Newman to drive No. 39, not No. 4 for Stewart-Haas next season
Ryan Newman won't drive the No. 4 for Stewart-Haas Racing next season after all.
Tony Stewart, who'll co-own the team and drive the group's No. 14 Chevrolets in 2009, announced on his Sirius Satellite Radio show Monday night that he is changing Newman's car number to the No. 39 for next season, a Stewart spokesperson confirmed.
The switch comes three days after Stewart formalized plans at Michigan International Speedway for Newman to compete with the No. 4.
Stewart offered two reasons for the change: The No. 39 is special to Newman because he won his first United States Auto Club midget race with the number, and Stewart wanted to leave the No. 4 available to its long-time carrier, Morgan-McClure Motorsports, should the team return to the Sprint Cup Series next year.
