Ryan Newman’s No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet will pay tribute to the 75 U.S. Army personnel killed in the 9/11/01 attack on the Pentagon in this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Richmond International Raceway.
In observance of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the names of the 75 victims will be included on Newman’s car, which will also carry an inscription, “We Will Never Forget” and sport a specially-designed logo featuring the World Trade Center twin towers, Pentagon and the American Flag.
“I am deeply honored to have the 75 Army personnel who were killed on 9/11 at the Pentagon to ride along with me at Richmond this weekend,” said Newman.
Though Newman has already clinched a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a race to spare, he said there will be no let-up with the Army team in Richmond and would like nothing more than to drive the 9/11 car to his second win of the season in Saturday night’s 400-lap event.
“Those 75 victims who will be on our car are an inspiration and they would expect nothing less than an all-out effort from their Army team,” explained Newman. “Having a spot clinched in the Chase does not change our game plan. We go to every race with the objective of winning. It would be a very special, touching moment if we could drive our Army Chevrolet into Victory Lane carrying the names of those great Americans.”
Newman, who clinched the Chase berth with a 20th-place finish in Tuesday’s rain-delayed race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, has a strong record at Richmond’s .75-mile short track. In 19 starts, he has posted one win, five top-fives, 11 top-10s and has led 437 laps. His average start at Richmond is 10.7 and average finish is 11.8.
“We like Richmond and know that we can win there,” said Newman. “We’re having a good year and it’s our goal to make it even better. Richmond can be a great momentum builder for the 10 Chase races. Making the Chase is something that we strived for all year long. It’s a credit to the entire Stewart-Haas Racing organization.”
Newman’s appearance in this year’s 12-driver Chase, which commences on Sept. 18 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., is the fourth time and second in the past three years that he has qualified for the playoff championship. He missed the Chase last year by one position, finishing 13th in pre-Chase points. The Chase championship format began in 2004.
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