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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
NEWMAN: It All Comes Down To Richmond
This is it - the final weekend before the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase for the Championship gets underway...
Ryan Newman  |  Posted September 10, 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)
This is it. This is the weekend – the final weekend before the Chase for the Championship gets underway, and me and the No. 39 U.S. Army/Haas Automation team are one of the teams still fighting to claim our spot.

Right now, we are ninth in points – 81 ahead of 13th place. It’s not the most comfortable position to be in, simply because we aren’t locked into anything right now.

We still have to keep our noses clean and put ourselves in the right position on the racetrack this weekend at Richmond International Raceway. We also have to pay attention to where our competitors are, and we have to pay attention to the points so that we make sure we are in the right spot at the end of the race. Basically, we just have to be smart, stay calm and keep doing what we have been doing all season.

I’ve said before that I don’t feel pressure when I drive, that I just go out there and do my job, and that’s true. But I know this is a very stressful weekend for everyone associated with the No. 39 team. Hopefully, at the end of the night, we’ll all have big smiles on our faces.

I want to make the Chase for the Championship. Tony Gibson (crew chief) and my team want to make the Chase. That has been a goal of ours since the beginning of the season. I've been in the Chase before, and I’ve not been there, too. And when you're not there, it leaves with you an emptiness because you want to be battling for the championship. That is why we are all here.

I’m looking forward to going back to Richmond for this final race to get locked into the Chase. I’ve had some good runs there, and we have had a really good short-track program this year at Stewart-Haas Racing. We finished fourth there in the spring. So hopefully, we'll be feeling strong and full on Saturday night and ready to reload for the 10-race championship shootout.

My run last night at Eldora Speedway in Tony Stewart’s rescheduled Prelude to the Dream gave me a nice shot in the arm as we get ready to head to Richmond. I didn’t beat the boss. He was behind me at one time, and for one brief second, I thought maybe I could beat him. But there was really no chance of that. In fact, Tony really schooled us on his track – but I did have the best finish I have had in a dirt late model, which was a pretty big deal for me.

I ended up finishing fourth in the 30-lap feature. I started fourth, finished fourth and got to do some passing. It was the most competitive I have felt in a dirt late model. The whole night was just a blast.

And the fact that we were all there raising money for a good cause really made the night that much more special. It was amazing to see all the fans in the grandstands and I know there was a great TV audience, too. It’s cool that we were able to come out and put on a good show, have fun and most importantly raise money for a variety of military charities that support Wounded Warrior, Fallen Heroes and their families.

We were able to do something for the people who without them, we really couldn’t be doing what we do right now. We were able to support our soldiers – our heroes – and that really means a lot to me.

It was just a good night. It was exciting. It got my adrenaline pumping, and I’m looking forward to Richmond now more than ever.

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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