Team: No. 6 Coke Zero Sugar Ford Mustang
Crew Chief: Scott Graves
Twitter: @Roush6Team, @RoushFenway and @RyanJNewman
Race Format: 400 miles, 160 laps, Stages: 50-50-60
Coke Zero Sugar 400 – Saturday, Aug. 28 at 7 p.m. ET on NBC, MRN, SiriusXM Channel 90
ADVANCE NOTES
Newman at Daytona International Speedway
· Newman makes his 40th Cup start at Daytona on Saturday. He is a former winner of the Daytona 500 in 2008, one of his six career top five finishes at the track.
· Dating back four summer events at DIS, Newman has finishes of fifth (2017), eighth (2018), fifth (2019) and 36th (2020). Overall he has 12 top-10s at ‘The World Center of Racing’ with a 19.1 average finish. Last season he was in the mix late in the cutoff race prior to the playoffs before a wreck at the front of the field collected his machine.
· Since joining Roush Fenway in 2019, Newman five top-10s at Daytona and Talladega behind Jimmy Fennig’s powerful Superspeedway program.
Scott Graves at Daytona International Speedway
· Graves will call his 11th Cup race at DIS on Saturday, a track he has two top-10s at, both of which came with Newman.
· He led The Rocketman to a fifth-place run in the 2019 summer event, and followed that with the ninth-place finish in the 2020 Daytona 500 that ended in horrific fashion.
· Graves was also atop the box for six Xfinity events in Daytona with two top-10s, including a runner-up finish with Chris Buescher in the 2015 season opener.
QUOTE WORTHY
Newman on racing at Daytona:
“Really excited and proud to be a part of the Coca-Cola Racing Family and drive the Coke Zero Sugar Ford Mustang this weekend, and really honored to run a decal honoring Jone Salter who was an integral part of the organization and a dear friend. Looking to Saturday, there’s always multiple scenarios playing out in the last race of the regular season, and Daytona makes it that much more intense with guys on different strategies. We’ll be a part of that group trying to simply win and work our way into the playoffs. It’s challenging in more than one way, but we’ll do our best to be there at the end and see what we can do under the lights.”
Last Time Out
Newman was eyeing a top-10 late in Sunday’s action at Michigan before a large pileup with 13 to go collected his ITsavvy Ford, relegating him to a 24th-place finish.
Where They Rank
Newman is 26th in points through 25 events.
On the Car
Newman will run a fresh scheme Saturday night under the lights celebrating Coca-Cola’s new and improved Coca-Cola Zero Sugar. Still with zero sugar and zero calories, both the recipe and the bottling itself are new and improved, and Newman’s Ford will match that change on his car in Daytona.
· This significant leap forward in Coca-Cola® Zero Sugar’s taste is a prime example of consumers being at the center of the brand’s strategy, ensuring that we match their expectations and aspirations for a great-tasting, zero sugar, calorie-free beverage.
· New Coca-Cola® Zero Sugar will begin hitting shelves in the U.S. in July 2021, with full distribution in August, and in Canada starting in August with full distribution in September 2021, marking the global rollout of the new and improved taste and design.
· Coca-Cola® Zero Sugar achieved this new recipe by further optimizing the blend of flavors, using the same ingredients to deliver a great Coke taste.
· Just as the taste of Coca-Cola® Zero Sugar is new and improved, so is the design. The design is simplified and celebrates the iconic logo, beginning with the brand’s original and universally recognized red, with black Spencerian script, signaling the Zero Sugar variety.
· To learn more about the new and improved Coca-Cola Zero Sugar in North America, visit https://us.coca-cola.com and @CocaCola on Instagram and Twitter and follow #BestCokeEver on social.
Newman and Roush Fenway will also pay tribute to Jone Salter, an integral member of the Coca-Cola Racing program for over 20 years, who recently passed away. The team will run a special decal on the No. 6 Coke Zero Sugar Ford recognizing and honoring Salter’s diligence and passion to the company and sport.
About The Coca-Cola Company
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is a total beverage company with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories. Our company’s purpose is to refresh the world and make a difference. We sell multiple billion-dollar brands across several beverage categories worldwide. Our portfolio of sparkling soft drink brands includes Coca-Cola, Sprite and Fanta. Our hydration, sports, coffee and tea brands include Dasani, smartwater, vitaminwater, Topo Chico, Powerade, Costa, Georgia, Gold Peak, Honest and Ayataka. Our nutrition, juice, dairy and plant-based beverage brands include Minute Maid, Simply, innocent, Del Valle, fairlife and AdeS. We’re constantly transforming our portfolio, from reducing sugar in our drinks to bringing innovative new products to market. We seek to positively impact people’s lives, communities and the planet through water replenishment, packaging recycling, sustainable sourcing practices and carbon emissions reductions across our value chain. Together with our bottling partners, we employ more than 700,000 people, helping bring economic opportunity to local communities worldwide. Learn more at www.coca-colacompany.com and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
