Because Newman graduated from Purdue University in August 2001 with a degree in vehicle structure engineering, it should come as no surprise that he always seems to have a fast car during qualifying.

Since 2002 Newman has 34 Bud Poles to lead the Cup Series each year, earning the nickname "Rocketman." His worst average starting position in any year during that time was 9.8.

Newman and Matt Borland are the first driver-crew chief team in NASCAR history to have engineering degrees. They have finished no worse than seventh in the final point standings in each of Newman's four full seasons in the series.

Newman began racing in 1993 when he won both rookie of the year and the season championship in the All-American Midget Series. Claiming two national titles and more than 100 feature wins, Newman is a member of the Quarter-Midget Hall of Fame.

He moved to the USAC series in 1995 and won rookie of the year honors in the Midget Series and again the following year in the Silver Crown Series. In '99 he was the Silver Bullet Series national champion, becoming the first driver to win a race in all three divisions of the series -- Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown -- in the same season.

Newman's association with Roger Penske, for whom he drives the No. 12 Dodge, began in 2000 when he won three of five ARCA races for the motorsports icon and made his Cup debut in November at Phoenix.

In 2001 Newman excelled on the track as well as in the classroom. He posted ARCA and Busch victories, the latter at Michigan marking his first NASCAR win, and earned his first career Cup pole in May at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

In September 2002 Newman won his first Cup race, at New Hampshire, starting from the pole. His six poles that year were a season-high and broke the rookie record formerly set by Davey Allison in 1987. Newman also became the second rookie to win the All-Star race at Lowe's. In all, Newman had 14 top-fives and 22 top-10s to finish sixth in the points and earn rookie of the year honors.

In 2003 Newman won a series-high eight races and had 17 top-fives, 22 top-10s and 11 poles. But he also had seven DNFs and finished sixth in points for the second consecutive year.

Still, his accomplishments that season garnered him several honors, including SPEED Channel Driver of the Year, NMPA Richard Petty Driver of the Year, Benny Kahn/Daytona Beach News Journal Driver of the Year and the Sporting News' Dale Earnhardt Toughest Driver of the Year.

Newman has made both Chases, finishing sixth for the third time in four years in 2005. In nine Busch Series races in '05, Newman won six, setting a record with five in a row within the same season, and had eight top-fives.