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Sprint Cup
CUP: Pocono Raceway Holds Special Meaning For SHR’s Newman
Ryan Newman won his first stock car race at Pocono Raceway...
Ryan Newman crosses the finish line in the 2000 ARCA event at Pocono Raceway to win his first stock car race. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Ryan Newman’s first win in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup series didn’t come at Pocono Raceway, but that doesn’t mean the unusual track doesn’t have special meaning for the Stewart-Haas Racing driver.
The 2.5-mile, three-turn layout was the site of Newman’s first stock-car win, and that victory, which came in the ARCA series, helped convince him that he had made the right career move.
“It was so big for me and my family and everyone who had helped me in my racing career along the way,” Newman said.
“Growing up in Indiana, I always wanted to drive in NASCAR, which wasn’t heard of. Most kids in Indiana wanted to compete in the Indianapolis 500. But for me, I always loved stock-car racing. So winning at Pocono back in 2000 was bigger than I can explain. It was proving that I had made the right decision and that I was ready for the move to stock-car racing.
“It was really a special day. There was some excitement on the final laps, some bumping, but it was a big win for me.”
A Penske Racing development driver at the time, Newman beat Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s Kerry Earnhardt for the win.
He made eight Cup starts in 2000-01 before moving to the series fulltime in 2002.
Now, 14 wins and a decade later, Newman heads back to the Pennsylvania track 12th in the 2010 standings.
He won his 46th career pole last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but wound up ninth in the final rundown. Still, that was enough to put the 32-year-old back in contention for one of the 12 Chase For The Sprint Cup positions.
“Just because you have the fastest car for one lap doesn’t mean you have the best car,” said Newman, who joined Stewart-Haas Racing last year. “We had a decent car. We just didn’t have a winning car.
“Ultimately, I think we had a good race. We rebounded. When that last caution came out, we stayed out and I think we went from 19th to third. We ended up finishing ninth, so that was a big gainer for us in the grand scheme of things.
“That top-10 helped us move into the top-12 in points, and that’s really good for us.”
With the season halfway to the cutoff race for this year’s Chase, Newman, who made the Chase last year, said it’s never too early to be mindful of where one stands in points.
“We’re always thinking about it,” he said. “You really just have to make it happen. Each race you just do your best. You’re thinking about it because that’s where you want to be. You want to make the Chase.
“In general, we wish we were higher in points, but we know what we started the season with. We had two DNFs – we got crashed at Daytona and had an engine failure at California. Both were pretty good race cars. It’s not where we want to be, but we understand where we started from and we are happy that we made it into the top-12.”
Newman has one Cup win at Pocono (2003), and finished fifth in this event a year ago. But he’s led just two laps in his last five starts there.
“We had pretty good race cars in both races there last year,” crew chief Tony Gibson said. “We had a plug wire that went bad in the first race, but we came from behind in that deal and really ended up running pretty well the second half of the race and got a top-five finish.
“It’s a good track for Ryan, and I really like the race track as a crew chief because I’ve had some success there in the past with several different drivers who liked the track.”
SceneDaily.com • At 61 Geoff Bodine still wants to race will run Cup race at Pocono this weekend
The 2.5-mile, three-turn layout was the site of Newman’s first stock-car win, and that victory, which came in the ARCA series, helped convince him that he had made the right career move.
“It was so big for me and my family and everyone who had helped me in my racing career along the way,” Newman said.
“Growing up in Indiana, I always wanted to drive in NASCAR, which wasn’t heard of. Most kids in Indiana wanted to compete in the Indianapolis 500. But for me, I always loved stock-car racing. So winning at Pocono back in 2000 was bigger than I can explain. It was proving that I had made the right decision and that I was ready for the move to stock-car racing.
“It was really a special day. There was some excitement on the final laps, some bumping, but it was a big win for me.”
A Penske Racing development driver at the time, Newman beat Dale Earnhardt Inc.’s Kerry Earnhardt for the win.
He made eight Cup starts in 2000-01 before moving to the series fulltime in 2002.
Now, 14 wins and a decade later, Newman heads back to the Pennsylvania track 12th in the 2010 standings.
He won his 46th career pole last week at Charlotte Motor Speedway, but wound up ninth in the final rundown. Still, that was enough to put the 32-year-old back in contention for one of the 12 Chase For The Sprint Cup positions.
“Just because you have the fastest car for one lap doesn’t mean you have the best car,” said Newman, who joined Stewart-Haas Racing last year. “We had a decent car. We just didn’t have a winning car.
“Ultimately, I think we had a good race. We rebounded. When that last caution came out, we stayed out and I think we went from 19th to third. We ended up finishing ninth, so that was a big gainer for us in the grand scheme of things.
“That top-10 helped us move into the top-12 in points, and that’s really good for us.”
With the season halfway to the cutoff race for this year’s Chase, Newman, who made the Chase last year, said it’s never too early to be mindful of where one stands in points.
“We’re always thinking about it,” he said. “You really just have to make it happen. Each race you just do your best. You’re thinking about it because that’s where you want to be. You want to make the Chase.
“In general, we wish we were higher in points, but we know what we started the season with. We had two DNFs – we got crashed at Daytona and had an engine failure at California. Both were pretty good race cars. It’s not where we want to be, but we understand where we started from and we are happy that we made it into the top-12.”
Newman has one Cup win at Pocono (2003), and finished fifth in this event a year ago. But he’s led just two laps in his last five starts there.
“We had pretty good race cars in both races there last year,” crew chief Tony Gibson said. “We had a plug wire that went bad in the first race, but we came from behind in that deal and really ended up running pretty well the second half of the race and got a top-five finish.
“It’s a good track for Ryan, and I really like the race track as a crew chief because I’ve had some success there in the past with several different drivers who liked the track.”
SceneDaily.com • At 61 Geoff Bodine still wants to race will run Cup race at Pocono this weekend
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