Team: No. 6 Roush Performance Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @Roush6Team, @RoushFenway and @RyanJNewman
Federated Auto Parts 400 – Saturday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Newman at Richmond Raceway
· Newman will make his 36th Cup start at Richmond Saturday night. In 35 prior races, Newman has an average finish of 12.5, the best average finish for him on any active track on the circuit. He has finished top-10 in 54 percent (19-of-35) of the events at the 3/4-mile track, with seven top-fives and one win (2003).
· His victory came back in the fall of 2003 when he started fourth and led the final 124 laps, holding off Jeremy Mayfield and Ricky Rudd. He went on to capture eight wins that season.
· Overall Newman has six finishes in the top-three at Richmond, including runner-up results in 2002 (twice), the win in 2003, and third in 2005, 2013 and 2017.
· Newman has one pole at Richmond back in 2004, and holds an average starting position of 13.6.
· He also has five starts in the Xfinity Series at Richmond, recording two top-fives with a best finish of third in 2007.
Scott Graves at Richmond Raceway
· Graves will call his eighth MENCS race at Richmond on Saturday. Coming off a ninth-place result back in April with Newman, Graves has a best overall finish of seventh with Daniel Suarez in 2017. He also finished top-10 with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., in 2013 and 10th with Suarez in 2018.
· Graves has also called seven Xfinity Series events from atop the box at Richmond, earning five top-10s and one top-five. He led Suarez to fourth and eighth in 2016, and finished seventh once and 10th twice with Chris Buescher in 2014 and 2015.
Last Time at Richmond
Back in the spring at Richmond, Newman battled back from starting mid-pack to earn a ninth-place result. After getting blocked on pit road early in the race, the pit crew gained Newman multiple positions over the course of the race to put him inside the top-10 when the race ran caution-free to the end, securing the team’s second of three-straight top-10s at the time.
QUOTE WORTHY
Newman on racing at Richmond:
“I’m a short track guy and Richmond might be, in my opinion, the best short track we go to. It has been a place I have been fortunate to have success at, so we are looking forward to the weekend. We are excited to roll out our new chassis and continue to improve our position in the playoffs. Last week we made up some ground but we still have work to do, and Richmond is a place we feel like we can do that.”
Tracking the #NASCARPlayoffs
· Coming off another mistake-free weekend at Las Vegas with another top-10, Newman inched his way further North in the NASCAR Playoffs standings, currently 13th heading into Richmond just six points off the cut line.
· He is eight points ahead of the No. 1, with 26 points overall separating the four drivers currently below the cut line. However, the gap ahead is not as large, with just 13 points separating the driver in ninth place (No. 24) from the cut line with two races remaining in the opening round (Richmond, Roval).
Recapping Las Vegas
Newman put together another solid weekend at Las Vegas, after finishing top-10 in final practice before going on to finish 10th in the race. Despite no stage points, Newman used a couple key strategy calls to record his 10th top-10 of the season.
