Ryan Newman and Turner Motorsports to Honor the Life of Friend and Employee Beau Slocumb

After a fast start in Monday’s rain-delayed NASCAR Sprint Cup road race, Regan Smith encountered two major problems during the 92-lap event at Watkins Glen International.

His No. 78 Furniture Row Chevrolet ran out of fuel and was pushed to the pits during a caution on Lap 29. Then later in the race (lap 48) the left-rear tire on his car went flat, forcing an unscheduled pit stop. Despite the problems, the Cato, N.Y. native, who calls Watkins Glen International his home track, posted a 23rd-place finish.

Though Smith was frustrated he couldn’t capitalize on a strong race car, he could take comfort that he has achieved major improvement in Sprint Cup road racing.

Prior to the 2011 season, Smith competed in four career road races (two at Watkins Glen and two in Sonoma, Calif.). His average finish in those four races was 34.75. With his 23rd-place result today and 16th in Sonoma back in June, his average for the two road races this season dropped to 19.5. His prior best finish at Watkins Glen was 34th.

Also, his 10th-place qualifying effort Friday was a career best on a road course.

“I guess it’s nice to know you’re making progress, but right now I feel our finish should have been so much better because of a fast Furniture Row Chevrolet that we had today,” said the 27-year-old Smith. “That’s the good news — having a great tune-up that we can store in our road-course data base for next year.”

Smith basically ran in or just outside the top-10 for the first 27 laps of the race. But when the caution came out on Lap 28, he was short on fuel and eventually ran out. His No. 78 Chevy was pushed to the pits by Casey Mears’ No. 13 car.

The fuel issue dropped Smith from sixth to 24th in track position. He later dropped to the low 30s.

“We just missed the fuel window,” said Smith. “Losing track position was costly. It was so unfortunate because we had a really good car. The flat tire in the middle of the race also hurt our comeback.”

The other piece of good news for Smith is that he gained one position in the driver point standings — from 26th to 25th.

Turner Motorsports is pleased to announce that Ryan Newman will pilot the No. 08 BRANDT/Realtree Chevrolet Silverado in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series (NCWTS) Atlanta 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.  Newman and Turner Motorsports will honor the life of former employee and family friend Beau Slocumb, who lost his battle with cancer this past spring, with a special paint scheme featuring the No. 08, Slocumb’s car number during his racing career.  All the money received by Turner Motorsportsfrom the NCWTS event will be donated to Slocumb’s widow to assist with medical expenses.

A native of Macon, Ga., Slocumb was a racer himself, having made four ARCA Racing Series starts in 2009 and logging an impressive 7.0 starting average combined with a solid 11.2 average finish. The 26-year-old driver logged a pair of top-10 finishes over those four starts including a career-best fifth-place finish at Kansas Speedway. Slocumb began his career racing Legends cars and climbed the professional ladder through the late model ranks, earning 131 feature wins in Legends and late model competition, eventually making his mark in the ARCA series. He is survived by his wife Jessica, parents Burke “Buster” and Jeanne, brothers Seth and Daniel and sister Maggie.

Newman and his wife Krissie are longtime friends of the Slocumb family and feel honored to be paying tribute to their close friends.

“I look forward to driving the race that my good friend Beau Slocumb always dreamed of.  This is his ride; I just wish he were here to drive it.  This is for his family and for the dream he always wished would come true.  Beau ran a camo car and it will be great to honor him with a Realtree paint scheme and the Chevy Truck. Thank you Turner Motorsports, Team Realtree, BRANDT, and Chevrolet for giving us this opportunity,” said Newman.

Newman has one NCWTS win at Atlanta Motor Speedway coming in October, 2008.  He has a total of three NCWTS starts, racking up one win, three top-five and three top-10 finishes.  2011 marks his 10^th full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and his third with Stewart-Haas Racing. During his tenure in the series, Newman has collected 15 wins, 78 top-five finishes, 144 top-10 finishes and 47 pole awards. Already a member of the Turner Motorsports family, Newman made his debut with the team’s Nationwide Series program at Phoenix International Raceway bringing home a fourth-place finish in the No. 30 Chevrolet Impala.

“Realtree is honored to be a part of the effort to contribute to Beau’s family,” said Bill Jordan, President of Realtree. “It is certainly rewarding to help the Slocumb’s through this difficult time. I’m sure everyone watching this race will be thinking of Beau and pulling for Ryan to win.”

To Turner Motorsports, Slocumb was a family member who will always be remembered as someone who was a part of building this organization into what it is today.

“We built this organization and race team as a family and we wanted to honor Beau in a special way.  The No. 08 was Beau’s car number and to have Ryan run that same number and paint scheme at Atlanta will be something special to all involved,” said team owner Steve Turner.

“As part of the Turner Motorsports family, we are privileged to help put the 08 truck on the track. Hats off to Turner Motorsports and Ryan Newman for pulling this together,” said Rick Brandt, President and CEO of BRANDT.  “This tribute fits the values that we hold dear at BRANDT. A family-owned business ourselves, we’ll be in Atlanta with some of our customers to celebrate Beau’s life and career.“

Turner Motorsports PR