DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 13, 2007) – For the third straight week, Penske Racing led the Dodge contingent with Ryan Newman producing his first top-five finish since June 2006 and Kurt Busch placing 12th in Sunday's rain-delayed Dodge Avenger 500 at Darlington Raceway.

Newman led three times for 39 laps in his Alltel Dodge Avenger before fighting off Carl Edwards for fourth on the final lap of the 367-lap race on the 1.366-mile track. The South Bend, Ind., native has now produced top-10 finishes in the last three consecutive races with the last two coming in the Dodge Avenger.

Newman's ninth at Talladega, sixth at Richmond and fourth at Darlington have allowed him to jump from 26th to 14th in the series standings, leaving him 97 points behind 12th, the final transfer spot in The Chase.

"Our guys are doing a great job," Newman said. "We've had good performances and we've had great race cars. We just finally got results."

After starting 29th, Newman led for the first time on lap 178 during a round of green-flag stops. He followed up those two laps in the No. 1 position with 17- and 20-lap segments in the race's second half.

When the ninth of 10 caution flags waved on lap 344, the Alltel team elected to follow eventual race winner Jeff Gordon's pit strategy. Gordon was leading at the time with Jimmie Johnson second and Newman third. There had been only five green-flag laps since they last pitted for four tires. Denny Hamlin and Johnson, who finished second and third, respectively, both pitted for four fresh tires and passed Newman in the race's closing laps.

"Those guys were racing me clean there at the end," Newman said. "I was just trying to hold on with old tires. I guess old tires won it, but we were in a position where we were trying to get the lead and it just didn’t play out.

"Old tires won and new tires were close. I think if we hadn’t had that one caution [10th yellow] we would have been in better shape yet, but that one caution hurt us.
"I’ve got to thank Jimmie (Johnson) for racing me clean. I respect Jimmie a lot. I’m glad he raced me clean. He had a good opportunity a couple of times there to take my quarter right on around. It’s give-and-take here at the end, but I was in position with old tires. He knew when he came in he was going to have an opportunity to pass some cars back. I just appreciate him racing me clean."

By the race's 60th lap, Newman had cracked the top 10 and he remained there the rest of the day. Quick pit stops by the Alltel team were also instrumental in keeping Newman in the top 10 on NASCAR's oldest superspeedway. The Alltel crew never had a stop that lasted longer than 13.90 seconds and six of their eight stops were under the 13-second range. The crew's speedy performances helped Newman gain eight positions during the yellow-flag stops throughout the day.

"The guys did a great job all day and it gives us something else to build on," Newman said. “The Alltel Dodge was really good today. It was a good points day as well."

Busch also had a good points day, gaining two positions in the standings. He is now seventh.

"I'd changed clothes this morning in the coach and not in the transporter and really didn't have the chance to get the good news for the day until almost an hour later," Busch said as he was headed back home to Mooresville, N.C. "They told me about the gain in points and that we've now climbed six positions in just the last three races. We just have to keep that momentum going."

Busch started Sunday's race in 18th. He passed Gordon for 10th on lap 64, and he bounced between sixth and 10th until lap 220, when he finally made it into the top five.

When the ninth of 10 caution flags waved, Busch's Miller Lite team elected to follow Johnson's strategy and came down pit road. However, the Miller Lite team had its worst stop of the day – 14.917 seconds – and that left Busch 13th on the lap 349 restart.

The final yellow flew with 17 laps remaining. Busch was back in 14th for the final restart with 12 laps to go, and he was able to make up only two spots during the final laps.

"It's frustrating, it really is," Busch said. "We fought a tight-handling car almost all day long and clawed our way up into the top five.

"We were a solid top-five car when the caution came out with just over 30 laps to go and had to decide whether to pit or not. It's almost become a no-win situation for us because regardless of what we do it seems to work against us. I was for pitting and that's what we did. The 48 car [Jimmie Johnson] was leading and he pitted. We followed him down pit road. The 24 [Jeff Gordon] was second and he stayed out. So did Ryan [Newman, teammate] and several others.

"We caught the worst end of the situation when we had the only bad pit stop we had all day long under that yellow. So, as it turned out, we were third when the caution came out and we were 13th when we went back to green with not that many laps to go."

Interim crew chief Troy Raker noted after the race that it was about track position.

"It’s been roll the dice on these pit stops," Raker said. "I’ve tried to team up with people who have been doing this for years and they even missed it a little bit. We were talking coming down the backstretch trying to decide whether to pit or not.

"Everybody is a little frustrated that we're not getting the finishes, and they ought to be. We know they'll come. Everybody on the crew is pretty proud and everybody at the shop is pretty happy right now. We’re running better. There’s no doubt about that."

Newman also noted the two Penske teams were "getting along great."

"I think Kurt struggled on that last pit stop, but the two teams are working great," Newman continued. "We’re looking forward to the all-star race and things to come. I think we’ve got a good program for the rest of the year."

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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