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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
NEWMAN: Good Isn’t Good Enough
I’m proud of the fact our U.S. Army team has proven time and again that we deserved our spot in the Chase...
Ryan Newman  |  Posted October 01, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing writes Voices of SPEED on SPEEDtv.com. (Photo: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
I don’t think any NASCAR fan could say they are disappointed with the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship so far this season.

At Dover last weekend, the majority of the Chasers finished in the top-10. In fact, we finished 10th and lost points, which was pretty disappointing for us.

I’m glad, though, that we continue to validate ourselves with good, solid top-10 finishes. I’m proud of the fact our U.S. Army team has proven time and again that we deserved our spot in the Chase. But right now, that’s just not enough.

When you lose points with a 10th-place finish, the competition is tight and what that means is we need to be better. We need to be running with the No. 5 (Mark Martin) and the No. 48 (Jimmie Johnson) each and every weekend.

I’m not saying we have run badly. That’s not the case at all. We just need to be better if we want to win this championship.

So far, this Chase is really shaping up to be quite a fierce battle. Everyone used to say you could have a Mulligan – one bad race in the Chase – and still win the championship. I know we are just two races in at this point, but I really don’t know if that is the case this year. And I don’t want to find out.

Last year, I think Jimmie Johnson’s average finish was something like 5.7, so you have to have a good finish every race. Apparently, you really can’t have a bad race.

Our guys have proven how tough we are time and time again this season. And, like I have said so many times, I’m proud of what we have accomplished. At the beginning of the year, my goal was to make the Chase and have a shot at the championship. We’ve done that.

Now, we have other goals we want to accomplish.

We’re looking forward to Kansas this weekend. Kansas is really a fast racetrack and I have enjoyed racing there. It’s your typical D-shaped oval. You really have to arc the car going into the corners.

Getting into turn one can be pretty tricky and, when you come off turn two, the track really opens up and it is easy to get loose. The car really carries a lot of speed off the corners. It gets to be a lot of fun when the race comes around and the track gets wider because you’re able to race a little harder.

I have a win there, and I would like to add to that total.

In addition to the race at Kansas, I have some fun racing planned on the side. This weekend, I’m going to be competing in the Late Model Nationals in Knoxville, Iowa. I’m really excited about this. Tony (Stewart) is going to be racing, too, so I’m sure we’ll have a little friendly rivalry out there.

I was the most comfortable I had been in a long time in my Late Model at Eldora last month, so I’m pretty excited about climbing back in it.

Be sure to check out my car if you have a chance – it will have mine and Krissie’s friend Bridgette Tatum’s face on it. Bridgette is a county music writer and artist. She’s going to have a concert at the track on Saturday, and we are working with her through our new business venture – MPR Entertainment Group. We’re working to help Bridgette release her first album next year, so it’s a pretty cool deal for us.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Ryan Newman is in his eighth full season as a driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and he’ll spend it with two-time Sprint Cup champion Tony Stewart. Newman drives the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation Chevrolet Impala SS for Stewart-Haas Racing, the team co-owned by Stewart and Haas Automation, the world’s largest machine tool manufacturer. Newman is a graduate of Purdue University, where he has a degree in vehicle structural engineering. In his first seven seasons, Newman has collected 43 poles and 13 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, including the 2008 Daytona 500 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway. When not racing, Newman enjoys fishing and restoring his classic cars. The avid outdoorsman, along with his wife Krissie, play an active role in the Ryan Newman Foundation 501(c)(3), which they founded in 2005. For more information on Ryan Newman, please visit www.ryannewman.org or www.stewarthaasracing.com. Information on the Ryan Newman Foundation can be found at www.ryannewmanfoundation.org.
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