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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
NEWMAN: On To Atlanta
To me, Atlanta is one of the best racetracks we go to for three- and four-wide racing...
Ryan Newman  |  Posted September 02, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing writes Voices of SPEED on SPEED.com. (Photo: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR)
After a nice off weekend, it’s been back to work at full speed.

The No. 39 team tested earlier in the week with not the best outcome. And then, yesterday, I went to Philadelphia for an appearance for Dover International Speedway.

As most of you know, I’m a pretty big car buff. I have my own collection of cars. They aren’t necessarily what people would consider collector cars, but they are special to me for one reason or another. What I didn’t know is that there is a pretty remarkable collection in Philadelphia called the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum.

As soon as I walked in and met Dr. Fred Simeone, I looked at him and asked him one question – “So, you have the sickness, too, huh?” I was joking about his love of cars and the huge collection he has acquired. I’ve never seen so many foreign cars – classic racing sports cars – in one place. I think I told several reporters that it was a pretty cool car collection, but I think that is an understatement.

Dr. Simeone has numerous foreign racecars – Alpha Romeos, Mercedes, Ferraris. He had very significant old racing cars from Le Mans – actual cars that had won. He even had a section of his museum dedicated to American racing and NASCAR. Funny thing was, when we were walking through that hallway, I noticed the old Alltel/Penske Racing stickers on one of the wheels on one of the vehicles.

It was probably a wheel from one of my early stock cars because I could tell it was an older logo, but it was cool to see I had my own part of racing heritage there.

I loved having the opportunity to look over the old cars and listen to Dr. Simeone tell me about the different races. It was even more fun to hear him talk about how he had acquired many of the vehicles. He’s rescued old racecars and made swaps with people.

It was a great afternoon. I told the reporters that 99 percent of guys I know dream of putting something like this together. From a racing standpoint, from an antique car standpoint and from a historical standpoint, it’s a really cool place. Some people with car collections just store them in a warehouse and go see them twice a year, but Dr. Simeone is doing something very unique with his foundation. What he's doing is emphasizing the importance of history and competition, and it could have an influence on generations to come.

He told me when I walked through the door that the museum’s theme was, “The Spirit of Competition.” Through his museum and foundation, he teaches kids about competition. I guess that sounds generic, conceptually, but there’s a big need for kids to understand the level of competition. My parents indirectly taught that to me through racing, and I think he understands the racing concept and the competition level and what it takes to be successful as a person. What he does with his foundation and using his car collection is pretty cool to me, and I hope that anyone who gets the chance to visit the museum will.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Ryan Newman (Left) takes a picture with Dr. Frederick Simeone (Right) owner of the Simeone Foundation Museum on Wednesday in Philadelphia. (Photo: NASCAR)

This weekend, it’s on to Atlanta. To me, Atlanta is one of the best racetracks we go to for three- and four-wide racing. I really enjoy the track, and racing at night makes it an even better show, in my opinion.

There’s one thing about Atlanta that is really special to me, though. Buddy Baker and I share the pole record at Atlanta. Buddy was my mentor when I was first getting my start in stock cars, and Atlanta was one of the tracks where we worked closely together. You see, Buddy would put me in a street car and we would drive around the track backward, and by doing that, Buddy would show me a different perspective of the entry and exit of each corner.
Buddy was a great teacher because he never told me what to do – he showed me what not to do. I think that has helped me a lot in my career. I have a chance to break our tie and set the pole record this weekend at Atlanta. It would be an honor if I could do that, and I know Buddy would be happy for me.

But we have a bigger task in front of us this weekend than just getting a pole record. We are in 15th place, 118 points outside of the Chase. I would much rather be 118 points inside the Chase, but that’s not how it stacked up for us this year. It’s going to be pretty tough to overcome that margin. Our competitors will most definitely have to have some bad luck, and we’re going to be doing everything in our power to try and put ourselves in a position to steal that 12th and final spot.

Ryan Newman is in his ninth 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 Chevrolet Impala for Stewart-Haas Racing, the team co-owned by Stewart and Haas Automation, the world’s largest machine tool manufacturer. In 2010, Newman will be sponsored by Tornados, Haas Automation and the U.S. Army. Newman is a graduate of Purdue University, where he has a degree in vehicle structure engineering. In his first eight seasons, Newman has collected 45 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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