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 3/22/2007 -
Knoxville, IA - Ryan Newman, winner of 12 NASCAR Nextel Cup events, will return to competition at Knoxville Raceway for the 4th Annual Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals on September 27-29, 2007. He joins Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart who is entered in hopes of bettering his 2006 Knoxville Late Model Nationals finish of 2nd by one spot this year.
Ryan, driving his own 2007 Mopar powered Rocket Chassis #39, will be able to benefit from the experience of the last three years at Knoxville Raceway by Mark Richards, Rocket Chassis principal, and Steve Frances Racing, who will provide support for the effort. With at least two more Nextel Cup drivers expected to enter the event, frequent flyer miles between Kansas Speedway and Knoxville Raceway in Knoxville, Iowa on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be piling up as they go through practice and qualifying for the NASCAR Cup race on Sunday, and the Busch race on Saturday afternoon.
The last time Ryan raced on the fast ½ mile dirt track was in June, 2000 at the USAC Hawkeye Hundred for Silver Crown cars. He took the Pole position with a fast lap of 21.375 seconds or 85.70 mph, over a field that included Kasey Kahne and J.J. Yeley, top NASCAR names today. The track record for a Late Model, set during the 2006 Late Model Nationals by Steve Francis, is 17.433 seconds or 118.8 mph. Top speeds in 2006 exceeded 125 mph on the front stretch.
In addition to the 12 Cup victories and one Busch win since 2001, Newman was the 2002 NASCAR Rookie of the Year. He also earned Rookie of the Year titles in the USAC Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown Series’ during the late ‘90s.
With six months to go before the event, 25 of the 66 starting spots are already taken by top late model drivers from across the country. Three prior Knoxville Late Model Champions, Brian Birkhofer (2004), Scott Bloomquist (2005), and Brian Shirley (2006), are joined by Billy Moyer, Shannon Babb, Jimmy Mars, Donnie Moran, Steve Francis, Josh Richards, Rick Eckert, Steve Shaver, Chris Madden, Dan Schlieper and Jeep VanWormer. The field already represents over 2000 feature wins and 125 series and track championships.
The $220,000 purse will be divided over the three nights, with all drivers running a complete program on Thursday for over $27,000, and qualifying points, to determine the Saturday line ups for the C, B and 100-lap Championship A Feature in front of the Speed Channel cameras. All drivers can run again Friday night for another $27,000+ and a chance to improve their starting spot on Saturday. The best result for each driver of the two nights will be used. Those running Thursday only will stand on their results, but have another chance to move up on Saturday.
Reserved seats for the 3-day Lucas Oil Knoxville Late Model Nationals are available now online at www.knoxvilleraceway.com, or by calling the ticket office at (641) 842-5431. Details about the Late Model Nationals, the Knoxville Nationals, Midget Nationals, 360 Nationals as well as the other 23 race events can also be found at www.knoxvilleraceway.com.
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