Newman the Chosen One: Ryan Newman, who led NASCARs premier series in wins and poles last season en route to a sixth-place finish in the championship, has been voted the preseason No. 1 in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series by motorsports media. Newman, the 26-year-old Indiana native who drives the No. 12 ALLTEL Dodge for Penske Racing South, collected 1,915 points on the strength of 27 first-place votes to outdistance four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. Newman was followed in the voting by the Hendrick Motorsports tandem of #24-Gordon and #48-Jimmie Johnson. Gordon, last seasons preseason No. 1, is ranked No. 2 with 29 first-place votes and 1,806 points, 109 behind Newman. Johnson amassed 1,801 points just five points shy of Gordon behind a poll-high 41 first-place votes to earn the No. 3 ranking. The Hendrick Motorsports duo is followed by #8-Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is No. 4 with 1,525 points and 22 first-place votes. Rounding out the top five is 2002 series champion #20-Tony Stewart who is No. 5 with 1,291 points and five first-place votes. The rest of the top 10 are: #29-Kevin Harvick, #17-Matt Kenseth, #97-Kurt Busch, #18-Bobby Labonte and #42-Jamie McMurray. Twenty-eight drivers received votes from more than 100 motorsports writers who participated in the balloting. Drivers received 20 points for a first-place vote, 17 for second, 15 for third, 13 for fourth, 11 for fifth, nine for sixth, seven for seventh, five for eighth, three for ninth and one for 10th.(NASCAR PR)