PENSKE RACING REPORT

Penske Racing And Ryan Newman To Part Ways At End Of 2008

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – Penske Racing and NASCAR Cup Series driver Ryan Newman have mutually agreed to move in new directions at the conclusion of the 2008 season.

“We want to thank Ryan for his hard work and contributions to Penske Racing over the past nine years,” said team owner Roger Penske. “We wish Ryan all the best for the future and we’ll continue to focus our efforts on making the Chase with Ryan and the Alltel Dodge team this season.”

Newman, driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge Charger, is currently in his ninth season competing for Penske Racing. He is ranked 16th in the Cup Series standings through 19 races this season.

“I appreciate Penske Racing and all they have done for me, but more importantly, I appreciate their friendship and what they have done for my career," said Newman. "I would also like to thank all of the sponsors, especially Alltel, who have supported me."

The driver of the Penske Racing No. 12 Alltel car for the 2009 NASCAR Cup season will be announced in the near future.

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Ryan Newman’s Kodak/Mummy Dodge Leads Penske Racing at Chicago

JOLIET, Ill. – Penske Racing drivers Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr. finished 10th, 28th and 37th respectively in Saturday night's LifeLock.com 400 at Chicagoland Speedway.

After inclement weather cancelled qualifying Thursday night at Chicagoland Speedway, the field was set by the 2008 owner points. Newman and his No. 12 Kodak-Mummy Dodge lined up 17th for the start of the 267-lap race on Saturday night. A key pit call for two tires under a late caution period helped Newman gain valuable track position, and he was able to finish 10th, his seventh top-10 finish of the 2008 season. Newman is currently 16th in the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series driver points standings, 189 points away from the 12th-place cutoff for the Chase for the NASCAR Cup.

"We made some things happen tonight with our strategy on pit road, and we got a good finish," said Newman. "To get back in the Chase, we have to get top 10 finishes each week."

Late-race engine issues hampered Busch as he finished 28th at Chicago, while Hornish fought handling problems for much of the race and wound up 37th in the running order.

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Helio Castroneves Finishes Third in Rain-Shortened Nashville Race

LEBANON, Tenn. – Team Penske’s Helio Castroneves came within a few laps of victory Saturday night at Nashville Superspeedway, but the weather had other plans. Castroneves, who started from the pole position, finished third when rain forced an early end to the Firestone Indy 200 but, had the race gone a few laps longer, he likely would have won.

Instead, Scott Dixon capitalized on a mistake that kept him out on the 1.33-mile concrete oval and in the lead when the rest of the leaders pitted on the 148th lap, relegating Castroneves to a solid -- if somewhat disappointing -- podium finish when rain ended the scheduled 200 lap race after 171 laps.

“It’s not the race we wanted to have, especially the way it finished,” said Castroneves. “I was told that the Ganassi guys had four laps of fuel left. That’s two minutes. If the rain had come two minutes later, we would have won the race. But sometimes you have to be more lucky than good.”

Team Penske’s Ryan Briscoe suffered bad luck for the second consecutive week as Marco Andretti lost control of his car early on, making contact with Briscoe and taking both drivers out of the race.

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Penske Porsches Claim Second, Third In Lime Rock

LIME ROCK, Conn. – Saturday afternoon’s American Le Mans Series (ALMS) event saw the No. 7 LMP2 Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas finish second overall (and in the LMP2 class) and the No. 6 LMP2 Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Patrick Long and Sascha Maassen finish third overall/in class.

The No. 7 machine of Bernhard/Dumas, who now lead the LMP2 drivers championship by 24 points, took the lead at the one-hour mark, just before a 25-minute caution period, and led for an hour and 43 minutes before being overhauled by the David Brabham/Scott Sharp Acura, forcing them to settle for second place. Both the Porsche and the Acura spent the last 30 minutes trying to stay out of trouble created by slower traffic, a marginal fuel supply, and a track littered with dirt and rocks from previous mishaps during the race.

Bernhard, who held the lead for most of that time, would build a 10 to 15-second lead, only to get stuck behind a group of slower GT cars and have the margin shrink to one to three seconds. Both cars had made only one fuel stop, but both teams thought they could make it to the end with all the yellow flags that had ensued, and by utilizing the leanest fuel mode they could.