Download Report

2015 PRESS RELEASE
RYAN NEWMAN BATTLES BACK FROM ONE-LAP DEFICIT TO
FINISH FIFTH AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Race/Date:
Food City 500 • April 19, 2015
Location:
Bristol Motor Speedway • Bristol, Tenn.
Start Position:18th
Finish Position:5th
Points Position:16th
Ryan Newman drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 WIX Filters
Chevrolet SS to a fifth-place finish in Sunday’s Bristol 500 in Support of
Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at
Bristol Motor Speedway. The South Bend, Ind., driver lined up 18th and
completed 22 laps of competition before rain blanketed the Bristol, Tenn.based track and forced NASCAR officials to red flag the race for nearly five
hours. Once the race went back to green, Newman restarted 14th and battled tight-handling conditions. It cost the
driver a lap to the leader on lap 145 while racing just outside the top 15. Shortly after halfway, the No. 31 Chevrolet
earned the lap back just as a brief rain shower occurred. NASCAR red flagged the event for a second time but it
was not long until the race returned to green with the No. 31 scored in 17th. At lap 325, Newman raced into the
top 10 and into the top five by lap 346. Moments later the WIX Filters team contended for the lead by running in
second place. With about 20 laps to go of the scheduled 500, crew chief Luke Lambert called Newman to pit road
one last time for much needed fuel and four Goodyear tires under caution. The driver returned to the track in
ninth position before another caution flag waved on lap 483. Mother Nature once again appeared, extending the
event past the 500-lap mark. It took just one attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish with Newman crossing
the finish line in fifth. The top-five is the No. 31 team’s fourth top-five and fifth top-10 of the season. Newman
now ranks 16th in the championship point standings heading into next Saturday’s short-track race at Richmond
International Raceway. Quicken Loans will be on board as primary sponsor.
RYAN NEWMAN QUOTE:
“We fought back from a difficult week and a challenging race weekend. We struggled a little bit all weekend
and there on the final restart, I spun my tires. I am so proud of this WIX Filters team and what we were able to
overcome. It says a lot about us and I look forward to next weekend and what we can accomplish in Richmond.”
RACE HIGHLIGHTS:
• Richard Childress Racing teammates Ryan Newman, Austin Dillon and Paul Menard finished fifth, 10th and 11th,
respectively, in the Bristol 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes and Stand Up to Cancer at Bristol Motor Speedway.
• Menard ranks 14th in the Sprint Cup Series championship point standings, trailing current leader Kevin Harvick
by 104 points, while Newman ranks 16th and Dillon ranks 21st.
• Matt Kenseth earned his first win of the 2015 season and was followed to the line by Jimmie Johnson, Jeff
Gordon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Newman.
• The ninth race of the 2015 Sprint Cup Series season is the Richmond 400 at Richmond International Raceway on
Saturday, April 25, 2015, which is scheduled to be televised live on FOX beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time and
broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
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