Starting from the pole, Newman ran in the top five and top 10 for virtually the entire 500-lap race at the .526-mile oval. It appeared that he was going to come home with a top-five or better result, but an unfortunate exchange on a late green-flag pit stop plus a late caution curtailed his finish.

“We lost track position there at the end twice,” noted Newman. “On that long green flag run, we came in fifth and came out like 15th. We just lost on that exchange and the caution at the end didn’t help our cause. The guys did a great job with the US Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet to finish seventh.

“We kept our nose clean the entire day and ran up there with those guys who are running for the championship. The pit crew did a good job and Tony Gibson (crew chief) called a good race. No complaints — just have to go on from here.”

In the Chase standings Newman gained one spot and is now seventh with four races remaining. He is 312 points behind the leader Jimmie Johnson.

“We’re just going to go out there and race and not worry about points,” stated Newman. “We want to continue to run strong in the last four races and hopefully get our first win of the season. We’re going to fight hard and carry the Soldiers’ motto of never quitting and battling to the finish.”

The seventh place result in Sunday’s TUMS Fast Relief 500 was Newman’s sixth top-10 finish in the six short tracks races contested this season. He achieved a 6.66 finishing average in those six short track events – two at Bristol, two at Richmond and two at Martinsville.

“The short tracks are a strong part of our program,” said Newman. “We’re a first-year team and want to keep on building a strong baseline for the future.”

Newman’s teammate, Tony Stewart, finished ninth. He remains fourth in the Chase standings, 192 points behind Johnson.

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The race winner was Denny Hamlin. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Johnson, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon.

The next race for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is Sunday (Nov. 1) at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.