Team: No. 6 Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @Roush6Team, @RoushFenway and @RyanJNewman
Race Format: 501 miles, 334 laps, Stage Lengths: 85-85-164
O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 – Sunday, July 19 at 3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
NASCAR Heads West to Lone Star State
· Following a non-points event Wednesday with the annual All-Star Race, NASCAR heads west to Texas Motor Speedway for a 500-mile event Sunday afternoon.
· Texas is typically run in the spring with a March-April event, but implications from COVID-19 pushed it to later in the schedule. The return trip to TMS is set for late October during the Round of 8 in the NASCAR Playoffs.
· The lineup for Sunday’s race will again be determined by a random draw based on teams’ order in owners’ points. Newman and the No. 6 team are 23rd in points and will draw for a starting spot in the 13-24 group.
· Four weeks of NASCAR action were completed prior to the COVID-19 hiatus with races at Atlanta, Homestead, Texas, Bristol, Richmond, Talladega, Dover and Martinsville postponed.
Newman Historically at Texas Motor Speedway
· Newman will make his 34th start at Texas on Sunday. In 33 prior events, Newman has one win with three top fives and six top-10s.
· Newman went to victory lane in just his second Cup outing at the 1.5-mile track back in 2003, leading 77 laps after starting third. Most recently, Newman tallied finishes of 11th and 15th in the 2019 events.
· He also crossed the line fifth in the 2007 fall race and fourth in the following event (spring 2008). His most recent top-10 came in the 2016 fall event where he finished 10th.
· Newman has two career Cup poles at Texas, both of which came in 2005 when he swept the pole spot that season. Overall, he has an average starting spot of 16.4 with his most recent top-10 start coming in 2017 (ninth).
· Newman also has three starts in the Xfinity Series at TMS, where he led the field to green in 2005 and recorded a top finish of 14th in 2001.
Scott Graves at Texas Motor Speedway
· Graves will be atop the box for his eighth Cup race Sunday at Texas. In seven prior starts, Graves has an average finish of 20.6 with three different drivers.
· His best result to date is the 11th-place run with Newman last spring, which was followed by the 15th-place run in the fall.
· Graves also has two top-10s and one top-five in the Xfinity Series at Texas, finishing fifth with Suarez in 2016 and ninth with Buescher in 2015.
QUOTE WORTHY
Newman on racing at Texas:
“Texas in the middle of summer is obviously going to be hot and challenging from that perspective. Last year we found something that worked pretty well, after running inside the top-10 for much of the spring race. We’ve been trying some different things with our 1.5-mile program and look forward to seeing what we can do this week in the Wyndham Rewards Ford.”
Last Time Out
Newman was the victim of an early spin in Wednesday night’s All-Star Race, relegating him to 19th overall after track position proved to be key in the short, 140-lap race.
Where They Rank
Newman is 26th in driver points after 14 points races in his 2020 campaign. In owners’ points, the No. 6 is 23rd.
On the Car
Wyndham Rewards returns to the No. 6 this weekend at Texas, the brand’s third event overall of 2020 as the primary, and second with Newman. Wyndham Rewards is in its third season with the team after joining the fold with Matt Kenseth in 2018, and a 10-race program in 2019 with Newman.
About Wyndham Rewards
Recently named the number one hotel rewards program by readers of USA TODAY, Wyndham Rewards® is the world’s most generous rewards program with more than 30,000 hotels, vacation club resorts and vacation rentals worldwide. Designed for the everyday traveler, members earn a guaranteed 1,000 points with every qualified stay and may redeem points for a wide-range of rewards, including free nights at any of approximately 9,300 hotels or tens of thousands of vacation club resorts and vacation rentals globally through partnership with Wyndham Destinations (NYSE: WYND) and others. Wyndham Rewards has approximately 81 million enrolled members around the globe. Join for free today at www.wyndhamrewards.com. You’ve earned this.®
