Catchfence

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (Oct. 3, 2010) — Ryan Newman posted a ninth-place finish in Sunday’s Price Chopper 400 Sprint Cup race at Kansas Speedway. It was his third straight top-10 result and also his fifth top-10 in the last six races. Newman’s only non top-10 in the past six events was 11th in Richmond, Va. on Sept. 11.

Driving the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Newman started the 267-lap, 400-mile race from the sixth position and ran solidly in the top-five in the early part of the race.

He ran as high as second, but later lost his top-10 track position due to running out of fuel as he was entering pit road for a Lap 145 green-flag stop. The fuel issue cost Newman valuable time in the pits and when he returned to action he was all the way back in 20th-place.

“The fuel problem hurt us, but we followed that up with some good pit strategy to get us back in the top-10,” said No. 39 crew chief Tony Gibson. “I thought we had a better car than ninth and felt it was good enough to be in the top-five. We’re continuing to pound away and knocking off some pretty good finishes lately.”

Newman got back into the top-10 after taking a gamble of not pitting on Lap 165. He then stayed in the top-10 for the remainder of the race.

“It felt like the race went by pretty quick,” stated Newman. “We just struggled a couple of different runs and that got us behind. We ran out of fuel and lost a bunch of track position and had to put ourselves at risk with no (fresh) tires a couple of times. A top-10 for the U.S. Army Chevrolet, I am proud of that and proud of the No. 14 (Tony Stewart) guys for getting a top-five. Good for their Chase hopes.”

Newman added, “Though we’re on a pretty good run of late, we feel we’re even better and have the potential to finish in the top-five and win races. I am proud of our guys for their fight and positive attitude. We’ve always said that our race team members possess similar attributes to that of an Army Strong Soldier when it comes to mental, physical and emotional strength.”

Newman remained 13th in the Sprint Cup driver point standings, the highest position for a non-chase driver.

Newman’s teammate and team owner, Tony Stewart, finished fourth and is 10th in the Chase standings.

The race winner was Greg Biffle. Rounding out the top-five in order were: Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Stewart and Jeff Gordon.

The next Sprint Cup race is Sunday (Oct. 10) at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif.

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