DAYTONA SUCCESS: When you put KHI and Daytona together it only means one thing, success. Team owners Kevin and DeLana Harvick earned their first Nationwide Series victory at Daytona in 2005 with the help of Stewart. In his six starts behind the wheel of a KHI Chevrolet, Stewart has earned all four of the organization’s Daytona wins. In addition to their four wins KHI has 21 starts at the superspeedway, two poles, eight top-five and 11 top-10 finishes.

TAPOUT RETURNS: The Authentic Brands Group Company will venture back into the garage with KHI this weekend after earning a 12th-place finish during their Nationwide Series debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway back in March. TapouT will carry on their relationship with KHI later this summer at their first appearance in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Michigan International Speedway on August 20 with KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick behind the wheel.

CHASSIS HISTORY: The No. 9 KHI team will utilize chassis No. 065 this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.  This is the same chassis Stewart drove to victory lane at Daytona in February. Most recently this chassis competed at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway with Harvick behind the wheel. After charging to the front of the field and leading four laps, Harvick experienced engine issues which caused the team to retire early from the race and walk away with a 39th-place finish.

THOUGHTS FROM THE CREW CHIEF: Bruce Cook

How do you feel heading into Daytona being the defending race winner, and returning with Stewart?

“It’s hard to head into Daytona and not feel anxious. There is always the inevitable ‘big one,’ and you never know if you are going to fall victim to that. I have a lot of confidence in our team here at KHI, and I believe the equipment that we are bringing for Tony will allow him to run out front. I don’t know if there is a better combination for success than heading back with the winning chassis and driver. We’ll have three great teammates with us there to draft with, and I hope that will allow us to be up front at the end.”

THOUGHTS FROM THE DRIVER: Tony Stewart

Four of your 16 career wins at Daytona have come with KHI. Can you talk about their preparation leading into that race?

“It’s a small team size-wise, but as far as equipment and everything, Kevin and DeLana [Harvick] prepare cars that are some of the best cars in the Nationwide Series.”

A lot of your success at Daytona in the Nationwide Series has been with KHI. Any reason for that in particular, or is it a combination of a lot of things?

“I think it’s because of the attention to detail that Kevin and DeLana put into their racecars. You see it in their Truck Series program. You see it in their Nationwide Series program. They just do everything first class. I always have the confidence when I get in one of their cars that I’m in just as competitive a car as I could be with any other organization out there. They’re first class, and that’s the kind of group that you want to be with when you do a one-off race like this. You have that confidence. You don’t worry about anything. You know that they’re giving you the best equipment that you can get in that series. It’s always fun. It’s fun to drive for one of your good friends like Kevin and DeLana, but at the same time knowing that they’ve got really good racecars just tops it all off.”

HOW HAS PRACTICE GONE AND HAVE YOU NOTICED A BIG DIFFERENCE WITH THE NEW NOSE?:
“I don’t think we’ve noticed anything with the new nose so far. I think the tire is a little different — it has more grip so it’s really hard to compare apples to apples anymore at this point.”

WHAT HAPPENED WITH YOU AND MARK MARTIN AT THE END OF THE DAYTONA 500?:
“We just never got the bumpers locked together. We kept bouncing off each other. Then when a couple guys got a run through the center there, it kind of pulled him off of us even more and got us separated so bad that we never were able to get hooked back up together.”

WERE YOU DISAPPOINTED AT THE END OF THE RACE THAT YOU COULD NOT GET HOOKED BACK UP WITH MARK MARTIN?:
“You think? It’s over and we’re on to Phoenix now. We wish the outcome could have been different obviously, but the only thing we can do now is worry about what we’re doing this weekend. If you were paying attention to what we did last week then we’re not doing a good job this week right now.”

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THE INDYCAR CHALLENGE THAT WAS ANNOUNCED THIS WEEK?:
“I would love to say that I would love to go do it obviously, but it’s the same thing as running the Indy 500. If you don’t run three or four races, you’re probably not going to have a shot to win it anyway. Just going to do a one-off deal doesn’t make sense for us to do right now.”

DO YOU HAVE TO TREAT THIS WEEKEND AS A TWO-DAY SHOW?:
“Yeah you do. You just focus on these two sessions and then tomorrow just qualifying. I like this format. I like doing what we’re doing this weekend. I like running the practice on Friday and having qualifying tomorrow and the race Sunday. This is a format I like. I just like running all of our practice Friday. No particular reason other than I just like the easier day on Saturday to get ready for Sunday.”

HOW DO FEWER CAUTIONS CHANGE HOW YOU VIEW A RACE AS A DRIVER?:
“You’ve got too much time to think. We race the race as it goes. You don’t really worry about it. You run the race as it’s running and if you get a caution then you work on it. It’s no different than anybody else. You look back 10 years ago and it was that way too probably. It is what it is. You never know what’s going to happen so you race the race when you start the green flag run, you run like you’re going to run a full fuel run. You just play it as it happens. You don’t think about it, you don’t strategize different saying, ‘Well, we’re probably going to have two less cautions than what we had.’ We don’t think about that stuff. My job is the same. I still drive it and steer it the same, work the pedals the same — I still do the same thing in the car. The crew chief still does the same thing. You can’t count on cautions or count on not having cautions. You don’t know when that’s going to happen. It could happen after a half a lap, it could happen after 80 and a half laps. You just don’t know.”

WHEN DO YOU THINK YOU WILL HAVE A GOOD GAME PLAN ON HOW THE NEW PIT STOPS ARE GOING TO WORK?:
“We don’t talk about it. It’s still just when it’s full you go. Honestly, I don’t know. It’s not really my department. You have to ask the pit stop coaches and you would have to talk to the fuel guys and the crew chiefs — they’re the ones that are going to know how long they think it’s going to be until they get it all sorted out.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON PHOENIX GETTING REPAVED?:
“I said it a long time ago when they took the Goodyear bridge away and they took the exit of turn two away and changed it that they screwed it up at that point. Anything they do in the future is not really going to matter to me anymore. They already kind of messed it up.”

DO YOU LIKE THE PROGRESSIVE BANKING?:
“Only if it works. There’s no guarantee that putting progressive banking in is going to make it better. If the drawing I saw of the potential layout of what they’re working on — I’m not sure — it will be interesting to see how that plays out too. This has been an historic, famed race track out in the west for a long time and like I said, they already took away that mystique of it once and it looks like they are going to do it again.”

HOW MUCH DO THE REPAVES OF RACE TRACKS LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD?:
“Everybody’s good when tracks have grip. It’s been that way in every form of racing that I’ve ever seen. It’s when the crews have to work on the handling of the car and the drivers have to find ways of finding more grip or managing the grip they have — that’s when it separates the men from the boys so to speak. The hard thing is that it’s part of the cycle. You can’t just keep running race tracks. At some point they have to be repaved and we’re just in a mode the last four or five years where a lot of these race tracks have come to a time where they have to be repaved and they have to resurface them.”

DID THE SIDE DRAFT BREAK YOU AND MARK MARTIN APART ON THE FINAL RESTART AT DAYTONA?:
“We never did get going to begin with and then a couple cars got through the center there and it pulled Mark (Martin) back a little further yet. We just couldn’t get going. The intention was there, we just couldn’t get in line to get going at the end.”

WHAT DOES IT SAY THAT TREVOR BAYNE WON THE DAYTONA 500?:
“They were fast the whole time they were there during Speedweeks. The kid did everything right. He did everything exactly how he should do it and we were the ones that didn’t do it the way we were supposed to do it. That’s why he won the race is because he did a good job.”

DO YOU DO ANYTHING DIFFERENT IN PRACTICE WITH THE NEW WAY TO DETERMINE QUALIFYING ORDER?:
“No, honestly we’re not. We kind of talked about it two-thirds of the way through this practice in trying to get a game plan on what we’re doing for the day as weather could be iffy tomorrow. I think with the way the time is today, we’ll do our mock qualifying run at the end of the day and try to put our big number up at the end when the conditions should be at its best — when we go out at the end of the session. Hopefully we’ll be able to put up a good enough number so if we do have weather tomorrow we’ll be alright.”

WHAT IS IT ABOUT KEVIN HARVICK THAT HAS ALLOWED THE COMPANY TO STICK AROUND SO LONG?:
“I don’t think Kevin (Harvick) gets the credit he deserves for what they’ve built. To build it from the ground up — there’s a lot of organizations that have partnered up together and grown and got stronger, but him and Delana have done this strictly from ground zero and built up to what it is. In not just one division, but multiple divisions and the business side of it where they are probably building half the trucks now in the truck series. They’re doing things right obviously, they’re not doing it and just surviving. They’re really spear-heading a lot of the things that are going on in the Nationwide and the Truck Series right now. I’m proud of them. They’ve been great friends of mine for a long time and I couldn’t be more proud of what they’ve done off the track as car owners with their organization.”

“The car’s a lot better in race trim than it is in qualifying trim,” said Stewart, who has won five of the last six season-opening Nationwide Series races at Daytona. “We’ll be good when it counts.”

His KHI teammate, Clint Bowyer, driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet Impala, captured his ninth career Nationwide Series pole and his second at Daytona with a lap of 49.773 seconds at 180.821 mph. The third member of KHI, Elliott Sadler, driver of the No. 2 Chevrolet, qualified 19th after posting a lap of 50.272 seconds at 179.026 mph.

Landon Cassill will start on the outside of row one as he timed in at 49.834 seconds at 180.600 mph. Dale Earnhardt Jr., was third (49.836 seconds at 180.592 mph), while Danica Patrick (49.867 seconds at 180.480 mph) and Justin Allgaier (49.874 seconds at 180.455 mph) rounded out the top-five.

Forty-five drivers attempted to qualify for the DRIVE4COPD. Those not making the cut in the 43-car field were Brett Rowe and Jennifer Jo Cobb.

As far as manufacturers went, Chevrolet took the top spot thanks to Bowyer’s pole. Toyota was next best at the hands of sixth-quick Joey Logano (49.995 seconds at 180.018 mph). The top Ford came via seventh- fastest Trevor Bayne (50.024 seconds at 179.914 mph), while the top Dodge was 12th quick Brad Keselowski (50.097 seconds at 179.651 mph).

The DRIVE4COPD 300 gets underway at 1:15 p.m. EST on Saturday, Feb. 19 with live coverage of the race provided by ESPN2 beginning with a pre-race show at noon.

The driver of the No. 4 Oreo/Ritz Chevrolet Impala for Kevin Harvick Inc., scored his third straight win in the event and his fifth in the last six years. It was Stewart’s 15th overall victory at Daytona and his ninth career Nationwide Series win.

“That’s probably one of the most dominant cars I’ve ever had at Daytona,” said Stewart, who led three times for a race-high 38 laps in the 120-lap race. “We were really, really loose at the beginning, but we just took our time and methodically worked our way into the top-10. Then with pit stops and everything, we got a chance to work on it. We really hit on it there at the end, and I felt confident that I could go wherever I needed to go on the racetrack.”

Stewart was never challenged at the end of the event, as the final 20 laps were run under green and he led every one of them.

The victory placed Stewart in elite company, as his 15 wins at Daytona, which includes all point races, qualifying races and selected support races, put him in a tie for third-place with Cale Yarborough. Only Dale Earnhardt Sr., and Bobby Allison have won more races at Daytona than Stewart.

“When you put the win in that context, it makes it that much more special,” said Stewart upon hearing where Saturday’s victory ranked him. “It doesn’t matter what kind of car it is – it’s always an honor to win at Daytona. After 15 of ‘em now, there’s still one I haven’t won, and that’s the Sunday show (Daytona 500). But it’s always cool to be sitting up here after a race and talking about why we had such a good day and why we were able to do it.”

Stewart’s day started from 32nd in the 43-car field, as qualifying was rained-out on Friday and the field was set by 2009 owner points. He wasted little time driving his No. 4 Oreo/Ritz Chevy to the front, as he cracked the top-15 by lap 20 and with drafting help from Greg Biffle, worked his way into the top-10 less than five laps later.

“I spent 60-70 percent of my laps looking up in the (rearview) mirror,” said Stewart about leading all those laps. “It’s pretty easy when you’re going in a straight line, but it gets a little dicey when you’re in the corners watching and trying to figure out where guys are trying to get a run on you. The only way you have the flexibility to look up in the mirror when you’re in the corners like that is when your car is comfortable.”

Stewart’s margin of victory over second-place Carl Edwards was a relatively comfortable .309 of a second. Kevin Harvick, Stewart’s teammate in the DRIVE4COPD 300, finished third. Justin Allgaier and Brian Vickers took spots four and five. The rest of the top-10 consisted of Paul Menard, Joey Logano, rookie James Buescher, Kasey Kahne and Steve Wallace.

The race featured seven caution periods for 32 laps, with 17 drivers failing to finish the race.

Stewart-Haas Racing has confirmed Tony will be driving a Kevin Harvick Inc car with the Oreo/Ritz sponsorship in the Daytona Nationwide Race.  Tony will be trying for his 5th Daytona Nationwide Victory.

Here’s a look at Tony’s Daytona Nationwide results.

[nichemate]0,1,1,’Ryan Newman’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]

“I have to thank Ernie (Cope), the team and Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) for letting me drive the No. 33 car this season,” said Newman following the race. “It’s been a lot of fun and I appreciate the hard work and the opportunity. We had a good car, just needed a few more adjustments. Good run for the Copart Chevrolet.”

With the race underway at sunny Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway, Newman started from the second position, but slipped to third on lap one. Running in the top three, Newman radioed crew chief Ernie Cope that the car was a little too free off the corners. On lap 22 the second caution of the race waved and Cope brought Newman down pit road for the first stop of the day taking on four fresh tires with an air-pressure adjustment and fuel. As varying pit strategies of fuel only and teams opting to stay on track began to take shape, Newman restarted the race on lap 27 in the sixth spot.

Moving back into the top five, Newman was running fourth when the caution waved on lap 34. Deciding to stay out under the caution, Newman radioed Cope that the car was still loose and the team began devising a plan for changes on the next scheduled stop. The race restarted on lap 39 with Newman third.

Battling for position with Joey Logano on lap 50, Newman was able to maintain the third spot, but radioed the team that the car was tight in the center and loose off the corners. Continuing to click laps off from the third spot, the caution was again displayed on lap 79 for debris on the race track. The team made the decision to bring Newman to pit road for four tires with an air-pressure adjustment, fuel and a track-bar adjustment. With a fast stop by the Copart crew, Newman was on point to maintain his position exiting pit road when first gear broke, stalling the car on exit. Following a push from the team, Newman was able to return to the track and restart the race 11th on lap 84.

Concern over the missing gear proved not to be an issue as Newman continued to run fast laps comparable to the leaders and made his way back to the top five on lap 96.

Fighting a tight-handling car, Newman was able to stay in the top five as the 200-lap event progressed. As a long green-flag run approached, teams began making scheduled pit stops on lap 142. Cope called Newman to pit road for four tires with an air-pressure adjustment and fuel on lap 144. Several laps later as the field cycled through stops, Newman was scored in the 10th position on lap 154. Running solid, fast laps, Newman was able to get as high as third before slipping a few positions in the closing laps to finish the race seventh. The finish marked Newman’s fourth top-10 finish in five starts for KHI this season.

Kyle Busch won the race and the 2009 Nationwide Series championship, followed by Carl Edwards, Jeff Burton, Logano and Denny Hamlin.

The No. 33 KHI NNS team finished the season fourth in the 2009 NNS Owner’s point standings with two wins (both with KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick), 18 top-five and 25 top-10 finishes among seven different drivers.

In three previous Nationwide Series starts at the 1.5-mile track, Newman has recorded one win, one top-five and two top-10 finishes with an average start of 7.3 and an average finish of 6.7. He has led 88 laps and completed 100 percent of laps attempted (600 of 600).

[nichemate]0,1,1,’Ryan Newman’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]

You have one win in the Nationwide Series at Homestead. What are your keys to victory at the 1.5-mile track?
Ryan Newman: “Homestead is a good race track. I like it a lot better since they have added the progressive banking. You can pass in multiple grooves, but typically the high side is the place to be. You have to go where the guy in front of you is not. I’ve had a lot of fun racing at the track before. I have a win in the Nationwide Series, but I haven’t had that good of a record there in the Cup Series. I’m looking forward to getting back in the No. 33 Copart Chevy this weekend and adding to the success the team has had this season. Ernie (Cope, crew chief) and these guys have brought good cars all year and know they will do the same this weekend.”

As the Nationwide Series concludes the 2009 season, Newman looks to continue the success the No. 33 team has seen thus far this year. With a total of seven different drivers (Kevin Harvick, Newman, Tony Stewart, Ron Hornaday, Cale Gale, Kelly Bires and J. R. Fitzpatrick) this season, the team has earned two wins (both with Harvick including his first career NNS win in a KHI-owned car), three poles (two with Harvick and one with Newman), 18 top-five and 24 top-10 finishes. With 34 races complete, DeLana Harvick is currently fourth in the Nationwide Series Owner’s Point Standings.

This weekend the No. 33 Copart team will unload chassis No. 049 for Newman at Homestead-Miami Speedway. This is another brand-new chassis to the KHI stables and this will mark its race debut.

KHI co-owner Kevin Harvick made his final start of the 2009 NNS season at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR), starting the 200-lap event from the third position and running the entire race in the top four before crossing the finish line in the second position. The finish marked Harvick’s fifth top-five finish in five starts for KHI in the NNS at PIR and his 11th top-five in 15 career NNS starts at the track.

KHI teammate Ron Hornaday clinched the 2009 Truck Series championship last week at Phoenix International Raceway (PIR), earning his fourth Truck Series championship. Hornaday becomes only the fourth driver to win four championships in one of NASCAR’s elite series (Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon have also accomplished this feat) and the second driver to clinch the Truck Series championship before the final race of the season (Greg Biffle clinched in 2000 at Phoenix). The No. 33 Truck Series team now enters Homestead-Miami Speedway looking to capture the Truck Series Owner’s championship for DeLana Harvick who currently holds a 60-point lead over Billy Ballew and the No. 51 Truck team.

“I have to thank these guys for giving me the opportunity to drive this car,” said Newman following the race. “We struggled a little in practice, but the guys made adjustments and gave me a good car for the race. This is one of my favorite tracks and it was a lot of fun.”

Starting the race from the 15th spot, Newman began making his way to the front, taking over the 10th position on lap 21. Fighting a tight-handling car, Newman was scored in the 11th position when the team made the call on lap 57 for the first scheduled stop of the evening. Pitting under green-flag conditions, Newman took on four fresh tires with an air-pressure adjustment and fuel. Returning to the track, Newman was in the 23rd position, one lap down to the leaders. Several laps later the caution flag waved, allowing Newman to receive the wave around to put the No. 33 Hungry-Man Chevrolet back on the lead lap.

The race restarted on lap 67 with Newman in the 23rd position. Two laps later, with Newman running 18th, the caution was again waved for a multi-car accident in turn two. Taking action to avoid the wreck, Newman quickly moved down to the apron of the track. Following the incident, the team brought Newman down pit road to check the valances and fenders, but after inspection of the car determined there was no damage. The race again restarted on lap 77 with Newman in the 15th spot

With a mission to get to the front and knowing rain was in the area, Newman was able to move back into the top 10 on lap 81. Still fighting a tight-handling car, Newman again made a scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 135. Entering pit road from the third position, Newman took on four fresh tires, fuel and adjustments to help with the car’s handling. Once the green-flag stops cycled through the field, Newman was scored in the 10th position on lap 145.

Continuing his move to the front, Newman was able to move into the top five on lap 153 and take over the third spot on lap 158. With several late-race cautions, the team decided not to pit for fuel or fresh tires throughout the remainder of the race. Newman was able to get as high as second on lap 180 behind eventual race winner Kyle Busch. Slipping several positions late in the race, Newman was able to take the checkered flag from the seventh position to earn his third top-10 finish for KHI this season in four Nationwide Series starts.

Kyle Busch won the Dollar General 300 followed by Mike Bliss, Dave Blaney, Brian Vickers and Carl Edwards.

In two previous Nationwide Series starts at the track, Newman has one win and a third-place finish, both coming in 2005. In that same season, Newman ran a total of nine races, dominating his way to six wins, two third-place and one 16th-place finish.

TRIPLE DUTY: In addition to driving the No. 33 KHI Chevrolet this weekend, Newman will start his week off on Wednesday as he joins the stars of the World of Outlaws Late Model Series at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Saturday night he’ll be back in his number 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet for round five of the 10-race Chase for the Sprint Cup Series Championship. Newman currently sits 10th in the points standings, 223 points out of first.

In 17 career Cup Series starts at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Newman has won eight poles on his way to earning four top-five and six top-10 finishes. His best finish is second, coming earlier this year at the May event and in 2003.

AUTOGRAPH SESSION: Ryan Newman will be on-site at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Friday from 1:15 p.m. until 2:30 p.m. at the Hungry-Man display located outside the frontstretch of the speedway signing autographs. Stop by for a Hungry-Man sampling and a Newman autograph.

FINAL FIVE: This weekend will mark the first of the final five races of the 2009 Nationwide Series schedule. Newman will take to the wheel at Charlotte, followed by Kelly Bires at Memphis (Tenn.) Motosports Park, Kevin Harvick at Texas Motor Speedway and Phoenix before Newman closes the season at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway.

BEFORE THE RACE: QUOTES WITH DRIVER RYAN NEWMAN:

Does it help to run the Nationwide race on Friday night at Charlotte before climbing into the Cup car on Saturday night?
“Any time we can get extra seat time is beneficial. Being in the Chase, the cars don’t compare that much, but the extra track time is helpful. Charlotte is a track I enjoy running and I’m looking forward to getting back in the No. 33 KHI car this weekend.”

With eight total poles (13 top-four starts in 17 career Cup Series starts) in the Cup Series at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and a second-place starting position in the Nationwide Series (only two career starts in NNS), what makes this a good qualifying track for you?
“I really enjoy the race track and speed, obviously, and the banking. I’ve always said I really enjoy banked race tracks and this is one of the best and fastest banked race tracks out there. I’ve always just been blessed with fast race cars. I couldn’t do it without fast race cars. I’ve always told my crew chief, whoever it is at the time, if you give me a straight arrow, I’ll shoot it straight. But don’t expect me to shoot a crooked arrow to the pole. And they’ve done a very good job for me.”

Having won the 2002 All-Star Challenge and a Nationwide race at Charlotte, is that something you appreciate more with all the history associated with the track?
“Absolutely. It’s Charlotte, its home field. There’s no home field advantage but its home field. It’s a place that we all try to shine. It’s a very historic race track. There are a lot of great driver’s that have won there. Joining that list is what we all search for.”

Is it a relief for teams to race at Charlotte before the final races of the season?
“Really, it’s just nice to be home for that weekend. I really enjoy it. I like Charlotte. It’s one of my favorite race tracks. So having it in the backyard is really nice. I wouldn’t say it’s a time where we re-group, but just to be home and enjoying some more time with the family is probably a good thing for everybody.”
[nichemate]0,1,1,’Ryan Newman’,,US,,,,,,,,1[/nichemate]

“The Copart Chevrolet was really good this weekend,” said Newman. “From the time the team unloaded, we were fast and just made tweaks throughout the practices. We were running good in the race and it’s unfortunate that our day ended the way it did. I have to thank Kevin and DeLana (Harvick) for giving me the opportunity to run the Copart Chevrolet.”

From the wave of the green flag, Newman fought a tight-handling car and searched for a line that would help the handling. On lap 17, continuing to run in the sixth position, Newman radioed crew chief Ernie Cope that the car was free in to the corners, but tight from the center of the corner off.

Slipping one spot, Newman was scored in the seventh position when green-flag pit stops began on lap 75. The team opted to bring Newman to pit road on lap 78 for four tires with an air-pressure adjustment to help the handling and fuel. Once pit stops cycled through the field, Newman returned to the seventh position on lap 88.

The first caution of the day waved on lap 109 for debris and race leader Kyle Busch led the field down pit road for another round of stops. Running in the sixth spot, Newman again took on four tires with another air-pressure adjustment and fuel. Should the race continue under green, the team was good on fuel until the end of the scheduled 200-lap event. Gaining one position on pit road, Newman restarted fifth on lap 115.

Under the second caution of the day on lap 119, Newman told the team the car was a little snug, but pretty good. The call was made to stay on the track and the No. 33 Copart Chevrolet restarted fifth on lap 124.

Battling for position, Newman and the No. 16 car made contact on the front straight-a-way on lap 144, sending the No. 33 spinning into the wall. Bringing the car to pit road, the team determined the damage was too severe to quickly repair on pit road and needed to go to the garage for further evaluation. Once in the garage, the team diligently worked to make repairs, but eventually determined the damage to be too severe to return to the race, relegating the team to a 30th-place finish.

Clint Bowyer and the No. 29 Richard Childress Racing team won the race followed by Mike Bliss, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.