Ryan Newman

about

forum

	save and share

	Digg Del.icio.us Facebook Fark Google MySpace Newsvine Reddit Yahoo

Ryan "Rocketman" Newman on ABC's "Fast Cars & Superstars: Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race"


	Ryan "Rocketman" Newman on ABC's "Fast Cars & Superstars: Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race"

Ryan Newman is one of the NASCAR "Gillette Young Guns" drivers featured on ABC's "Fast Cars & Superstars: Gillette Young Guns Celebrity Race."

Ryan Newman

has the perfect background to be successful in today's technological NASCAR.

Because

Ryan Newman

graduated from Purdue University in August 2001 with a degree in vehicle structure engineering, it should come as no surprise that he always seems to have a fast car during qualifying.

From 2002 to 2006,

Ryan Newman

had 34 Bud Poles to lead the Cup Series each year, earning the nickname "Rocketman."

Ryan Newman

's worst average starting position in any year during that time was 9.8.

Ryan Newman

and former crew chief Matt Borland were the first driver-crew chief team in NASCAR history to have engineering degrees. They finished no worse than seventh in the final point standings in each of Newman's first four full seasons in the series.

Ryan Newman

began racing in 1993 when he won both rookie of the year and the season championship in the All-American Midget Series. Claiming two national titles and more than 100 feature wins,

Ryan Newman

is a member of the Quarter-Midget Hall of Fame.

Ryan Newman

moved to the USAC series in 1995 and won rookie of the year honors in the Midget Series and again the following year in the Silver Crown Series. In '99

Ryan Newman

was the Silver Bullet Series national champion, becoming the first driver to win a race in all three divisions of the series -- Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown -- in the same season.

Ryan Newman

's association with Roger Penske, for whom he drives the No. 12 Dodge, began in 2000 when he won three of five ARCA races for the motorsports icon and made his Cup debut in November at Phoenix.

In 2001

Ryan Newman

excelled on the track as well as in the classroom.

Ryan Newman

posted ARCA and Busch victories, the latter at Michigan marking his first NASCAR win, and earned his first career Cup pole in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

In September 2002

Ryan Newman

won his first Cup race, at New Hampshire, starting from the pole.

Ryan Newman

's six poles that year were a season-high and broke the rookie record formerly set by Davey Allison in 1987.

Ryan Newman

also became the second rookie to win the All-Star race at Lowe's. In all,

Ryan Newman

had 14 top-fives and 22 top-10s to finish sixth in the points and earn rookie of the year honors.

In 2003

Ryan Newman

won a series-high eight races and had 17 top-fives, 22 top-10s and 11 poles. But

Ryan Newman

also had seven DNFs and finished sixth in points for the second consecutive year.

Still,

Ryan Newman

's accomplishments that season garnered him several honors, including SPEED Channel Driver of the Year, NMPA Richard Petty Driver of the Year, Benny Kahn/Daytona Beach News Journal Driver of the Year and the Sporting News' Dale Earnhardt Toughest Driver of the Year.

Newman has made the Chase twice, finishing sixth for the third time in four years in 2005. In nine Busch Series races in '05, Newman won six, setting a record with five in a row within the same season, and had eight top-fives.

Hometown: South Bend, Indiana
Birthday: December 8, 1977