With our nation’s founders and soldiers being remembered this weekend, Newman has a special assignment as the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races under the lights on the 233rd annual Independence Day at Daytona International Raceway… WIN!

Driving the No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet, Newman is looking to rebound from his 36th place finish in the 2009 season opener at “The World Center of Racing” after his win in the 2008 Daytona 500.

"We have something to prove after an unsettling experience at this year's Daytona 500," Newman stated. "It was one of those weeks where if something could go wrong, it did go wrong. Leading up to the race we were involved in two accidents and had a blown engine. During the race we had an early pit road issue that put us two laps down. But that's the past. Our focus right now is to get back running in the top 10 and top five." 

Hoping to collect his first win of the 2009 season on Memorial Day at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, Newman was forced to settle for a second place finish after the race was called short due to rain. With one more holiday race to honor the soldiers, Newman has his sights on getting the win this weekend.

"We wanted to put the U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevy in Victory Lane on Memorial Day in Charlotte, but came up a little short by finishing second," said Newman. "Saturday's race is another opportunity to give our soldiers a special win on a special holiday."

Sitting in the seventh spot in the point standings, Newman hopes to return to collecting solid finishes after a string of bad runs resulting in 23rd (Michigan), 17th (Sonoma) and 29th (New Hampshire). With only nine races before the top-12 drivers duke it out to see who can become the 2009 Sprint Cup Series Champion, Newman knows that the No. 39 team is capable of competing for wins this season.

"We had some things happen in those races that prevented us from having better finishes,” explained Newman. "This is the same Stewart-Haas team and same driver that put together those streaks of top 10s and top fives. We know we're capable of not only contending, but also winning. A Fourth of July fireworks celebration with the Army car in Victory Lane would be awesome."

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