06/16/2021
Ryan Newman – Nashville Advance
ADVANCE NOTES
Halfway Point in 2021 Season
- This weekend marks week 18 of the NASCAR Cup Series season, the halfway point of the 36-race schedule, and with it comes a new facility in Nashville, Tennessee, along with TV coverage switching from the FOX networks to NBC.
- Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile oval in Lebanon, Tennessee, will host the NCS for the first time in its history. The facility – about a 40-minute drive from Nashville – once hosted NASCAR, ARCA and IndyCar events during its operation from 2001-11. The new event is one of many changes on the revamped 2021 schedule, and one of three tracks the series will visit for the first time.
- NBC’s portion of the schedule gets underway with this weekend’s action on NBCSN. In total, 12 races are planned on that network, with eight slated for the network NBC channel.
Newman in Nashville
- Newman will be one of many to make his first competitive laps at Nashville this weekend. The series will have one practice session, which is set for 2:05 p.m. ET Saturday. Teams will qualify Sunday morning prior to the race (11:05 a.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN).
- A close companion to the concrete Nashville Superspeedway, Newman has 39 starts at Dover with three wins. Dover Motorsports owns and operates Nashville Superspeedway.
Scott Graves in Nashville
- Graves will also get his first glimpse of the 1.33-mile track this weekend.
- Despite calling many events in the NXS in his early career, Nashville was not on the schedule during his tenure from 2012-17.
QUOTE WORTHY
Newman on racing at Nashville:
“I think we’ve found, and I’ve always thought, that Nashville is a great market for our sport, and we’re looking forward to taking our product there this weekend. Despite many of us having never run on that track before, it’s exciting to again have something new and will certainly be a challenge for us. Practice on Saturday will be crucial to just getting the smallest of data, so that hopefully by Sunday morning we have enough of an idea to put our Planters Ford in good position for qualifying and give it our best shot for 400 miles that afternoon.”
Last Time Out
Newman ran 20th in Sunday’s All-Star Race at Texas.
Where They Rank
Newman is 23rd in points through 16 events.
On the Car
Newman will carry a familiar brand on his Ford Mustang in Nashville, as Planters – the 115-year old snack brand – and the iconic Mr. Peanut, will ride along this weekend. Planters has served as an associate on the four races leading up to Nashville (COTA, Charlotte, Sonoma, Texas).
