04/14/2021
Ryan Newman | Richmond I Advance
ADVANCE NOTES
Newman at Richmond Raceway
- Newman makes his 38th Cup start at Richmond this weekend, his best track on the NASCAR circuit statistically with a 12.6 average finish. He has 20 top-10s in 37 starts, eight of which were inside the top five.
- Newman won at the ¾-mile track back in 2003 when he started fourth and led the final 124 laps in the fall race, one of his eight wins that season. Newman is coming off a 23rd-place run last fall, but prior to that had two-straight top-10s with a ninth and fifth-place effort in 2019.
- Newman has six finishes inside the top three, including runner-up results in 2002 (twice), the win in 2003, and thirds in 2005, 2013 and 2017. He also has one pole at Richmond and holds an average starting position of 13.9.
- Newman also made five Xfinity Series starts at Richmond, recording two top fives with a best result of third in 2007.
Scott Graves at Richmond Raceway
- Graves will be atop the box for his 10th Cup race at Richmond on Sunday where he has five top-10s, marking his second-best track on the circuit statistically with a 12.1 average finish.
- Graves has finished outside the top-17 only once at Richmond – the 23rd-place run last fall – a year after leading Newman to the two-straight top-10s in 2019.
- Graves also called seven Xfinity events at Richmond earning five top-10s and one top five. He led Daniel Suarez to fourth and eighth in 2016, and finished seventh once and 10th with Chris Buescher in 2014 and 2015.
QUOTE WORTHY
Newman on racing at Richmond:
“Richmond is a great short track, the way the tires fall off reminds me of my Silver Crown days at old IRP, but it’s still Richmond and still different. The flatness of the track, braking application, all the things you have to be finesse about plays into my style as a driver. We’ve got to do our job better than the rest and eliminate the hiccups, getting the car to be balanced in the corner and still having that forward drive. We’re looking forward to the challenge and having Oscar Mayer back on board come Sunday.”
Last Time Out
Newman was on his way to a solid bounce back finish in Sunday’s postponed race at Martinsville, before a flat tire on the left rear – prior caused by contact multiple times – pushed him to a 19th-place finish. He was well inside the top-15 in the closing laps, and at one point ran inside the top five for the middle portion of the race.
Where They Rank
Newman is 18th in the points standings entering Richmond.
On the Car
Oscar Mayer returns as the primary on Newman’s No. 6 machine this weekend, highlighting its famous bacon products. So far in two races, Oscar Mayer has finishes of seventh (Homestead) and fifth (Bristol Dirt) when they’re on the car.
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