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Sprint Cup
CUP: Newman Looking Toward New Year
Ryan Newman says the final weeks of the Chase give his team a leg up for 2012…
Ryan Newman won just once in 2011. (Photo: Getty Images)
While his boss and teammate, Tony Stewart, was slamming through the Chase on a strong ride that ultimately produced the Sprint Cup championship, Ryan Newman was struggling to produce a top five.
Finally, in the next-to-last race at Phoenix, he got a fifth-place finish. That ended a string of eight Chase races in which Newman finished no better than eighth.
Ending the year on an upbeat note, Newman said, was important to getting a fast start in 2012.
“Our last two races we were just starting to reboot a little,” Newman said. “The middle part of the Chase was rough emotionally, as well as from the performance side of things. Getting those last two races was really big for us to build on.
“That’s what you do in the offseason. You build cars, you move parts and pieces around, you do different things. But carrying that momentum is huge. We’re excited about it. It’s going to be interesting to see what rules package we have to start the biggest race of the year (Daytona 500). We’ll go down there and have fun.”
Newman won only one race – at Loudon – but stayed in the top 10 in points most of the season, ultimately finishing 10th.
“We got in the winner’s circle, and winning a race was big for us, but more important because it finally got the US Army in victory lane,” Newman said. “To get back in the Chase was big – something we missed out on last year. We’re five for six (in three years) as far as an organization in the Chase.
“We had a disappointing Chase based on what we’re capable of. But I know we’re going into 2012 with that mentality of doing what we’re capable of.”
Newman said the No. 39 team’s biggest push next season should be in the area of maintaining quality.
“We seem as a team to be able to fight back,” he said. “What we need to not do is have to fight back. If we can maintain instead of having a bad it stop or getting off-cycle – or maybe it’s a bad call where the yellow comes out.
“You can help put yourself in better positions. I think as a team we can do that. Our cars are good, obviously. Tony has proved that. You see him do so well in the Chase, and we struggled to get one top five. I know we have to do some things on our side team-wise to do the right things and make the right calls.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
Finally, in the next-to-last race at Phoenix, he got a fifth-place finish. That ended a string of eight Chase races in which Newman finished no better than eighth.
Ending the year on an upbeat note, Newman said, was important to getting a fast start in 2012.
“Our last two races we were just starting to reboot a little,” Newman said. “The middle part of the Chase was rough emotionally, as well as from the performance side of things. Getting those last two races was really big for us to build on.
“That’s what you do in the offseason. You build cars, you move parts and pieces around, you do different things. But carrying that momentum is huge. We’re excited about it. It’s going to be interesting to see what rules package we have to start the biggest race of the year (Daytona 500). We’ll go down there and have fun.”
Newman won only one race – at Loudon – but stayed in the top 10 in points most of the season, ultimately finishing 10th.
“We got in the winner’s circle, and winning a race was big for us, but more important because it finally got the US Army in victory lane,” Newman said. “To get back in the Chase was big – something we missed out on last year. We’re five for six (in three years) as far as an organization in the Chase.
“We had a disappointing Chase based on what we’re capable of. But I know we’re going into 2012 with that mentality of doing what we’re capable of.”
Newman said the No. 39 team’s biggest push next season should be in the area of maintaining quality.
“We seem as a team to be able to fight back,” he said. “What we need to not do is have to fight back. If we can maintain instead of having a bad it stop or getting off-cycle – or maybe it’s a bad call where the yellow comes out.
“You can help put yourself in better positions. I think as a team we can do that. Our cars are good, obviously. Tony has proved that. You see him do so well in the Chase, and we struggled to get one top five. I know we have to do some things on our side team-wise to do the right things and make the right calls.”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 29 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
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