Ryan Newman News and Information

Newman had a great run tonight and finished the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in 6th. Due to a lot of Chase cars having problems and Newman having a great run, he went up 2 positions in the points standings to 15th closing the points gap to only 181 points outside the top 12. This is still a big gap to fill, but is mathematically possible. I believe I read that it is possible for a driver to make up 161 points in one race.

Carl Edwards won tonights race after finally giving Kyle Busch a little nudge going into turn one and getting around him. This upset Kyle and after the checkered flag fell, Kyle came up and sideswiped Carl. Carl did not take it and came down on Kyle causing Kyle to spin. Good for Carl. The little nudge that Carl gave Kyle for the pass was nothing. In fact it could not have been performed any better on Carl’s part.

Be prepared for a rivalry being born. I assume we will see Kyle and Carl go at it in the upcoming races leading up to the Chase and the races in the Chase. And it won’t be Carl starting it….I can almost guarantee it won’t be Carl starting it.

Ryan Newman went into tonights race 17th in points and 211 points behind 12th position.

After a couple disappointing practice sessions Newman grabbed a 11th place starting position in tonights Sharpie 500.

Ryan Newman fell to about 15th in the first 10 laps of the race. Newman also reported that he was a little tight off. On the start he was stuck on the bottom for a number of laps and then decided to stay down there. In the same time frame Dale Earnhardt JR. was blacked flagged for passing on the start before he crossed the start/finish line.

A little scary for the laps 10 – 22 as Newman was once again racing Paul Menard. Last week Paul Menard ended up wrecking Newman causing Newman to hit Dave Blaney. Newman eventually cleared Menard and Jeff Burton to get up to 14th by lap 26.

Jimmie Johnson had to come in on lap 26 with a lap. Johnson came back out 13 laps down.

Ryan Newman climbed to 11th by lap 45 and was looking pretty good. Newman was then working on Martin Truex JR. for 10th and he completed that pass on lap 49. This was the first time tonight that he was in the top 10.

Without being in traffic Newman time is drastically decreasing his time between himself and the leader. He knocked off almost a second between him and the leader in about 2 laps. In the process he flew past A.J. Allmendinger landing in 9th position.

Lap 58 and Newman gets around Elliot Sadler for 8th. His time from the leader fell back off a little at this point but he was in traffic trying to get around Bill Elliot, Kevin Harvick and David Reutimann.

Newman’s car was looking really good tonight. He was up to the 6th position by lap 66 and getting up there with little problem.

At this point Kyle Busch had just taken the lead away from Carl Edwards.

On lap 72 Newman was battling to break into the top 5. He was trying to complete the pass low under Reutimann but was unable to complete because Regan Smith was running low in front of Newman, but a lot slower. The battle went of for numerous laps.

Newman finally made it around Reutimann on lap 79 breaking into the top 5. Newman had little problem catching the next back and was soon on Regan Smiths back bumper again. Newman went to the high side to complete that pass with no problem. That may have been his first pass high.

Newman then had the challenge of getting around Juan Pablo Montoya who was a lap down. After Newman finally got around JPM on lap 86 I started breathing again.

Gregg Newman told Newman lap 89 that he had the fastest car on the track. At this point also Newman has moved up to 15th in the live points standings and was only about 180 points back from 12th.

Lap 91 Newman went past his team mate Sam Hornish JR. who was a lap down.

Lap 95 sees Newman trying to get around 2 lap cars so that he can conquer Carl Edwards.

Lap 96 brought out the first caution flag as A.J. Allmendinger and Martin Truex JR. got into each other when Truex had a tire go down.

Newman went into the pits in 4th position. There were just going to do 4 tires and fuel.

Newman had a 14.2 pit stop and restarted in 4th position on lap 102.

Newman took it easy on the restart and carefully weaved his way through the lap traffic. He was stuck behind Bobby Labonte for quite a few laps just taking it easy. He got around him on lap 119.

At this point Newman was still falling of the leader a little. He reported to McCauley that he was a little tighter off the center this time and started slowly closing on the leader.

On lap 127 McCauley reported to Newman that he was having awesome lap times.

FLASH BACK and something to worry about. The caution earlier was due to Martin Truex JR. having a flat. He got the flat due to brake temperatures. They have to use more brakes in these COT’s then they did in the old cars.

Again on lap 136 McCauley reported that Newman had the fastest car on the track. Newman had also just passed Jimmie Johnson who is now numerous laps down.

By lap 148 Newman had really closed the gab to the leader Kyle Busch only being about 1.6 seconds back from him. Between Kyle and Newman is Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon. Newman was battling the lap traffic of Brian Vickers trying to get to Jeff Gordon and finally got around him on lap 153.

*********AMAZING BREAKING NEWS************
Newman is getting air time and recognition for having a fast car.
*********Back to Regular Programming************

Laps 154-159 saw Gordon and Newman having to get around a lot of lap traffic. Once that was completed Newman started reeling in Jeff Gordon. Then more lap traffic which is typical of Bristol Motor Speedway. Newman and Gordon both had to pass lap traffic on the high side.

Carl Edwards is right in front of Jeff Gordon and Newman has his sights on the both of them. Gordon is blocking low really good which is where Newman wants to run. Newman tries going a little high. Gordon gets trapped behind lap traffic on the low side and Newman goes around him on the high side on lap 169.

Newman is now 1.12 seconds off the leader Kyle Busch and right on the bumper of 2nd place Carl Edwards. More lap traffic is hindering the both of them but they are able to go under the lap traffic.

On lap 183 Newman was saying he was a little to tight off the corners.

On lap 190 Newman got around Carl Edwards and a lot of lap traffic to take second position. Kyle Busch is 2 seconds ahead of Newman.

Lap 193 Newman goes 3 wide with lap traffic and comes out ok.

CAUTION on lap 195 and the timing could not be better. Tony Stewart and the 09 of Sterling Marlin got into each other and Jeff Burton could not clear it. Tony comes out the ordeal OK.

They are talking about a piece of tape on the grill, 1 round up on the track bar, tires and fuel. I hope the track bar adjustment works out because a lot of the times they do that, it hurts the car even more. But on the other hand they usually do 3 or 4 rounds at a time and not just 1.

Newman comes into the pits on lap 201 in 2nd position. Newman came back out in second behind leader Kyle Busch and in front of Carl Edwards. Newman had 15.6 pit stop. Gordon is behind Edwards.

Green flag came out lap 206. Newman had lap traffic of under him and Waltrip leading the lap traffic.

Kyle, Newman and Edwards clear the lap traffic with no problem. Carl was on Newman’s rear bumper and Kyle Had taken off. Edwards got around Newman.

On lap 212 Gordon went low on Newman and took the spot landing Newman in 4th.

Newman dropped to 6th on lap 215 when Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart went around him.

CAUTION on lap 216 and RED FLAG as there was a big accident involving Sam Hornish JR., Michael Waltrip, Casey Mears, Kasey Kahne and more. Hornish and Kahne are probably done for the night. It is hard

Drivers in the points race to the chase that have had problems so far in tonights race include Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt JR., Kasey Kahne, Jeff Burton, Brian Vickers and Matt Kenseth. Only Vickers and Truex JR. are behind Newman in points.

After the red flag lifted Newman was shown in 6th. No pit stop this time. Newman restarted behind his new owner (next year) Tony Stewart with lots of lap traffic on the inside.

The race went green on lap 222 with Kevin Harvick behind Newman.

Of course once again Newman has to battle lap traffic again. Kevin Harvick has made it onto his rear bumper by lap 238 but has to back off due to lap traffic that Newman clears.

Dale Earnhardt JR. only needs to pass one more car to be the lucky dog on the next caution. He went a lap down when he had to come down pit row to serve his penalty due to the start of the race. His car does look pretty good though.

Things are pretty calm on lap 248. Newman is running solo with no lap traffic or pressure from other lead lap cars. He is closing on lap traffic of David Gilliland. Jeff Gordon is in front of Gilliland.

Newman easily gets past Gilliland on lap 255. He is 6.5 seconds of the leader Kyle Busch and closing as he also gets around the lap traffic of Michael Waltrip.

By lap 270 Newman had closed the gap to Kyle down to 5.2 seconds. Greg Newman tells Ryan that he is making it look to easy with those fast laps. Newman is on Gordon with a lap down car in between them.

Newman was still running in 6th when the caution came on lap 280 when Dave Blaney crashed due to getting tangled in other drivers mess. Dave Blaney also got tangled up in Paul Menard’s mess last week when Menard got into Newman and turned him sideways. Then Newman got into Blaney, saving Newman but taking Blaney on an airborne ride.

Newman went into the pits in 6th. He is running fast lap times but his only complaint is that it takes forever to get the car going. Meaning he was no good on short runs, but on the long runs he was fantastic. His worry is that there will start being a lot of cautions meaning a lot of short runs.

They decide to put 1 pound in the left rear, 4 tires and fuel. It was a 15.2 second stop and Newman maintained 6th position with Kevin Harvick in front of him and Tony Stewart behind him. Kyle Busch still leading on the restart.

They go green on lap 293. Newman practically pushes Harvick on the restart and Stewart closes in on Newman. By lap 300 Newman has breathing room and is 2.75 seconds off the leader. He was following Harvick at a small distance and maintaining position. Tony Stewart is about 5 car length behind him.

By lap 339 Newman was still running in 6th. Tony Stewart fell off pretty far behind Newman but Newman is keeping the distance with Harvick in front of him. They are going through a lot of lap traffic.

Caution came out on lap 343 for debris on the track. In the pit they plan on 4 tires and 1 round up on the track bar. Newman questions the 4 tire call and McCauley convinces him to take 4 now and 2 later. McCauley says that they will get killed way to fast right now with only 2 tires.

Newman comes out of the pits in 6th with a pit stop time of 15.20. He has Kevin Harvick in front of him and Clint Bowyer behind him. All cars (or most) end up taking 4 tires.

The green flag comes on lap 348. There are 15 cars on the lead lap at this point.

Newman started off sticking right to Harvick’s bumper and they clear a group of lap traffic. Bowyer behind Newman gets stuck on the high side with some lap traffic while Newman and Harvick went low.

Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch race hard for the lead up front. Newman is still on Harvick’s back bumper on lap 355. Carl and Kyle’s battle up front is helping the rest of the field stay caught up. Once they go single file they started to pull away a little.

By lap 360 Harvick had pulled away from Newman by quite a bit, but Newman had also pulled away from Clint Bowyer by about the same distance.

Caution for debris again on lap 363 and Newman is reporting that he is too loose before center. He then comes back and say that he is way to loose. The plan is to stay with the leaders. If the leaders come down to pit then they will come and pit also. Taking only 2 tires.

The leaders did not pit so Newman stayed out. Newman is still behind Harvick and in front of Bowyer for the restart on lap 369. Harvick got away pretty good from Newman on this restart.

Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch racing hard again. Edwards wants the lead really bad. This is a great help for the rest of the field. Dale Earnhardt JR. is right there for the action as well as a lap down car.

Newman is having problems getting around lap traffic and now has Juan Pablo Montoya (lap traffic) behind him right on his bumper. Brian Vickers (lap traffic) is sticking to the bottom leaving Newman high. JPM then got under Newman causing more problems for Newman as Vickers pulled away. Newman finally clears JPM on lap 380 and sees nothing but lap traffic in front of him. Bobby Labonte and Brian Vickers.

Greg Newman warns Ryan on lap 390 that Aric Almirola was closing in fast from the 7th position. Not sure where he came from, but his car is fast.

Newman has Dale Earnhardt JR. in front of him about 8 car lengths, but it looks like Almirola will get by Newman before Newman gets to the lap traffic of Dale Earnhardt JR.

Newman reports on lap 396 that he is too loose all the way around. Almirola appears to be dropping off as Newman gets to Earnhardt JR.’s back bumper and easily passes him on lap 400. The next lap car in front of Newman is team mate Sam Hornish JR. and Newman passed him on lap 401. Greg made the comment that Sam was “being a gentleman tonight”.

Newman is 8 seconds off the leader on lap 404 and had clear sailing with not current lap cars around him. Harvick is still in front of Newman but has about half a turn spread ahead of Newman and Almirola appears to be falling off.

Around lap 425 McCauley starts telling Newman that his laps are smoking fast. McCualey also tells Newman that they should be right on the money with fuel, but that other teams are saying that they are probably short.

If Newman is not around lap traffic, he has some of the fastest lap times on the field. He is faster than most of the drivers in front of him. McCauley tells him to keep digging. Newman has closed the distance to the leader by a second and is now 7 seconds off the leader.

On lap 451 caution came out for debris. Kind of convenient since some teams were reporting that there was debris.

McCauley asks Newman if he is still free and Newman replies yes. McCauley says they will take 4 tires, 1 round down on the track bar and what ever fuel they can get in.

Newman goes into the pits in 6th and comes out in 6th. The pit crew for Newman has been solid in there pit stops tonight. Newman has not gained any positions on pit row, but more importantly he has not lost any positions. This stop was 14.40, almost a second faster than other pit stops.

The green flag dropped on lap 459 with 15 cars on the lead lap. This is the point of the race where things start getting hairy. They restarted with Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart behind Newman and Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon in front of him.

Caution came out again on lap 461 for debris. Newman was able to easily hold his position from Clint Bowyer but had a little trouble keeping up with Harvick. McCauley tells Newman to stay out.

Green flag on lap 466. Newman stays glued to Harvick and had to even get off the gas a little. When he did that Harvick got a little jump on him.

Carl is battling Kyle hard for the lead and and gets the lead on lap 469. He bumps Kyle just a little to get by him. Kyle Busch is right back on Edwards and they continue to battle. Denny Hamlin gets a good run on both of them and passes Kyle Busch leaving him in 3rd.

Newman is still in 6th on lap 473. The track is empty in front of Newman. Behind him was Clint Bowyer. Clint is looking serious and may have something for Newman.

Clint Bowyer is not closing much more on Newman. Harvick has got around Jeff Gordon for 4th place. Newman is now hoping to get to Gordon for a top 5 finish.

By lap 487 Newman is closing on Gordon, but it may not be enough for 13 laps to go. Gordon has a good chunk of real estate between the two.

If Newman gets to Gordon in time he will have to go through lap traffic to do so. Doubt he will get there though.

Newman reports that he is still really loose so he is just trying to ride it out. Clint Bowyer and Tony Stewart are closing on him.

Newman maintains 6th position for a top 10 finish.

Kyle Busch and his immature mind about the MINOR bump that Carl gave him that after the race he comes and scrapes his car up against Edwards. Edwards says right back at ya and spins Kyle. Great after race activities.

Wouldn’t expect anything less of Kyle though. I will send him a box of Kleenex.

Congrats to Newman for having a great night!!!