Ryan Newman (Left), driver of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala, talks to COL Ryan Kuhn (Right), commander of the 197th Infantry Brigade during Ryan Newman and Stewart- Haas Racing in Fort Benning, Georgia. (Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Joining Newman and eight crew members, two of whom actually work for SHR teammate Tony Stewart’s team, for this day trip to the United States’ sixth largest military installation were some two dozen media members ready to watch some of NASCAR’s best over-the-wall boys take on the best of the 197th Infantry Brigade led by Col. Ryan Kuhn.

Under blue skies and in sweltering temperatures, the SHR guys remarkably changed tires on the M88 in eight minutes, 17 seconds – 13 seconds faster than Kuhn’s brigadiers.

“It’s really cool to see their reaction to it because it really is amazing,” Newman said of the SHR crew. “I mean these guys, they’re athletes. In their own world, they’re athletes. They’re doing something that a lot of people in the world cannot do. It’s really amazing to see their reaction to what they do here in the parking lot, yet alone at the race track on pit road.”

Newman's guys had a more decided advantage with the No. 39 car, changing four tires in just under 13 seconds compared with the soldiers’ time of just over 44 seconds. Prior to the friendly competition, Newman’s crew had never changed tires on an M88 nor had the soldiers done so on a 3,500-pound stock car.

“A real measure of a man or a woman is when things aren’t going well, and how do they react to that?” Kuhn said. “That is really important and that’s a leadership trait that we spend a lot of time investing in all of our soldiers. … If things are going well, you don’t go out and try to make yourself better. For everything that goes wrong, that’s an opportunity, and I think that absolutely applies to NASCAR.

A general view of the #39 U.S. Army Chevrolet Impala during Ryan Newman and Stewart-Haas Racing at Fort Benning at on May 5, 2010 in Fort Benning, Georgia. (Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

“Not every race is going to go exactly like you thought. You may have came in with a plan, but once the flag (drops), you better be agile and adaptable to the situation – the temperature changes, a gazillion things can happen during a race just like we are in combat.”

Newman, whose No. 39 Chevrolet is in its second season of backing by the U.S. Army, makes regular sponsor-related stops at Army bases, but the visits never get old. NEWMAN: Fort Benning, We Salute You Newman seems particularly fond of Fort Benning, a place where some 130,000 solders train annually.

The base also deploys some 3,500 soldiers from its Third Brigade combat team at any given time.

“This is different from an autograph session, this is different from going to visit a CEO of a company,” Newman said. “This is about visiting the soldiers and spending time and seeing what they do and how their daily activities are. It was humbling from my standpoint to sit in the lunchroom knowing that the soldiers we were sitting in there eating with are going to be across the pond fighting for our freedom in a week, so that says a lot.”

While the soldiers and U.S. Army crew members might have been pitted against each other on Wednesday, they’re unified on race day.

How important is the success of Newman to the U.S. Army? Well, Kuhn, for one, was beyond happy when Newman won his first race in the Army-sponsored car last month at Phoenix International Raceway.

“I will tell you, personally, I was screaming so loud he probably heard me from Fort Benning, Ga.,” the colonel said. “But for our soldiers [it's] absolutely very important because when you’re deployed and now you have something to brag about to your counterparts in the Marine Corps, the Air Force and the Navy, that’s big. Morale is a big thing and the Army car represents that morale for 1.1 million of our soldiers.”

Photos-CUP: Stewart-Haas Racing Gets ‘Army Strong’ At Fort Benning