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mrsmopar12 · #1 (**permalink**) 02-14-2007, 04:55 PM

2007 Team Preview: Penske

Pete Pistone
Managing Editor
RacingOne

Roger Penske sees better things ahead for his NEXTEL Cup program.

Daytona 500 Entry List

To say things didn't go quite as well as hoped for at Penske Racing in 2006 is an understatement.

The much-heralded arrival of 2004 series champion Kurt Busch to pair with Ryan Newman turned into one of the biggest disappointments of the season.

Neither driver made the "Chase for the NEXTEL Cup" and only Busch made it to victory lane, once.

But team owner Roger Penske sees better things ahead for his NEXTEL Cup program, part of his mammoth racing operation.

“I look at the 2007 season and we’re going to compete in 90 races with 159 entries, obviously expanded schedules with our IndyCar Series and American LeMans Series," Penske said. "Sam (Hornish) will be competing in a broader program. He’ll be competing in some Busch Races. He had an opportunity to find out what it was all about last year. We cut it short and sweet, but that’s how it starts. I’m sure Kurt knows what that’s like. Helio (Castroneves) is going to compete at Sebring, and we’re going to be busier than ever."

"That said, I have great aspirations for Kurt and Ryan this season and feel like we're certainly in position to have a much better year than last."

What seemed like a slam dunk for success when Busch took over the team's No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge was more like an airball. But Busch is confident in his ability and the team's desire to get back on track.

"Sometimes you add all the ingredients into the same box and you can come out and dominate like five freshmen in NCAA basketball," Busch said. "The success could go straight through the roof. You’re going to have your good times and you’re going to have your bad. For us we started strong. We ran well at Daytona and had a win at Bristol early on. That was somewhat the adrenalin rush of switching to Penske Racing."

"It’s a better program. I’m completely satisfied with my change. What we learned from last year, we developed our setups and got them up to speed."

Newman's season was even more of a disappointment than Busch's, with the No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge pretty much never a factor. Long-time crew chief Matt Borland has moved to Michael Waltrip Racing with Mike Nelson now calling the shots for Newman.

“I remember how to drive," Newman laughed. "The tough part about a season like 2006 is getting the confidence back on the team. Last year was fun for about three weekends. Hopefully 38 weekends will be a lot of fun this year. I guess part of fixing the problem is understanding it and where it’s coming from. Everything goes in a cycle. We’ve got to put the work in and make an effort.”

mrsmopar12 · #2 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 03:20 PM

Kurt Busch, 2, and Ryan Newman, 12, work together to draft their way through traffic.

TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 29, 2007) – Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman walked away from Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway with smiles on their faces as both produced a top-10 finish in the season's second restrictor-plate race.

Busch came home third in his Miller Lite Dodge Charger and jumped to 10th in the point standings. Newman, despite losing a right-front fender from his car in the race's latter stages, produced a ninth-place finish in his Kodak Dodge Charger and gained two positions in the standings, moving into 24th. Newman now trails the 12th-place Carl Edwards by 161 points.

"This was just the boost that our Miller Lite Dodge team needed," a happy Busch said after the race. "Man, with about 20 laps or so to go, it didn't look that promising. I figured that the high line was the best place to be, but when there were 30 cars running up there in single file, we had to look elsewhere.

"When we had the restart with about 10 laps to go, I knew we would see it get back to two- and three-wide racing. We were pretty aggressive moving up through there, but with the laps running out, we just had to go for it and get all the positions we could. They said we made up 23 spots in the final 10 laps and that's pretty incredible. Like I said, this was a finish that we needed and it came at a really good time for our team. We had a great test at Richmond earlier this month and we're really looking forward to getting back there this weekend."

Busch started 26th and Newman directly behind him in 28th. Together they moved through the field. Busch eventually led twice for seven laps and Newman made it up to second in the high speed chess game.

With the race winding down on the 2.66-mile track, it appeared either Busch or Newman might claim Penske Racing's first-ever restrictor-plate victory. However, on lap 162 of the scheduled 188-lap race, Juan Pablo Montoya, who was running in front of Newman, had a tire go down on his Dodge. That shot his car up the race track and the collision with Newman's car cut the right-front tire on his Kodak Dodge and severely damaged the fender. Debris was spread over the track and Newman made his way to pit road just as NASCAR waved the fifth of eight caution flags.

The Kodak crew worked hard to keep Newman on the lead lap. They replaced the right-side tires and made two subsequent stops to repair the right-front fender. There was absolutely nothing left of the fender, but the team needed to make sure nothing would cut the tire.

Newman fell from 10th to 30th in one lap, but he was able to stay on the lead lap and was looking to make his way back to the front with a little help from some friends.

Bobby Labonte, who had received the Lucky Dog Award with the caution, restarted behind Newman. Newman asked his spotter to pass on the following message: “Tell the 43 to glue his car to my bumper and push hard!”

Labonte agreed and helped Newman move up to 28th when the caution flag came out again on lap 175 for a piece of debris that had flown off Newman’s Kodak Dodge.

On the next restart, it was Kenny Wallace who was behind Newman and this was the message to him, “Tell Wallace to push me like he pushed [Dale] Earnhardt [to victory in October 2000].”

Wallace agreed and within seven laps of the lap 179 restart, Newman had once again reached the top 10 when the caution came out on lap 185 for a blown engine in David Reutimann's car. Once more, Newman had a message for his spotter, “If you see any runs, let me know. This bumper will be blocking it all!”

No one got a chance to make any runs as the caution flag came out for a four-car accident during the green-white-checker finish, leaving Newman in ninth place after 192 laps. It is his second top-10 finish of the 2007 season, leaving him one shy of the three top 10s he recorded last year.

On the final restart, Busch was fourth and when the green flag waved on lap 191, he immediately jumped to the inside behind Jimmie Johnson. However, the two never got an opportunity to make a run on eventual winner Jeff Gordon because of the second turn accident.

Next weekend, the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series returns to the short tracks and the Car of Tomorrow for the “Crown Royal Presents the Jim Stewart 400” at Richmond International Raceway. The race is scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT on Saturday and will be broadcast live by FOX and MRN Radio.

mrsmopar12 · #3 (**permalink**) 05-03-2007, 03:41 PM

By A.J. Perez
USA TODAY

Penske Racing teammates Ryan Newman, left, and Kurt Busch aim to build on their top-10 finishes in last week's race at Talladega

Roger Penske's mind-set changes about this time every year.
"We go to Indy with one thing in mind, and that's to win," the 70-year-old business-motor sports tycoon says. "People remember wins, and people remember the Indy 500. … We've won it 14 times. There's pressure not to make a mistake."

During the 11 months that don't begin and end with the letters M-A-Y, Penske's competitive fervor is more tempered — especially when it comes to NASCAR. It's one of three series he competes in and the only one in which he's yet to win this season.

And it's those other successful programs — IndyCar and American Le Mans — that Penske sees as vital cogs in the team's stock car success. This is the first year all three are housed in the same massive facility in Mooresville, N.C., instead of separate locales 500 miles apart.

"There's a lot of cross-pollination going on," Penske says. "(The team) has the ability to move people from series to series. We can let them start in one area and maybe move them a slot up in another series. That gives us a huge opportunity on a long-term basis. … I love it all in one place."

In the short term, he says things are looking up for his Nextel Cup program that has one win (Kurt Busch at Bristol Motor Speedway in March 2006) over the last 108 starts. Busch (third place) and Ryan Newman (ninth) are coming off top-10 finishes Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway — the first time that's happened since June at Infineon Raceway.

"After the problems we had during the last few races, with the bad breaks because of the cautions falling like they did," says Busch, who sits 10th in points, "we knew we needed a solid weekend at Talladega to help get our momentum rolling again. That's exactly what happened."

Walter Czarnecki, an executive vice president with Penske Corp., says the competitive landscape of NASCAR — where some well-funded teams with popular drivers struggle to make the 43-car field — is something Penske first got a whiff of some 40 years ago in his early days as a team owner.

"The SCCA Trans-Am Series of the late 1960s had a great lineup," Czarnecki says. "There were the likes of Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby with cars in the series. Every major manufacturer was involved in the sport."

Penske got back to his sports-car roots in 2005 when he raced the ALMS season finale. He may reunite with his past racing venture in a more concrete way — by getting back into the track business.

Penske sold Michigan International Speedway, California Speedway, Nazareth Speedway and his piece of Homestead-Miami Speedway to International Speedway Corp. in 1999. But luring the IRL IndyCar Series to Detroit's Belle Isle — site of a former Champ Car event — for a race this September might have rekindled something inside him.

"You always think about what you'd not like to have sold over time," Penske says. "We might have said that. My son Greg is passionate about potentially being involved in a track in the future. If there was the right situation in the right area of the country, we might take a good look at it."

Of the three sites ISC has looked at in recent months (Seattle, New York and Denver), Penske prefers the latter. He attempted to get a track built near the Denver airport before he sold to ISC.

And as many close to Penske, who has built a multibillion-dollar corporation that employs 38,000 worldwide, know, a change in mind-set usually brings real change not long afterward.

"His enthusiasm is unparalleled, and he can get positive results very quickly," ex-Penske vice president Dan Luginbuhl says.

mrsmopar12 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-07-2007, 08:48 AM

By Seth Livingstone
USA TODAY

RICHMOND, Va. — There's been no getting around Hendrick Motorsports' dominance during the 2007 Nextel Cup season.
But Penske Racing had reason to see more than a glimmer of hope for its chances during The Jim Stewart 400 on Sunday at Richmond International Raceway.

Kurt Busch collected his second consecutive top-five finish and Penske teammate Ryan Newman finished on his tail in sixth place.

"We know we've got a good team," owner Roger Penske said. "We're working at it. We've got good drivers and good crews, and this was a validation of what we're trying to do.

"Kurt had a car that could have won. It looks like we're learning a lot about the Car of Tomorrow."

Busch said he was disappointed to finish fifth at Richmond on the heels of his third-place showing at Talladega Superspeedway. But his results were somewhat remarkable given two errors in the pits. His crew had trouble with a left-front tire four laps into the race, then lost position late in the race when a flurry of caution flags shuffled the field.

"I've thrown this Richmond race away too many times," said Busch, who led 27 laps, including laps 255-279 before falling briefly out of the top 10. "We just decided to pit at the wrong time.

"It would have been fun to race (Hendrick cars for the win). We should have a feather in our caps today to know we ran with them."

Meanwhile, Newman registered a second consecutive top-10, overcoming a 30th starting position. Newman was ninth at Talladega.

"We made it a little better all day long," said Newman, who sees progress with the team's COT program.

"From what I hear, (Hendrick) got the head start on everybody in testing and that kind of shows up. But we keep making our cars better. … We're not the fastest week in week out but as long as we have a shot at being in the top five that's something to build on."

Other Dodge teams also feel like they've been playing catch-up in the COT races, all four of which have been won by Hendrick Chevrolets.

"It (the COT) is just not fully developed yet," said John Fernandez, managing director for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, whose best finish Sunday was a 21st from Reed Sorenson.

Petty Enterprises got a 15th from the Dodge driven by Bobby Labonte. Meanwhile, the Evernham Motorsports cars of Elliott Sadler (27th), Scott Riggs (30th) and Kasey Kahne (40th) continued to struggle.

Busch is the only Dodge driver in position to make the Chase now as one of the top 12 cars. He currently is ninth in points. Sadler is 16th, 104 points behind Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 12th.

Meanwhile, Riggs remains outside the top 35 in owner points, meaning he must qualify on time each week. Riggs entered Sunday's race seven points out of 35th but now is 34 points behind the No. 88 Ford of Ricky Rudd and Robert Yates Racing.

"I'm really looking forward to Darlington," Newman said, referring to next weekend's Nextel Cup event. "Our Car of Tomorrow program is strong."

mrsmopar12 · #5 (**permalink**) 05-07-2007, 01:55 PM

Roger Penske appears ready to raise the stakes in the NASCAR poker game by building his own test track, according to NASCAR sources. Penske’s track, of uncertain size, would likely be on Mooresville land near his race shop. Rival car owner Jack Roush once planned to build a test track of his own near Charlotte, but he ran into county political issues and gave up that project. A Penske track would take testing to the next level. And presumably Penske would be leasing track testing time to rival teams, too.

Posted May 07, by Ben Maller

Curves24 · #6 (**permalink**) 05-08-2007, 10:59 AM

Penske team happy in COT with top-10s at Richmond
By Dave Rodman, NASCAR.COM
May 7, 2007
11:18 AM EDT

RICHMOND, Va. -- Roger Penske has won so many races and championships, running fifth and sixth in a Nextel Cup Series race at Richmond International Raceway isn't going to get him too excited.

But "The Captain" knows enough about business, momentum and the people it takes to capitalize on both that he could easily see the value of Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman's finishes Sunday afternoon in the Crown Royal presents the Jim Stewart 400.

Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch started 30th and 33rd, respectively, but both brought their Penske Racing Dodge's home in the top 10.

Especially since the result was the second consecutive week in which the Penske pair both finished in the top 10, following Busch's third and Newman's ninth at Talladega.

The last two results are particularly heartening, because each of the drivers has only one other top 10 in the season's other eight races, and both of those came within the first three events.

"Just to see the emotion from [all] the guys, today," Penske said while walking through Richmond's garage. "They had a tough [pit] stop and Kurt drove it from 43rd to first, and Ryan drove it up there.

"To me, they stayed out of trouble and had good stops. We were lucky on that issue with [Kevin] Harvick and [David Ragan, who crashed in the pits while Harvick was dominating], but there again, it's tight racing and you don't know until it's the end."

What the team knows is that Busch, who's led 195 laps this season in six different races, and who led three times for 27 laps Sunday jumped up a spot in the standings to ninth and is only five points out of eighth.

Newman, over the past two weeks with consecutive top-10 finishes has gained seven positions in the standings and is now 19th, 120 points out of a Chase spot, which both he and Busch missed last season. Newman led a lap Sunday, which is only the third race and third lap he's led all season.

For the third consecutive week, Busch was working at the track with interim crew chief Troy Raker, a team engineer who stepped into the weekend position when Roy McCauley stepped back prior to Phoenix to spend time with his ill wife. Newman's crew chief Mike Nelson is in his first full season in the position.

"We know we've got a good team," Penske said. "We're working at it. We've got good drivers and good crews, and this was a validation of what we're trying to do -- they're doing a hell of a job.

"We've just got to figure out when to pit. If we don't come it's wrong and if we do come in it's wrong -- but still, it was a good race for both teams. I think Kurt had a car that could have won, and it looks like we're learning a lot about the COT."

Busch is enthused his cars have been so sporty; though he pointed out his team is working on the full race package.

"We know we've got a good team. We're working at it. We've got good drivers and good crews, and this was a validation of what we're trying to do -- they're doing a hell of a job."
Roger Penske"I'm very disappointed we let that race get away -- very disappointed the Miller Lite Dodge didn't win today, but that's why they call it racing," Busch said. "We had a good car and the team worked well on pit stops, we just decided to pit at the wrong time."

As Penske said, Busch went to the back after pitting and came back. Busch was confident enough to say he could have challenged for the win, given enough time; and it was a fact, for probably the first time this season, both he and Newman were coming to the front when the checkers fell.

While the COT-dominant Hendrick Motorsports cars took first, second and fourth, Busch said he thought he had something for them, as he raced to his second consecutive top-five finish.

"It would have been fun to race them for the victory," Busch said of the consequences of the pit decision. "We had track position at the time and we gave it up, so that was a bad call. It would have been up to them to get by us.

"It would have been interesting to try to hold them off. I felt our Dodge Avenger was just as strong today as their cars."

Though it was the first strong start-to-finish COT showing for Penske, the owner said there was no question to him going all-COT was better done sooner than on NASCAR's currently proposed schedule, which runs through 2009.

"As I've said, I think we need to have one car to work on because when you're jumping back and forth, it's a lot of work for the guys, and it's more costly," Penske said. "But I think that we proved, here and at Phoenix that we have a pretty good car on these COTs, so obviously I have a preference to go that way.

"But there again, we're trying to stay consistent. We need to keep focusing and getting good finishes like we had today with both cars, which is driving us in the right direction, so it was a great day for us.

"I think we've probably been better than we've shown on the scoreboard, but today was a perfect test for us."

Penske will get no argument from Newman on the COT, which runs for the fifth time, next weekend at Darlington.

"I'm really looking forward to Darlington," Newman said. "Obviously the Hendrick cars are the ones to beat, and from what I've heard they got a head start on everybody with testing, and that kind of shows up.

"But the bottom line is, I like Darlington and I look forward to going there because it's a fun track for me. Our Car of Tomorrow program is strong. I'm not saying we can't make it stronger, but it's definitely strong right now."

It will have to be, to upset the Hendrick teams that have won all four COT races, with three different drivers: Kurt's younger brother Kyle Busch, Sunday's winner Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, going to Victory Lane.

mrsmopar12 · #7 (**permalink**) 05-08-2007, 02:18 PM

Thanks Curves, I had not seen this article, you ROCK!!!

mrsmopar12 · #8 (**permalink**) 05-16-2007, 10:27 AM

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."

mrsmopar12 · #9 (**permalink**) 05-25-2007, 02:17 PM

Ryan Newman has now won six NASCAR Cup poles at Lowe's Motor Speedway, seven overall.

CONCORD, N.C. (May 24, 2007) - Ryan Newman grabbed his 39th career Cup pole Thursday in qualifying for this weekend's Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe's Motor Speedway, while teammate Kurt Busch was close on his bumper to give Penske Racing a sweep of the front row for the Memorial Day weekend classic.

Newman pushed his Alltel Dodge Charger to a lap of 185.312 mph, 29.140 seconds, to earn his second pole of the season and his sixth Bud Pole Award at the 1.5-mile track. Overall, it was Newman's seventh pole at the facility that opened in 1960, having also claimed the No. 1 starting position for an October 2001 ARCA race.

Busch was only 0.039 second behind Newman, recording a 185.065-mph, 29.179-second lap in his Miller Lite Dodge Charger. That gave Busch his second top-10 start in 14 races at LMS.

It's the first time there has been an all-Penske front row for a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race since October 2004 at Martinsville when Newman started on the pole and Rusty Wallace was on the outside of the front row.

Thursday night both Newman and Busch enjoyed the benefit of a late qualifying draw. Among the 49 drivers who made a two-lap timed run, Newman went out 33rd and Busch took to the track 48th.

"I didn't think we had secured the pole when we qualified, but it was a good run for the Alltel Dodge," Newman said after recording his 11th top-10 start - all fourth or better -- in 13 Cup races at LMS. "The guys have done a good job the past four or five weeks. We've got great Penske-Jasper engine horsepower.

"We didn't do a qualifying run in practice, and I think that hurt us a little confidence-wise, but in watching guys struggle here in qualifying the past two weeks I think having too much confidence hurts you more than having too little."

Newman noted that first-year crew chief Michael Nelson was doing a "great job" in leading the team. Nelson had been Newman's team engineer since the Indiana native joined Penske in 2000.

"He's done a great job building it or rebuilding it however you'd like to write that, but he is definitely a big part of what we're doing and I look forward to working with him and Kurt Busch as well," said Newman, whose only other top-10 start this season has been the pole at the 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway. "We're working good together. I don't think we're hitting our stride. I think we're performing well. We haven't been to victory lane in some time and that would be nice. I'd say if that happens we're just pulling our sweat pants off.

"I think we've been performing well the last three, four or five weeks, but I think we haven't had the greatest finishes the four or five weeks before that. I think we've been running good and performing well. We just haven't had the finishes with the exception of the last three or four weeks that we felt we deserved. It was just circumstances. We had some crazy things that happened to us like everybody does. We had a great car at Talladega. Got involved in that accident and knocked off the fender and came back to finish ninth. To be able to rebound and capitalize points-wise is something we hadn't been able to do in previous weeks."

Busch also noted it was good to see the teams' hard work starting to pay dividends.

"We've definitely had our nose buried in the books trying to bring up more ideas," Busch continued. "It feels good that the two of us communicate and keep that open line going. Having him go earlier than us and having him tell us exactly what his car did, it was great to have that confidence. Going out later, I thought we had a great shot at the pole. We're on the front row and that's just as good, and it's good to have that communication."

Sunday's race will be Newman's 200th Cup start and, ironically, comes at the track where he won his first-ever Cup pole in May 2001. By claiming the pole, Newman led a Dodge contingent that swept the first three starting positions. Elliott Sadler will start third.

In his post-qualifying interview, Busch admitted he and his Miller Lite team were excited about their late draw, because they knew it would give them the opportunity to make a run for the pole.

"Sitting up on the trailer, watching other drivers struggling with the hot temperatures and watching the sun come in, and heading out there when it was nice and cool definitely takes a little weight off your shoulders," Busch said. "You feel like the car is going to be more underneath you and you can be more confident with the car. With the speed we ran last week, I thought we had a good shot at it.

"It was good to see the Penske cars 1-2. This is a big achievement and we're proud of doing that, no matter what the order. If Newman is on the pole or if we're on the pole, it just feels good we're both on the front row. It gives us both a great starting spot, obviously, and great pit selections. We know we're going to be in the pits because of the hard tire whether we do two tires, four tires, none, gas only, you name it. This is a great start to our weekend and we're happy to qualify second."

With Newman's accomplishment, Penske now possesses the top starting position for the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600, both scheduled for Sunday. Penske is seeking its 15th Indy 500 victory, but its first win in NASCAR's longest race.

"It's our objective and our goal each and every time we go to the race track, not just Charlotte, to bring success to Penske Racing," Busch said. "For him to be able to do the double in one day, win both races [Charlotte and Indy], that would be an outstanding achievement. I had a glimmer of hope earlier this year that if he won in Motegi and he flew back to Phoenix in time for our Cup race. How many other car owners have the opportunity to race halfway around the world in one day and have a shot in victory lane? The guy is incredible. It's a pleasure to work for him and long term I hope to bring the championship to Roger Penske and to do it in NASCAR."

Sunday's Coca-Cola 600 will air live on FOX and PRN radio beginning at 5:30 p.m. EDT.

mrsmopar12 · #10 (**permalink**) 06-03-2007, 02:18 AM

Newman Top Dodge With 8th-Place Finish In NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge; Wreck Relegates Busch To 19th

This year, Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch faced an all-star race comprised of four 20-lap segments.

CONCORD, N.C. (May 19, 2007) – Ryan Newman produced the top Dodge performance in Saturday's NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge with an eighth-place finish, while teammate Kurt Busch had to settle for 19th after a crash with his younger brother ended his victory bid at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Busch's Miller Lite Dodge was charging towards the front at the beginning of the final 20-lap segment when brother Kyle dove to the inside as they headed into turn one. The two cars banged together twice before the younger Busch's car turned sideways and slid up the track. Busch's Dodge almost cleared the incident, but his brother's car clipped the left rear of his gold-colored Dodge Charger, sending it into the second-turn wall.

"I knew I had a car on the inside," said Busch, who started third. "It was my little brother and he was on the gas. He was racing hard and, inevitably, the Busch brothers had to get together. We did it in an all-star race. A million bucks were up for grabs, and I'm sure that's why he didn't lift and I'm sure that's why I didn't give an inch. We wrecked two good race cars.

"He did a weird move that I didn't expect of him. Maybe I should have given an inch and maybe he shouldn't have taken that inch. I'm pretty sure we'll discuss this. We can't just let it go. We can't take it too serious because we've got to go race next week. I've been trying to tell him to calm down a little bit and back it off. Instead of running 100 percent, maybe he should run at 98. He was at 102 right there."

Busch said his younger brother's move on lap 61 of the 80-lap race startled him.

"We were running the high groove, making sure we didn't get in a wreck and low-and-behold, we got into a wreck. I don't know if we had a car good enough for the front, but we've got a wrecked race car right now. We've got a weird setup; we'll go back and look at it and see if we can make it better for next week."

Newman, who started eighth in the four 20-lap segment race on the 1.5-mile track, said his Alltel Dodge was too tight in the race's first segment and too loose in the second. Despite the ill-handling car, Newman finished the first 20-lap segment in sixth and the second in 10th. The third 20-lap segment once again found Newman's Alltel Dodge too tight. However, he still managed a seventh-place finish.

At the end of the third segment, the teams were required to make only a stop-and-go pit stop in their respective stalls, but crew chief Mike Nelson decided to provide Newman's car with fuel and a wedge adjustment in an effort to free up the car. However, a miscommunication caused rear-tire carrier Trent Cherry to complete only part of the wedge adjustment before Newman took off. Only two cars were behind Newman on the track, so Nelson called him back onto pit road to complete the adjustment and get four tires. When the green flag waved to start the fourth and final segment, Newman was in 16th. However, it took only two laps for him to regain a spot in the top 10.

Newman slowly started to climb toward the front, but there weren’t enough laps to catch some of those ahead of him. He was still battling the car's tight condition when the checkered flag waved on lap 80, leaving him eighth.

“We had a good car. Our car was fast, but strategy didn’t play out for us,” Newman said. “We were too tight pretty much the whole race, but even being too tight I thought we were pretty competitive. We’ll keep working on it.

"I thought it was a huge improvement over last year, and it was a good run for us. We passed quite a few cars. We just didn’t have anything to show for it at the end. We’ll bring a different car next week for the 600 and this one will come back as a backup and hopefully, we’ll have a good Alltel Dodge.”

Next weekend the NEXTEL Cup Series returns to LMS for Sunday's Coca-Cola 600. Busch will also compete in Saturday's CARQUEST Auto Parts 300.

Kurt Busch's younger brother (5) dives to the inside in a move that ended with the Busch brothers in the track's garage.