RCR Post Race Report – Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte

Race Highlights:

  • Richard Childress Racing’s Ryan Newman finished 18th in the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway after qualifying 18th.
  • Denny Hamlin cashed in on the $1 million payout by winning the final 10-lap shootout to claim his first Sprint All-Star Race victory. Following Hamlin to the line to round out the top-five were Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth.
  • Up next for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams is the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday, May 24, 2015 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, which is scheduled to be televised live on FOX beginning at 6 p.m. Eastern Time and broadcast live on the Performance Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Satellite Radio, channel 90.
 

 

Ryan Newman Finishes 18th in the Sprint All-Star Race

 

Ryan Newman drove Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 Cat/Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS to an 18th-place finish in Saturday night’s 110-lap exhibition event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The South Bend, Ind., driver started 18th as a result of the evening’s unique qualifying effort that consisted of three laps and a four-tire pit stop. The first 25-lap segment posted Newman in the 19th position and in need of a major change since the No. 31 Chevy handled tight through the corners. Pit stops occurred at the break and in the form of a wedge adjustment, four tires and fuel for the team. In the second segment, the Cat/Quicken Chevy battled a much looser condition to race in 18th. Crew chief Todd Parrott implemented more chassis changes. The third segment followed and produced a gain of three positions on the track. The No. 31 driver stated a loose-handling condition during the long green-flag run, so more chassis changes took place during the lap-75 break. The adjustments helped Newman race into the top 10 by lap 78 and by the end of the fourth segment at lap 100, he competed in 11th place. Newman reported to Parrott it was the best run so far in the event. The Cat/Quicken Loans crew serviced the No. 31 Chevrolet one final time while NASCAR calculated the average running positions of the 20-car field to determine the starting order for the final 10-lap segment. Unfortunately it caused Newman to lose his running spot of 11th  place, so he restarted 18th and maintained that position for the remainder of the event.

 

Up next for the No. 31 team is the sport’s longest race of the season, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Quicken Loans will be the primary partner. 

            Start – 18th                    Finish – 18th                      Laps Led – 0                              Points – N/A 

   

RYAN NEWMAN QUOTE: “We made a lot of changes to this Cat/Quicken Loans Chevrolet overnight and unfortunately, looking at tonight’s overall performance, we still have quite a bit of work to do to get ready for Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600. It just was not a good race for us. Crew chief Todd Parrott and the crew made big swings at our car tonight and we got up to 10th, but when we had to restart 18th for the final segment, we just didn’t have the car to make a final run up through the field. It’s really unfortunate, but we’ll regroup when we get back to RCR and make the changes needed to be competitive when the points count.

RCR PR