For the second straight year, Ryan Newman will be behind the wheel of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing, and drive in honor of the over one million men and women who defend our country. The 2010 race season will also be the ninth full campaign in which he will pilot a car on the Sprint Cup Series.

Newman became the first U.S. Army NASCAR driver to earn a spot in the Chase for the Cup when he qualified for the sport’s playoff series in 2009. Overall, he finished ninth in the points chase, and racked up five top-five finishes to go along with 15 top-10 finishes last year. Newman and the U.S. Army team also demonstrated the ability to integrate speed, power, teamwork and technology into their performance at the race track by grabbing a pair of poles during the 2009 campaign. The two pole wins extended his streak of winning at least one pole to nine consecutive seasons.

In 296 career starts, the South Bend, Ind., native has posted 13 Sprint Cup wins and earned a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup on three occasions (2004; 2005 and 2009). Newman has finished sixth in the final points standings on three different occasions (2002, 2003, and 2005) and owns 45 career poles.  In fact, he picked up the nickname “Rocketman” after capturing a series-high 11 Sprint Cup poles in 2003, and has led the circuit in most poles in a single-season on four different occasions.
Newman also made history in 2008 when he grabbed the checkered flag at the 50th running of the Daytona 500.

Newman jump-started his NASCAR career in Phoenix where he made his first-ever Sprint Cup series start in November of 2000.  He went on to capture his first pole in May of 2001 at Charlotte, and the driver’s first win came at New Hampshire in September of 2002.  The victory was just another highlight in what would become a memorable 2002 rookie season for Newman which ended with the honor of NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year.

Success on the track at any level is nothing new to Newman.  He is one of only 20 drivers to own a victory in all three of NASCAR’s top racing series – Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Truck Series.  Overall, Newman has 50 starts behind the wheel on the NASCAR Nationwide Series circuit and has posted seven wins to go along with 15 top-five finishes, 27 top-10 finishes and 12 poles. 

Newman began his racing career piloting Quarter Midgets in his home state of Indiana at the age of 4 1/2.  His 100 feature wins and two titles earned him induction into the Quarter Midget Hall of Fame.  In 1993, Newman moved to the All-American Midget Series, and captured both the circuit championship and Rookie of the Year honors.  Success followed Newman to the United States Auto Club (USAC) where in 1999 he won the USAC Silver Crown national championship and the USAC Sprint Car Rookie of the Year.  That victory came on the heels of earning Rookie of the Year honors in USAC National Midgets in 1995 and USAC Silver Crown in 1996.  Newman’s career took the next step when he joined Penske Racing and won three of five ARCA/REMAX races he entered in 2000.

Away from the track, Newman and his wife, Krissie, work extremely hard to make a difference in the lives of people and animals.  Together, they founded the Ryan Newman Foundation in 2005.  The foundation has three areas of focus: companion animal welfare; conservation of wildlife; and the environment; and supporting a scholarship for students with a racing background who want to pursue a college degreee by providing donations to the Rich Vogler Scholarship Fund.