This Week’s Grainger/American Red Cross at Charlotte Motor Speedway

Ryan Newman will make his 613th Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series start when he competes in the inaugural running of the Charlotte Roval 400 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. In 35 total starts at CMS, Newman has recorded runner-up finishes two times (fall, 2003; Coke 600, 2009) along with nine pole awards, five top-five, 15 top-10 finishes. The “Rocketman” has led 278 laps in competition. The South Bend, Indiana native has an average start of 9.4 and average finish of 18.2.

$18 Million and Counting … Grainger has been a long-time partner of the American Red Cross and has donated more than $18 million in cash and products to their efforts since 2001. In 2017, the U.S. saw unprecedented levels of disaster. And the need to support Red Cross disaster relief efforts continues. This is why Grainger has asked its partners, Ryan Newman and Richard Childress Racing, to help raise awareness by creating special Red Cross paint schemes for the No. 31 Chevrolet that ran earlier this year at Sonoma Raceway and will compete this weekend at the Charlotte Roval.

RYAN NEWMAN QUOTES:

You tested at the Roval back in July. What did you learn?

“There are places where you can gain and lose the most time in and it’s the places where you are going really, really, fast to really, really slow. The key is to get through them as clean as you possibly can. The infield part of the course is a challenge, too. For me, the biggest adjustment is getting used to the last two corners. I think they are the most challenging.

“My first impression of the Roval when we tested was it still needed a little bit of work in a couple different areas. I know they were working to keep people honest on the back straightaway. It’s going to be what it’s going to be. It’s going to be a very important race in the Playoffs and it’s new to our sport. Any time we can do something new and exciting is a good thing. We want to try and make the best of those situations when turning an oval into a road course. It doesn’t happen every day. It’s not going to be a true road course. It’s a roval. I’ve got experience at Daytona and it’s considered to be a roval. I just want to make the best of a situation. The only thing we know for sure is there is going to be a winner.”