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Ryan Newman Biography
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Ryan Joseph Newman (born December 8, 1977 in South Bend, Indiana) is a driver in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series. He drives the #12 Alltel, Mobil Oil Dodge Charger for Penske Racing. Newman, along with the late Alan Kulwicki, is one of the few NASCAR racers with a college degree, graduating from Purdue University in 2001 with a B. S. in vehicle structure engineering (Kulwicki's degree was in mechanical engineering).
In 2002, he was the Raybestos Rookie of the Year.
Racing career
In the Nextel Cup Series, Ryan has 152 starts with 12 wins (matching his car number), 54 top 5's, 81 top 10's, and 37 Bud Poles. His large number of Bud Poles in such a short time period has earned him the nickname of Rocket Man. Ending with the MBNA RacePoints 400, Ryan had a streak of 20 straight races started in the top ten. In the Busch Series Ryan has 23 starts, 7 wins, 9 top 5's, 15 top 10's and 9 Bud Poles. In 2005 Ryan ran 9 Busch races, winning 6 times and breaking a record for 5 consecutive wins in a row and finishing out of the top 5 only once. Nineteen races into the 2006 season Ryan's best finish came at the Dodge/Save Mart 350 where he finished 2nd.
Charity
Ryan and his wife Krissie operate the Ryan Newman Foundation. The foundation primarily focuses on assuring that adequate care is provided for unwanted dogs and cats in shelters and pounds. Ryan helped fund the construction of the Catawba County, North Carolina Humane Society shelter, in the county where he lives.
Trivia
-Newman was on the cover of the 2005 EA Sports computer game "NASCAR SimRacing" and was actively involved in its development.
-Newman has been invited to the International Race of Champions three times, in 2003, 2004, and 2006, finishing second in the standings to Matt Kenseth in 2004.
-After his wild flip at Daytona International Speedway in Feb. 2003, he joked about the incident, saying "they don't have any rides like that at Disney World", referring to the theme park just down the road in Orlando.
-A fishing fanatic, he also enjoys working on vintage automobiles, particularly 1950s Chryslers.
-His mentor is Buddy Baker.
source: wikipedia.org
GNU Free Documentation License
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