops over the radio while he spotted for me as I came to the start-finish line to win, and I think that shows the importance of this race and this place to me and my entire family. I always said that just competing at Daytona was an honor. When I was a kid, my dad would bring me to Daytona for the 500 and we would make fake passes with construction paper and glitter so I could sneak into the garage and meet the drivers. Winning the Daytona 500 was a dream-come-true. I still can’t put it all into words, but I would love to do it again.

“For me, it was the culmination of everything that me and my family had sacrificed for all those years of building my racing career and getting me to that moment. I still get speechless when I talk about it. But winning one Daytona isn’t the goal. You want to win every race. It’s obviously the biggest win of my career, and it was a great day. I believe Dale Jarrett had said the second one can be sweeter than the first. So I’m looking forward to getting down to Daytona and trying to get that second Daytona 500 win. But it would be pretty cool to get the other wins that I haven’t gotten there before, too. I would love to start my season with a Budweiser Shootout win.”

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

How does running the Budweiser Shootout benefit you in your preparation for the Daytona 500 the following week?

“Anytime you get track time, it’s going to help us. If the race does nothing else, it will help us pick a drafting buddy who we can work with through all of Speedweeks, whether it’s our own teammate or someone else who we really draft well with. Sometimes it’s not another Chevrolet that you draft well with. Sometimes it ends up being another manufacturer that you really, really run well with in the draft. So the Budweiser Shootout really helps us pick that partner we may go into the Duels and the 500 with.

“It also helps speed up the process of getting your race trim figured out for the Daytona 500, which is obviously our sport’s crown jewel. Everything we do in the Shootout, we can learn from and transfer right over to the 500 car. We may take a few more risks in the Shootout because it is a short race but, for the most part, everything we do in that race – good or bad – we learn from. Not only does it help us figure out the race package, but it gives our pit crew extra practice in race conditions and, with the fueling change this year, that’s a really big deal. You know, I was a gas man for 12 years. I actually went out to pit practice one day to see what it was and how to do it. I got hung up twice trying to use the new fuel can. It’s very different. Our engineers and our pit crew have been working really hard to figure out the best case scenario of how to make the pit stop work, and being in the Shootout is a big deal because it’s their first live action. It’s kind of like a free race for all of us to make sure we are on top of our game.”

The No. 39 team has had bad racing luck every time it has been to Daytona. How important is it to come out of Daytona with a good finish, and how much does Speedweeks set the tone for the season?

“It’s everything for us. We have yet to go down there and have good luck. We have always gone down there and qualified really well and run really strong, but we just haven’t had any results. It’s big for us. If we can come out of there with a top-15 finish, I’d be tickled to death because that would be almost 20 spots better than we have ever finished. I’ve told a lot of people that and they think I’m joking, but that’s what I would like for us to do. It’s so hard to overcome a bad finish at Daytona. The past two seasons, we have gone to Daytona and we have had a bad finish and then we’ve put ourselves in a really big hole. We want to change that cycle. If we can go to Daytona and come out with a decent finish, I will be pleased.”

The No. 39 team ended the 2010 season with a lot of momentum you believe will carry over to the start of this season. Do you feel that, if you have a good run in the Budweiser Shootout, it will be huge for this team and perhaps be the start of turning your luck around on restrictor-plate tracks?

“Absolutely. If we can go through the Budweiser Shootout and run strong  and come out of there unscathed, that’s going to set the tone for the rest of Speedweeks. It builds momentum. It builds confidence. And that will just carry right on through the week. It just keeps multiplying from there. Hopefully, we can go down there and do that and be strong the rest of the week.”

Does the team have any good luck charms that you guys are taking to Daytona in hopes of changing your racing luck?

“I think a couple of guys have gotten a few things they’re going to bring down to Daytona with them and even stick in the car to try and change our luck. They’re just going to try something different to see if it helps. The racing gods will either smile on you or frown on you and, hopefully, it’s our turn for them to smile on us. We finished Talladega last fall (23^rd), which was something we hadn’t been able to do previously, so, hopefully, that’s a sign our days of wrecking and destroying racecars at the restrictor-plate tracks are over. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

Being from Daytona and growing up around the racetrack, does that make Speedweeks and these races more important to you, personally?

“I’ve been going down there for years. And I’ve been fortunate enough to work with teams, and we’ve won the Daytona 500 twice down there. I’ve run well down there and I’ve run badly but, anytime you go there and you get to showcase your team in front of the home people – friends and family – it means a lot. No matter what kind of sport it is, it’s always nice to go run well in front of your home crowd. You know, when you go to Speedweeks each year, there are four goals you want to accomplish – win the Shootout, qualify on the front row for the 500, win your Duel and win the Daytona 500. We have just as good a shot as anybody. So, the first goal at hand is to win the Shootout, and that would be awesome. I can’t think of a better way to build momentum for the rest of Speedweeks and the season.”

Ryan Newman’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway Performance Profile:

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

To kick off the partnership, WIX Filters will be the primary sponsor of Newman and the No. 39 team in the Feb. 12 Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. The invitation-only event marks the start of the 2011 NASCAR season, and Newman earned his way into the non-points race by virtue of his 2008 Daytona 500 victory.

“Winning the 50th running of the Daytona 500 is my greatest achievement so far in NASCAR,” said Newman, the only college graduate driving full-time in the Sprint Cup Series, as he holds a vehicle structure engineering degree from Purdue University. “The opportunity to run the Shootout gives us more knowledge to make another run at a Daytona 500 victory. Having WIX Filters join us as a technical partner at Stewart-Haas Racing provides an immediate advantage, so it makes sense to start the season with them on board our No. 39 Chevy.”

WIX Filters will rejoin Newman and the No. 39 team as primary sponsor for the Aug. 21 Sprint Cup race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where Newman is a two-time Sprint Cup race victor and a one-time pole winner.

When not serving as a primary sponsor, WIX Filters will have brand identification beneath the hoods of both Stewart-Haas Racing entries and on the sleeve of Newman’s uniform.

“With Stewart-Haas Racing, we have an excellent partner to help promote our brand, 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,” said Jeff Blocher, brand manager for WIX Filters. “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.”

“WIX Filters’ involvement with Stewart-Haas Racing is more than skin-deep,” said Bobby Hutchens, the director of competition for Stewart-Haas Racing who holds a mechanical engineering degree from North Carolina State University. “We use WIX Filters to help maintain our edge. Advantages in this sport are measured in thousandths of a second, and a lot can be gained by having the best filters on our racecars. Efficiency equals horsepower, and you can never have enough horsepower.”

Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), hung in the back of the pack for much of the race, hoping to avoid the multi-car accidents that are commonplace in restrictor-plate racing at Daytona.

With 12 laps remaining, Newman and his crew chief, Tony Gibson, decided it was time to make their move toward the front of the field. Unfortunately, as soon as Newman started toward the front, trouble seemed to find him.

On lap 71, Newman was involved in a minor accident with John Andretti and Michael Waltrip, but escaped having any major damage occur to his machine.

When the race restarted on lap 74, Newman continued his charge toward the front, but was involved in an eight-car accident in turn three. Newman’s car never actually made contact with the outside wall, but made plenty of contact with other cars as the No. 39 Chevrolet suffered heavy damage all around.

“I think we had a good car,” Newman said. “We lost track position in the first 25 laps, but I didn’t try to get it back. I was hanging in the back until the end to try to avoid all the accidents. Unfortunately, when we started to move to the front, we still got caught up in an accident. It’s too bad because I think we had a good Haas Automation Chevrolet.”

Newman’s teammate, Tony Stewart, driver of the No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet Impala, finished ninth.

Stewart, a three-time winner of the Budweiser Shootout, led twice for six laps in the 76-lap race around the 2.5-mile oval before scoring his 10th top-10 finish in 11 starts in the event. The Shootout was extended by one lap due to a green-white-checker finish.

Next up for Newman and Stewart is the Gatorade Duel — twin 150-mile heat races that set the majority of the 43-car Daytona 500
field.

“I wouldn’t say we had a very strong car, but we did get good track position,” said Stewart after logging his 10th top-10 finish in 11 career Budweiser Shootout starts. “We had to be in clean air. We got really tight even if we were second in line.”

With 10 laps remaining, the handling on Stewart’s red No. 14 machine tightened up considerably. A caution on lap 71 allowed Stewart to come to pit road for a four-tire change and fuel fill-up. Both would allow his Old Spice/Office Depot ride to handle better, as the new tires would provide better grip and the heavy fuel load would weigh down the rear of the car. The downside was that of those who pitted with Stewart, which was all but two of the lead-lap cars, many took only two tires, leaving Stewart 13th when the race restarted on lap 75 in a green-white-checkered shootout.

Time would be of the essence for Stewart when the green flag dropped, but when a multi-car crash happened as the field came through turns three and four of the 2.5-mile oval, the race was effectively over. The yellow caution flag came out, another lap was run, and then the checkered flag fell. The race was over, and the scoring pylon displayed a ninth-place finish for Stewart.

“We have a lot of work to do this week,” Stewart said. ‘re going to take “Weadvantage of every minute we get.”

Stewart’s SHR teammate, Ryan Newman, fared worse, as he was caught up in the accident that ultimately ended the race. The driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala finished 19th, but was credited with a DNF (Did Not Finish) as he had to pull his car into the garage area two laps short of the finish.

Next up for Stewart and Co. is the Gatorade Duel — twin 150-mile heat races that set the majority of the 43-car Daytona 500 field.

Part 1

Part 2

The Budweiser Shootout is an exhibition race featuring the top-six cars from each of the four manufacturers – Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and Toyota – along with a wild card entry from each manufacturer that goes to a past champion. If no past champion, the manufacturer’s seventh-highest placing car in 2008 car owner points earns a starting berth. This year’s field included an event-record 28 drivers, with Stewart nailing down his starting spot thanks to his 2005 Sprint Cup championship.

“I’ll take that for a debut night,” said Stewart, a three-time winner of the non-point Budweiser Shootout. “It wasn’t the prettiest third-place, but we were in the right spot at the right time. We know what we need to work on for the Daytona 500, and now we have a good start on it.”

Stewart’s third-place finish was his fourth consecutive top-three finish in the Budweiser Shootout and his eighth top-five in 10 Shootout appearances.

“I had fun all night,” Stewart said. “I was real comfortable with the car. I’m excited because I know our 500 car is better than this one. I think we know what areas we need to work on Wednesday and what we will concentrate on Thursday. That will give us a really big gauge for what want to do on Friday and Saturday. I’m excited about it. We have a direction and we got the first one out of the way. Everybody has the cobwebs knocked out of them. It was an awesome debut for Old Spice and Office Depot.”

Stewart managed to dodge seven accidents throughout the 78-lap race, which was extended three laps past its scheduled distance due to a green-white-checkered finish, and made a stirring drive during the final green flag run. After David Stremme and Greg Biffle were involved in an accident on lap 74, Stewart, who was outside the top-10, pitted for four fresh tires and restarted the race in 15th-place.

NASCAR officials announced the race would conclude via a green-white-checkered finish, so when the green flag came out for the final time on lap 76, Stewart knew he had only two laps to get to the front. During the two-lap sprint around the 2.5-mile oval, he managed to pick up 12 spots and dodge a final lap accident on the backstretch that involved four cars.

“We restarted there in the back on that last run and got near the front in a couple of laps,” Stewart said. “We got that run and we were able to pick which line we wanted. We got the one out of three lines that moved, so it worked out for us.”

Despite coming up two spots short of victory in his first race as a driver/owner, Stewart was still pleased to lead laps and work with his new team.

“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited,” Stewart said. “I guess it wasn’t really until the caution came out and we were already back to ninth or 10th. It was like, ‘We just led the first race we were in.’ That is a big moment for anybody. Anybody that takes on a big undertaking like this, the first time you lead a race – especially the first race out of the box and lead it in the first 20 laps – that is something to really be proud of.

“I was really happy with our Hendrick engine, and I was very, very impressed with Darian Grubb (crew chief) and the crew tonight. It doesn’t even feel like it was our first race together. It was like we carried on from something else. It was a great night for Old Spice and Office Depot.”

Stewart’s SHR teammate – Ryan Newman – was forced to look on from the No. 14 team’s pit box, as his switch from Dodge to Chevrolet for 2009 precluded him from this year’s race.

Kevin Harvick won the Budweiser Shootout to score his first victory since the 2007 Sprint All-Star Race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway near Charlotte. Jamie McMurray finished second, while Stewart, Jeff Gordon and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top-five. Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch comprised the remainder of the top-10.

ON HOW HE FEELS HE WILL RUN BEING WITH A NEW TEAM FOR 2009
“I think with our resources from a mechanical standpoint and our resources from a personnel standpoint that we will be competitive right out of the box and we’ll be competitive throughout the season. I feel we should without any doubt have an opportunity to be in the Chase. That opportunity is up to us to succeed.”

ALL THE TEAMS ARE SAYING THE SAME THING SO WHAT MAKES YOUR TEAM DIFFERENT?

“Because of the people. I mean if you take the mechanical resource part of it, it can be exactly the same. You can see that within the own mother ship with Hendrick, the No. 5 car last year didn’t do what the No. 24 (Jeff Gordon), No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) and the No. 88 (Dale Earnhardt, Jr.) did so that’s not just a satellite team situation it’s a personnel situation.”

YOU’VE WON A LOT OF DIFFERENT RACES THROUGHOUT YOUR CAREER, CAN YOU DESCRIBE WHAT ITS LIKE TO WIN THE DAYTONA 500? IS THAT A DIFFERENT FEELING FROM WINNING ANOTHER RACE?
“It is. I mean it’s the ultimate in my opinion. To me it was, I stated it before and people have asked me how long did it take to sink in and it didn’t. It happened as soon as I crossed the start/finish line. I knew what I had achieved as a person. I knew the effort that it took by all the people around me throughout my racing career to help me get to that point. The people that bought my first uniform owned a Pizza King in South Bend, Indiana gave us I think it was $400 dollars, those people. The people that bought me a right rear midget tire for Christmas. Just the people that gave us credit cards to use for gas to get back and forth to Phoenix. All those people I feel were part of the team that got me to victory lane that day and that’s what was really special. That was special that race because of the importance of that race verses Loudon or Charlotte or Pocono or whatever.”

IS THERE ANY OTHER WIN THAT STANDS OUT IN YOUR MIND?
“The All-Star race was really special because that was the race we weren’t expected to win which was kind of like Daytona. We weren’t even in the race to begin with. We beat everybody at the home field on a given night and we did it because of the pride and the money not because of the points and there’s a lot to be said about that.”

IF YOU GUYS DON’T TEST WHAT DO YOU DO TO MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE TO THE POINT WHERE YOU NEED TO BE, WHAT TELLS YOU YOU’RE GOOD?
“It’s kind of unique because it kind of got to a point where teams had to have test teams and teams had to have a separate group of people to do these things and now we’re not testing and as I felt always before, 90 percent of your performance was based on the work that got done in the shop not the work that got done during a test, the work that was done by a test team. It was getting to a point as drivers we weren’t even going to a test, the test team drivers were doing it. Then you get a mixture of feedback and a combination of questions that go along with what was he feeling? Is Ryan going to feel the same thing? I feel that it’s back to old school racing. You run what you brung. You show up, you have your stuff ready and the guy that is most ready will probably win.”

HOW MUCH IS SIMULATION THE SAME?
“Well simulation is just another tool for homework. It’s the modern day calculator for race teams. What we do with our simulations is just another way of preparing for the race. It’s another way of getting ready and doing the homework for the next test or the next quiz. Its just practice for qualifying in my opinion.”

YOU SAID THE DIFFERENCE WAS THE PEOPLE, YOU WERE WORKING WITH ROGER PENSKE AND ALL . . .
“You can have the best people in the world and if you don’t have the chemistry and the relationships to go along with it then you have I won’t say nothing but then you don’t have what you want. I look forward to starting that opportunity all over again. I kind of halfway quoted somebody, I don’t remember the exact quote but the bottom line is it’s impossible to start a new beginning but you can begin to start a new ending. I feel that is what I have in my career to be able to build on the things that I haven’t accomplished and try to achieve those things with a group of people that is searching for the same thing.”

HOW MUCH OF A HANDICAP IS IT NOT BEING IN THE SHOOTOUT?
“Well it’s only half because Tony is in it. To me personally it’s only half of a handicap but I think that I have the confidence, the car and the people. We can unload in race trim on Wednesday or whatever it is and be ready to be a Gatorade Duel winner on Thursday.”

DOES IT BOTHER YOU WITH BEING THE LAST YEAR’S DAYTONA 500 CHAMPION THAT YOU ARE NOT ELIGIBLE TO RACE IN THE SHOOTOUT?
“I’m not happy with the way they organized the Shootout. If we’re going back to last year we made this statement that we’re going back to racing old school and some of the old school things, going back to the old school fans. I don’t see that in the formation of the new Shootout. To me, it’s a thank you pat on the back to the manufacturers out there which in the end doesn’t make it the ideal race in my opinion.”

HOW IS THIS ECONOMY AFFECTING YOUR TEAM AND AFFECTING THE SPORT AND HOW WORRIED ARE YOU ABOUT IT?
“I hear everybody complain and I mean everybody complain about how bad the economy is and I don’t think it’s that bad. I think it’s just not as good as it was. I think that everybody from an organizational standpoint whether its NASCAR, Stewart-Haas Racing, Hendrick or Roush whatever has to keep their pencil sharp and put themselves in a position to where they can be strong for the future. I think the economy is going to have more of an effect six months from now than it will now. If the economy is as bad as everyone says it is then realistically we are living off of our reserves whether it’s financially or whatever and we’ll have to see who has the biggest stockpile of reserves. I’m no economic adviser but that’s just my gut hunch about it.”

HAS THAT AFFECTED PEOPLE?
“I think it’s mentally affected everybody more than it has physically. Maybe this is my opinion but when we go to the gas station and we can’t get a gallon of gas and a gallon of milk then the economy is really hurting. Now gas is half of what it was last fall when the economy was good and there’s no shortage of milk. I mean how bad is it really? That’s just my gut feel. And I’m probably a little naïve from the standpoint that I think NASCAR spoils you a little bit. Spoils me personally, you know my lifestyle is not the same as somebody that is greeting at Wal-Mart but in the end I don’t think the economy is that bad. The cream is always going to rise to the top and I just think it separates it off from the weak individual. It’s like a minor plague I guess.”

ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT THE DRUG POLICY?
“I don’t have concerns about that but I know a friend of mine was questioned after he was tested and come to find out it was because he eats poppy seed bagels every morning. Who would have thought that? No matter what the banned substances are I don’t worry about that. I don’t take substances to have to worry about that personally. What I would be worried about is what you could combine not just over the counter but food-wise to set off the system. I’m glad that NASCAR is doing it and I hope they continue to refine it to the point that the entire garage can be drug-free and eventually because of that the entire grandstand will be drug-free. I’ve never drank in my life and I’ve never done anything to become high in my life so I’m a little different than your average driver or person.”

EARLIER DID YOU CALL HENDRICK THE MOTHER SHIP?
“Well I was referring to not from our standpoint but from a big group stand point. Roush is another mother ship, there’s different ways of looking at it.”

HOW MUCH STRONGER ARE THEY WITH MARK MARTIN ON BOARD, IS IT A YANKEE’S TYPE LINE UP NOW?
“No, I wouldn’t say that. I think Mark brings different things to the table from the experience standpoint that another driver may not have or could have but in the end as I’ve said before it’s not just about Mark Martin it wasn’t just about Casey Mears and it wasn’t just about Kyle Busch it was about the people that surround him and as an organization you can only be so strong. You look at what they did last year it was still pretty amazing.”

SO MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE IN THE CAR AND DIFFERENT SPONSORS THIS YEAR, DO YOU HAVE TO MAKE A MENTAL NOTE OF WHO IS IN WHAT CAR?
“No because you’re still racing the cars and you are partially racing the driver’s but you still have to put yourself in the position to go around them.”

DON’T YOU RACE SOME PEOPLE DIFFERENTLY THAN OTHERS?
“You figure that out as a driver pretty quick. You’re only responsible for knowing 42 other people so that’s not the rocket science part of it. Because of the economy or the sponsors or whatever doesn’t change the way you race people or change the way that you think about racing people.”

WITH ALL THE CHANGES FROM LAST YEAR DO YOU APPROACH THIS YEAR’S RACE ANY DIFFERENTLY?
“I feel that going into this year that I’m trying to achieve the same things that I did last year. It’s like I don’t even take into account what I did last year. I’m still as dedicated and have the same drive that I had last year having not won it. I don’t see it changing me or the way I driver the race or race anybody else I just see the perception of me change because I have won the race.”

YOU TALKED ABOUT THAT YOU CAN HAVE THE BEST EQUIPMENT AND THE BEST PEOPLE, WHEN YOU START A NEW TEAM WITH A NEW OWNER AND A NEW CREW HOW SOON CAN YOU GUYS BUILD THAT CHEMISTRY?
“You don’t know that. It happens. It happened with me in 2001 basically with Matt Borland and Michael Nelson and that group of guys. It just happens. There’s no boiling the water and waiting for it to mix. There’s none of that. It just happens. I don’t see it being anything special other than it just happening. It’s tough to explain. Without sounding like a nerd, a long equation you’ve got this formula and you have so many variables that are mixed up in that formula and you have the car and the people and the chemistry and getting to the race track, there’s a million plus variables out there and if you just miss one of them you have to compensate with the other. Chemistry is the one thing that stands, that no matter what your people are or who your people are or how smart they are, no matter how good your car turns left and goes forward if you don’t have that chemistry you’re not going to have the right calls. It’s like having the best gun in the world and not being able to aim it correctly. That’s what that chemistry does for you.”

WHEN CAMERAS ARE RIDING WITH YOU CAN YOU EXPLAIN WHAT YOU FEEL THAT THE CAMERAS CAN’T?
“It’s tough. That’s a good question. I guess the sense of speed from 140 miles per hour on up you don’t feel a change. The sense of closeness, it’s no different than being on the interstate. What you really have to put in perspective is being on the edge. I would expect anybody that’s been to war or anything like that knows what it’s like to be on edge and knows what it’s like to be close, knows what it’s like to have a shell whistle past your head or something like that. You have to know that edge. That’s what separates what we do at 180 miles per hour with the people that are running 105 miles per hour at a local short track. It’s everything to the next degree, to the highest degree.”

YOU’RE A FAIRLY SMART GUY RIGHT OR WRONG, HAVE YOU TRIED FIGURING OUT THE WHOLE TOP-35 SITUATION THIS YEAR, WHO IS IN AND WHO IS OUT?
“No, it gets crazier every year and honestly I shoot myself in my own foot by saying it I wish it wasn’t the top-35. I think you could take the top-10, 15 or 20 and then make everybody else race their way in. We’re here to race.”

EVEN IF IT INVOLVED YOU HAVING TO RACE YOUR WAY IN?
“Absolutely. That’s why I said I’m kind of shooting myself in my own foot. We’re here to race. You should be here to race your way into the race. That’s how it all starts. That’s how it’s always started and part of that has been taken away. There’s still a group of people that are racing their way in but I don’t think that you should be locked in. I’m guessing if you ask Tony Stewart the same question he would say the same thing in reference to the champions provisional. He rather race his way into a race and be deserving of it than to be locked in because of what he achieved in the past.”

IT’S NOT JUST THAT IT’S PEOPLE SELLING POINTS, SELLING THE TOP-35 POSITIONS.
“It’s become a business. You saw what Bill Davis and Penske did here in the last week. It’s just things you wouldn’t expect. People talk about how bad the economy is, it must not be that bad.”

IS THERE A NEED TO HAVE THE SPONSOR’S PROTECTED WHEN IT COMES TO QUALIFYING?
“That’s why I said you do 10, 15, 20 or whatever but 35 you’re only allowing eight people to race their way in. There would be much more drama and much more excitement if there were 23 of them racing their way in.”

WE HAD A GUY LITERALLY FIND OUT THIS MORNING THAT HE WAS LOCKED IN FOR THE FIRST FIVE RACES AND HE COULD STILL GET BUMPED OUT IF SOMETHING WAS TO HAPPEN.
“That’s not the way racing is supposed to be in my opinion.”

HAS ANYBODY ASKED ABOUT THE HAND YET?
“No, do you want to know? I have a big fireplace in my house and I built the heat exchanger. So I have a pipe that pushes air out of my subfloor in my house. It goes up into the fireplace because fireplaces are very inefficient. I just built a heat exchanger which is just bumper pipe, two and one half inch bumper pipe and it blows air out into the house. I have a screen in the front of the fire place that’s got some vertical bars, those pipes were just a little off-set so I hadn’t put all the braces in yet and I put a pipe inside the bumper pipe and was pushing it to bend it to straighten it out to get them perfectly lined up. Well that pipe slid in, that’s a two and half inch pipe right there. I just missed this part of my hand.”

TRYING TO USE THE ENGINEERING DEGREE.
“Trying to.”

ITS JUST THE COORDINATION WAS OFF.
“But in the end I have 370 degree air coming out of my fire place in my house.”

JUST DON’T GET TOO CLOSE TO IT.
“It’s not as hot as you think.”

WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO WATCH THE SHOOTOUT? ARE YOU GOING TO WATCH FROM TONY’S (STEWART) BOX?
“It will be somewhere around Tony’s box or his trailer or whatever. It will probably be on pit lane with checking out his tires and things like that.”

IS IT BOTHERSOME THAT YOU WON’T BE RACING?
“It would be bothersome if I thought the way the system was, was based off of racing. But people getting into it because the seat that they’re in is not the way I think it’s supposed to be. You don’t change teams and end up with Derek Jeter’s number and end up in the All-Star game. You don’t do it.”

WHAT WILL YOU WATCH FOR AND TRY TO LEARN?
“I feel like I can learn half as much as I did before. We’ll have the information from Tony’s (Stewart) car and obviously the Hendrick cars but I want to be able to feel it firsthand. You know Wednesday is going to be very important for us from a race trim standpoint and a people standpoint making sure that we’re competitive.”

WHEN YOU CAME TO NASCAR YOU DIDN’T NECESSARILY BEHAVE LIKE A SHY ROOKIE ON THE TRACK, YOU DIDN’T LET ANYBODY PUSH YOU AROUND AND INTIMIDATE YOU. WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT SCOTT SPEED?
“I think Scott did a really good job last year racing. He was very respectful, he did a good job. In reference to the give and take part of racing which is something I didn’t learn off the bat, Tony and I even had our differences on that. We weren’t raised that way, we never knew the concept of it at least I didn’t and he out teached me. I think Scott did a good job last year. I don’t see him being any different this year than last year.”

AS THE NEW CAR HAS EVOLVED, DO YOU FEEL LIKE THOSE WITH DIRT EXPERIENCE HAVE AN ADVANTAGE BEING ABLE TO DIAL IT IN?
“I think the dirt experience helps a little bit but anybody that’s driven a race car a lot and has been competitive and has won has driven a car that is loose. So anybody that has done that is probably here. To me Carl Edwards, Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch are some of the best at doing it. Ironically they are the three that won the most races last year. Obviously you have to have the equipment, that’s the most important part of being able to drive that car loose because it’s got to be fast. You can be loose and still be slow. I experienced that last year. The bottom line is I feel like it definitely helps but no matter who you are or no matter where you come from there’s always those drivers that make it to the top that can drive a car loose. Clint Bowyer for instance came from dirt Late Models, its dirt but he can run a car loose. Jeff Gordon, he came from open-wheel racing and he doesn’t like to run a car as loose as Jimmie Johnson does. It’s a known fact. It’s a personal preference in reference to the ability at the same time.”