Newman to Continue With Alltel in 2002

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (October 23, 2001) -- Ryan Newman and his Penske Racing South NASCAR Winston Cup team will be sponsored by ALLTEL again next season as they run a full Winston Cup season and make their bid for the 2002 Rookie of the Year honors.

The announcement came during an employee event held at ALLTEL corporate headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas on Tuesday. Members of Newman’s pit crew, Penske Racing personnel and ALLTEL officials were on hand for the event, which included a pit stop demonstration and an autograph session.

“When we were putting together the program for this past year we had no idea Ryan would learn his ‘ABC’s’ as quickly as he did with the ‘ABC’ [ARCA, Busch, Winston Cup] schedule we planned for him,” said Scott Ford, ALLTEL president. “With that in mind, we can’t wait for the 2002 season to kick off with the ALLTEL Ford in Daytona. We are very proud to be a part of Penske Racing and to be behind Ryan as he competes for Rookie of the Year honors.”

Competing in 21 combined ARCA RE/MAX, NASCAR Busch Series and NASCAR

Winston Cup Series events this season, Newman has recorded seven poles, two wins, five top-five finishes, and nine top-ten finishes. He is scheduled to enter the Winston Cup race in Phoenix this weekend, followed by Busch events at North Carolina Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

One of the 2001 poles was in the Coca-Cola 600 Winston Cup race, making him eligible for the Bud Shoot-out in February, which is reserved for all of the pole winners in 2001. He won races in Daytona, Fla. in the ARCA series and at the Michigan Speedway in the Busch Series in only his ninth start.

“This past season was all preparation for 2002 and now that we’re gearing up for our first full season, I’m excited that ALLTEL is continuing to support Penske Racing and myself,” said Newman, who also completed his studies in Vehicle Structure Engineering at Purdue in August. “Our success this season is hopefully only the beginning of continued success on the Winston Cup circuit. As a driver you can only hope for a great team and a great sponsor behind you, and I’m fortunate to have both so early in my career.”

The ALLTEL Ford Taurus’s Newman will drive will again be maintained in Penske Racing’s Mooresville, N.C. facility and all of his engines will be supplied by Penske-Jasper Engine Company.

ALLTEL, with more than 10 million communications customers and more than $7.5 billion in annual revenues, is a leader in the communications and information services industries. ALLTEL has communications customers in 24 states and provides information services to telecommunications, financial and mortgage clients in 55 countries and territories.