Driver Profile:

Ryan Newman's background isn't exactly typical of a top-tier race car driver, but his results certainly are.

Newman, a native of South Bend, Ind., has a bachelor's degree in Vehicle Structure Engineering from Purdue University, was the recipent of the prestigious Rich Vogler Memorial Scholarship, a National Honor Society member and an honors graduate from South Bend LaSalle High School in 1996.

As it turns out, it was all in preparation for a highly successful racing career.

Beside his budding NASCAR career, Newman is also a member of the Quarter Midget Hall of Fame with more than 100 feature victories.

He won the Michigan State Midget Championship, the AAMS Midget Series Rookie of the Year and series titles all in 1993. He followed that up with USAC Midget rookie of the year honors in 1995 and a year later, he won rookie of the year honors in the USAC Silver Crown Series.

In 1999, Newman won the USAC Silver Bullet National Championship with two wins and 12 top-10 finishes in 15 races.

Newman really made his mark in 2000. He scored three wins and two poles in just five ARCA starts, leading to his Cup debut in November at Phoenix, where he finished 41st with engine problems after running 176 of 312 scheduled laps.

In 2001, Newman really got his seasoning, running an "ABC" schedule of two ARCA races, 15 Busch Series races and seven Cup races. He got his first Busch Series win at Michigan in only his ninth start and earned six Busch Series Bud Pole Awards in just 14 attempts. In the Cup Series, he earned his first Bud Pole in the Coca-Cola 600 and finished second at Kansas.

"The goal... was to utilize what we learned in the ABC program and build on it," he said. "The attitude was to win races, poles, the rookie title and to finish in the top 10 in points. It was a lot, but we did it."

A year later, he was named the Cup Series Rookie of the Year wuth six poles, 14 top-fives and 22 top-10s.

"It was unbelievable," Newman said of his rookie campaign in Cup. "I feel like I have some of the best people you could ask for on my team. No matter what I've done or what mistakes I've made, they've always stood behind me."