10/21/2020
Ryan Newman | Texas Advance
ADVANCE NOTES
NASCAR Turns Attention to Lone Star State
- With just three races remaining in the 2020 slate, the Cup series heads West to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for a 500-mile race in the Round of 8 in the #NASCARPlayoffs.
- Sunday’s starting lineup will be set by three competition-based metrics, rewarding both season-long and single-race performance, and will be announced later in the week.
- Four weeks of NASCAR action were completed prior to the COVID-19 hiatus with races at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Martinsville postponed before the schedule later picked back up in mid-May.
Newman Historically at Texas
- Newman will make his 35th Cup start at Texas this weekend. In 34 prior starts, Newman has an average finish of 18.4 with one win, three top five and six top-10 finishes.
- Newman went to victory lane in just his second Cup outing at the 1.5-mile track back in 2003, leading 77 laps after starting third. Most recently, Newman has tallied finishes of 11th, 15th and 13th in his last three races at the track.
- Newman put together two straight top-five results in 2007-08, finishing fifth in the 2007 fall event, and fourth the following spring. His most recent top-10 came in the 2016 fall race, finishing 10th.
- Newman has two career Cup poles at Texas, both of which came in 2005 when he swept the pole that season. Overall, he has an average starting sot of 16.6 with his most recent top-10 start coming in 2017 (ninth).
- Newman also started three races in the Xfinity Series at TMS, where he led the field to green in 2005 and recorded a best finish of 14th in 2001.
Scott Graves Historically at Texas
- Graves will be atop the box for his ninth Cup event at Texas this weekend, where he has an average finish of 19.6 with three different drivers.
- His best result to date came last spring, leading Newman to an 11th-place run. Since, the two have recorded two-straight top-15s (15th – fall 2019, 13th – spring 2020).
- Graves also has two top-10s and one top-five in the Xfinity Series at Texas, finishing fifth with Suarez in 2016 and ninth with Buescher in 2015.
QUOTE WORTHY
Newman on racing at Texas:
“Texas is another fast track on our schedule, a place where we’ve strung together some nice runs as of late. I’m fortunate to have visited victory lane there early on in my career, and always enjoy going back to the area. We’ve got three races left to continue to figure things out, and look forward to having a solid run in the Guaranteed Rate Ford.”
Last Time Out
Newman got up to second midway through Sunday’s race in Kansas, which featured extremely cold temperatures and high winds, before going on to finish 22nd in the Hy-Vee Ford.
Where They Rank
Newman is 25th in driver points after 30 points races in his 2020 campaign. In owners’ points, the No. 6 is 23rd.
On the Car
Guaranteed Rate returns to Newman’s Ford this weekend in Texas, as part of the overall 12-race schedule for the brand to close out the 2020 slate.
Driven for a Cause
Throughout the month of October, Roush Fenway Racing will show its support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month by running special pink numbers on its Ford Mustangs. In addition, Roush Fenway Fords will sport pink ‘Driven for a Cause’ ribbon decals on its Ford Mustangs.
About Guaranteed Rate
Guaranteed Rate is one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the Company has more than 5,000 employees in nearly 350 offices across the U.S., and is licensed in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Since its founding in 2000, Guaranteed Rate has helped hundreds of thousands of homeowners with home purchase loans and refinances and funded more than $30 billion in loans in 2019 alone. The Company has cemented itself as Positively Different by introducing innovative technology, such as the world’s first Digital Mortgage, by offering low rates and by delivering unparalleled customer service. Honors and awards include: Top Lender for Online Service for 2018 by U.S. News & World Report; No. 3 ranking in Scotsman Guide’s Top Retail Mortgage Lenders 2019; Top Lender 2016, 2017 and 2018 by Chicago Agent magazine; Chicago Tribune’s Top Workplaces list for seven consecutive years; and Best Online Mortgage Lender, Best Mortgage Lender for VA loans and Best Conventional Mortgage Lender by NerdWallet in 2019. Visit rate.com for more information.
