Ryan Newman gets behind the wheel for his eighth full season in the Sprint Cup Series, and first as the driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevy Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing.

In 260 career starts, the South Bend, Ind., native has posted 13 Sprint Cup wins and earned a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2004 and 2005. Newman has finished sixth in the final points standings on three different occasions (2002, 2003 and 2005) and owns 43 career poles. In fact, he picked up the nickname "Rocketman" after capturing a series-high 11 Sprint Cup poles in 2003, and has led the circuit in most poles in a single-season on four different occasions.

In 2008, Newman made history when he grabbed the checkered flag at the 50th running of the Daytona 500. The win highlighted a season in which he collected a pair of top-five finishes to go along with eight top-10 finishes.  He also grabbed the pole position at Phoenix in April, extending his streak of winning at least one pole each season to eight consecutive seasons.

Phoenix is also where Newman made his first-ever Sprint Cup series start in November of 2000. He went on to capture his first pole in May of 2001 at Charlotte, and the driver's first win came at New Hampshire in September of 2002. The victory was just another highlight in what would become a memorable 2002 rookie season for Newman which ended with the honor of NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year.

Success on the track at any level is nothing new to Newman. He is one of only 19 drivers to own a victory in all three of NASCAR's top racing series—Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck. Overall, Newman has 40 starts behind the wheel on the NASCAR Nationwide Series circuit and has posted seven wins to go along with 14 top-five finishes, 22 top-10 finishes and 11 poles. He won his only entry into the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series when he emerged victorious at Atlanta in October of 2008.

Newman began his racing career piloting Quarter Midgets in his home state of Indiana at the age of 4 1/2. His 100 feature wins and two titles earned him induction into the Quarter Midget Hall of Fame. In 1993, Newman moved to the All-American Midget Series, and captured both the circuit championship and Rookie of the Year honors. Success followed Newman to the United States Auto Club (USAC) where in 1999 he won the USAC Silver Crown national championship and the USAC Sprint Car Rookie of the Year. That victory came on the heels of earning Rookie of the Year honors in USAC National Midgets in 1995 and USAC Silver Crown in 1996. Newman's career took the next step when he joined Penske Racing and won three of the five ARCA/REMAX races he entered in 2000.

Away from the track, Newman and his wife, Krissie, work extremely hard to make a difference in the lives of people and animals. Together, they founded the Ryan Newman Foundation in 2005. The foundation has three areas of focus: companion animal welfare; conservation of wildlife; and the enviromment; and supporting a scholarship for students with a racing background who want to pursue a college degree by providing donations to the Rich Vogler Scholarship Fund.

Ryan is thrilled to drive the #39 U.S. Army Chevy Impala SS in 2009 and understands the responsibility that comes along with it. "I'm honored and take great pride in knowing that I represent the over 1 million men and women who protect our freedom and our way of life," said Newman. "Our Soldiers' dedication, teamwork and passion is inspiring, and will drive myself and our race team toward success."