DRIVE WITH PRIDE. DRIVE WITH HONOR.

Ryan Newman

2012 will be Ryan Newman’s fourth year behind the wheel of the #39 U.S. Army Chevy Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing, and drive in honor of the over one million men and women who defend our country. It will be his 11th full season piloting a car in the Sprint Cup Series.

Newman finished the 2011 race season in 10th place, overall. He racked up nine top-five finishes to go along with 17 top 10 finishes last year. Newman and the U.S. Army team also demonstrated the ability to integrate speed, power, teamwork and technology into their performance at the race track by grabbing three poles during the 2011 campaign. The pole win extended his streak of winning at least one pole to 11 consecutive seasons.

In 368 career starts, the South Bend, Ind., native has posted 15 Sprint Cup wins and earned a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup on four occasions (2004, 2005, 2009, and 2011). Newman has finished sixth in the final points standings on three different occasions (2002, 2003 and 2005) and owns 49 career poles. In fact, he picked up the nickname “Rocketman” after capturing a series-high 11 Sprint Cup poles in 2003, and has led the circuit in most poles in a single-season on four different occasions. Newman also made history in 2008 when he grabbed the checkered flag at the 50th running of the Daytona 500.

Newman jump-started his NASCAR career in Phoenix where he made his first-ever Sprint Cup series start in November of 2000. He went on to capture his first pole in May of 2001 at Charlotte, and the driver’s first win came at New Hampshire in September of 2002. The victory was just another highlight in what would become a memorable 2002 rookie season for Newman which ended with the honor of NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year.

Success on the track at any level is nothing new to Newman. He is one of only 20 drivers to own a victory in all three of NASCAR’s top racing series – Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series. Overall, Newman has over 60 starts behind the wheel of the NASCAR Nationwide Series circuit and has posted seven wins to go along with 17 top-five finishes, 34 top-10 finishes and 12 polies.

Newman began his racing career piloting Quarter Midgets in his home state of Indiana at the age of 4 1/2.  His 100 feature wins and two titles earned him induction into the Quarter Midget Hall of Fame.  In 1993, Newman moved to the All-American Midget Series, and captured both the circuit championship and Rookie of the Year honors.  Success followed Newman to the United States Auto Club (USAC) where in 1999 he won the USAC Silver Crown national championship and the USAC Sprint Car Rookie of the Year.  That victory came on the heels of earning Rookie of the Year honors in USAC National Midgets in 1995 and USAC Silver Crown in 1996.  Newman’s career took the next step when he joined Penske Racing and won three of five ARCA/REMAX races he entered in 2000.

Away from the track, Newman and his wife, Krissie, work extremely hard to make a difference in the lives of people and animals.  Together, they founded the Ryan Newman Foundation in 2005.  The foundation has three areas of focus: companion animal welfare; conservation of wildlife; and the environment; and supporting a scholarship for students with a racing background who want to pursue a college degreee by providing donations to the Rich Vogler Scholarship Fund.

Newman and the U.S. Army Racing team are thinking big in 2012 and have a special motivation guiding them. “Being around the U.S. Army Soldiers is an inspiration to me and the race team,” said Newman. “The physical, emotional and mental strength of these individuals is a driving force behind our mission to get the Soldiers’ call into Victory Lane.”