Catchfence

RICHMOND, Va. (Sept. 12, 2009) — Ryan Newman secured a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup after finishing 10th in Saturday night’s Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

The U.S. Army/Haas Automation driver made yet another late-race comeback as he took over the 10th position on the final lap of the 400-lap race at the .75-mile short track. It was the third straight top-10 for Newman and his 12th of the season.

Regarding the Chase, it will be the first time in three years that Newman will be involved in the championship format. He did however earn a spot in the Chase during the first two years of the competition — in 2004 and 2005.

“If feels awesome, especially after not making it (Chase) for so many years,” said an elated Newman. “We just never let up all season in the Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS. When things wouldn’t go right we would just battle harder.

“This is our payback to our Soldiers who give us the mental strength and inspiration to keep on pounding away until the mission is completed. I’m so proud to represent the U.S. Army and knowing that I’m driving for over a million Soldiers fighting for our freedom. This is a win for them, too.”

Tony Stewart, Newman’s teammate and co-owner of the Stewart-Haas Racing team, finished 17th in the race and is also Chase bound, giving the first-year organization two positions in NASCAR’s championship playoffs.

“We just did what we wanted to do and that’s why it feels so good,” explained Newman. “It’s a dream come true. To think back to Daytona going through basically three race cars and make it to Richmond here and be in this position, it says a lot about the hard work that (crew chief) Tony Gibson, (owner) Tony Stewart and everybody at Stewart-Haas Racing have put into this effort.

“We still have the final 10 (Chase) races to go and need to pick up our performance a little bit. Those 10 races are all about having fun — can’t really lose anything, but there’s a lot to gain.”

Newman is positioned 10th in the Chase seeding while Stewart is seeded second. (see below for Chase seeds)

The 10-race, 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup begins Sunday (Sept. 20) at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon.

The Richmond race winner was Denny Hamlin. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Kyle Busch.

Chase Seeds
1. Mark Martin, 5040 points
2. Tony Stewart, 5030
3. Jimmie Johnson, 5030
4. Denny Hamlin, 5020
5. Kasey Kahne, 5020
6. Jeff Gordon, 5010
7. Kurt Busch, 5010
8. Brian Vickers, 5010
9. Carl Edwards, 5000
10. Ryan Newman, 5000
11. Juan Pablo Montoya, 5000
12. Greg Biffle, 5000

- DMF Communications for U.S. Army Racing, Press Release