Ryan Newman, driver of the #12 Penske Racing Alltel Dodge in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, will sign copies of the charity book Pit Road Pets™: NASCAR Stars and Their Pets during the upcoming Texas race weekend. The book features first-person stories and intimate photographs of nearly 50 NASCAR celebrities and their pets – including Newman, his wife Krissie and their four rescued dogs.

The book signing will take place Saturday, April 5 from 2:30 to 3:30 PM at the Petfinder.com tent. The tent will be located in the Blue Ox Campground right behind Brookshire’s grocery store on Gordon Road.

Newman will sign up to two copies of Pit Road Pets in addition to one other item per person during the autograph session. Tickets for the book signing will be distributed to the first 100 fans with a Pit Road Pets book at the Petfinder.com tent beginning on Friday, April 4 from 4 to 6 PM. Fans may purchase copies of the book at Newman’s trackside merchandise trailer, Barnes & Noble, nascar.com, the Penske Racing gift shop or the Ryan Newman Fan Club at www.ryan12newman.com.

The Petfinder.com tent will be open to fans from 3 PM Thursday, April 3 through 6 PM Saturday, April 6. Trainers from Petfinder and PETCO will be on hand to talk to people about their pets and help with behavior questions. They will also have adoptable dogs from local shelters on hand to do demos with the trainers to show how easily trained a shelter dog can be. In addition to the schedule demo events, Petfinder will have trick contests for people and their pets where they can win prizes for the loudest bark, fastest tail wag, etc. Petfinder’s goal is to introduce the NASCAR audience (particularly those who are traveling to the race with their pets) to Petfinder.com and pet adoption.

Fans will also have an opportunity to win NASCAR memorabilia signed by Ryan Newman, Greg Biffle and other NASCAR personalities as well as Petfinder themed gifts. There will be give-aways and activities throughout the weekend at the Petfinder.com tent.

Ryan and Krissie Newman encourage people who are interested in adding a pet to their family to search for a furry friend on Petfinder.com and rescue a homeless pet from an animal shelter.

About Petfinder.com:

Petfinder is an on-line, searchable database of animals that need homes. It is also a directory of over 12,000 animal shelters and adoption organizations across the USA, Canada and Mexico. Organizations maintain their own home pages and available pet database.

Petfinder's mission is to use Internet technology and the resources it can generate to 1) increase public awareness of the availability of high-quality adoptable pets and to 2) increase the overall effectiveness of pet adoption programs across North America to the extent that the euthanasia of adoptable pets is eliminated.

From the comfort of their personal computers, pet lovers can search for a pet that best matches their needs. They can then reference a shelter's Web page and discover what services it offer. Petfinder also includes classified ads, discussion forums and a library of animal welfare articles. Petfinder is updated daily. To adopt a pet, find a shelter near you, or just to find out more about Petfinder, visit www.petfinder.com. 

About Pit Road Pets™: NASCAR Stars and Their Pets:

Meaty Bone® is committed to supporting the Ryan Newman Foundation and sponsored the reprint of the foundation’s charity book Pit Road Pets™: NASCAR Stars and Their Pets. The Ryan Newman Foundation is donating 100% of its net proceeds from the book to the Humane Society of Catawba County’s capital campaign to build a no-kill animal shelter, education center, and regional public low-cost spay/neuter clinic in Hickory, North Carolina that serves the counties in the heart of NASCAR country. The spay/neuter clinic is part of the National Spay/Neuter Response Team initiative, for which Ryan and Krissie Newman volunteer as spokespersons. The book’s photographer is Karen Will Rogers and writer is Laura Lacy.

Visit Meaty Bone or Pit Road Pets to learn how you can purchase a copy of Pit Road Pets. For additional information about the book, visit Pit Road Pets.

About Meaty Bone®

“Meaty Bone® is passionate about promoting bold, meaty satisfaction for pets and their pet parents. We understand that our four-legged friends are an important part of the American family and we are proud to be working with the Ryan Newman Foundation on their behalf.” For more information about Meaty Bone, visit Meaty Bone.