Ryan Newman: This One’s for Bragging Rights

The Quicken Loans 400 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race is one for bragging rights as Ryan Newman, driver of the Quicken Loans Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), and his No. 39 team will converge on Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn looking to claim the victory in their sponsor’s backyard.

Quicken Loans, the nation’s largest online retail mortgage lender, adorns the No. 39 Chevy this weekend at Michigan in addition to its status as the entitlement sponsor of the 400-mile race. A victory in the Quicken Loans 400 would be the perfect scenario as the 2-mile, D-shaped Michigan oval is located approximately 70 miles from the sponsor’s headquarters in the heart of Detroit’s business district. It also would serve to rekindle Newman’s winning ways and keep his Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship hopes alive via the wild-card opportunity – two of which are awarded to a race winner outside the top-10 in points but among the top-20.

Winning is something Newman has done 16 times in his Sprint Cup career, including twice at Michigan.

His Michigan wins came in successive visits to the moderately banked oval in August 2003 and June 2004. In 2003, Newman started on the outside pole and led 32 laps en route to the win. In 2004, he started fourth and led 22 laps on his way to taking the checkered flag. Augmenting those triumphs is a pole in June 2005 and five top-five finishes and seven top-10s in 23 career Sprint Cup starts.

Despite those notable finishes, Newman struggled to reclaim some of his past successes in his return trips to Michigan. After his back-to-back wins, Newman found very little luck in the Irish Hills as no more top-10s were recorded until the 2011 season. He finished 15th and eighth in his starts there in 2012.

Newman heads to Michigan this weekend fresh off a fifth-place finish at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway. He started 23rd and led three times for 19 laps en route to tying his season-best finish last weekend. He’s looking to improve on that finish this weekend at Michigan, but he’s not the only one.

Last weekend’s top-five prompted Quicken Loans to pay five people’s mortgages for a month, and the fans who have registered for the company’s season-long “Bring It Home” promotion will want Newman to continue that trend. Fans simply need to visit www.qlracing.com to register. All are encouraged to increase their chances of winning a month-long vacation from their mortgage by entering weekly. Participants also can win additional entries by inviting their friends and family to participate.

Another strong finish would give Newman and his fans something to cheer. Another top-five finish at Michigan would go a long way toward keeping Newman’s wild-card chances alive, and it would mean five more mortgages paid for a month.

Race fans in attendance, as well as those watching at home, no doubt will push Newman to return to his winning ways and “Bring It Home” during the Quicken Loans 400 on Sunday. Who wouldn’t want to be one of the lucky five fans chosen to have their mortgages paid for a month should Newman be able to claim, at the very least, his sixth top-five of the season at Michigan?

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