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NEWMAN: We Salute You
Written by: Ryan Newman   
11/07/2009
Fort Worth, TX
 
Before I get into all the questions that I know everybody has been wondering, I wanted to say thank you to everyone – the fans, my sponsors and the people who work in NASCAR for all of their kind thoughts and expressions of concern this past week following the crash in Talladega.
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) ยป More Photos

I have gotten so many emails, texts, phones calls, Facebook posts – it really has been overwhelming. Just yesterday in the garage, I couldn’t begin to tell you how many fans, media members and people in the sport just walked up to me and said it was good to see me and they were glad I was ok. It has really been humbling, I guess you can say. I can’t tell you how appreciative I am.

I’m doing OK from the wreck. I’m definitely still sore. And to be honest, I’m a little more sore than I thought I would be at this point in the week. It’s getting better though.

It hurt a little bit to get in the racecar on Friday, but I think that once my adrenaline gets pumping during the race on Sunday – I’ll be just fine. I’m looking forward to getting in the racecar in Texas – and wouldn’t it be fitting for us to finally get our first win after last weekend?

I’ve tried to keep myself busy this week. I’ve done all the normal things I do every week when I’m at home, but the soreness kind of forced me to take it easy, too.

On Wednesday, Bobby Hutchens and I went to meet with NASCAR about the wreck, what happened and just to talk about our concerns. It was a good meeting. I learned a lot about the testing that NASCAR has done to work on the cars to make sure they stay on the ground, and I had the opportunity to share my thoughts with NASCAR on different things we should try to make the racing safer so that we don’t have cars flying and landing on their roofs.

Obviously, nothing gets solved in one meeting, but the important thing is that we opened a dialogue. I think it is our job as participants in the sport, the sanctioning body, the teams and drivers to continue to test and work on these cars to improve not just the racing on the racetrack, but to improve the safety of the cars. And safety goes beyond just the drivers, it extends to the officials, the crew members, and of course, the fans.

Meeting with NASCAR on Wednesday was just one step. I plan to continue talking to them about the issues, and hopefully we can work together to be part of the solution.

As for this weekend at Texas,
our team has its work cut out for us right now. We didn’t qualify where we had hoped, and our car was just a little off in practice. However, we have improved our mile-and-a-half program since our first trip to Texas in the spring. Hopefully, that will play to our favor.

Like I said earlier, I really do appreciate everyone’s kind thoughts this week. It has meant a lot to me and Krissie. On another note, I hope that everyone will send their thoughts and prayers to all the troops and families in the U.S. Army that were affected by the tragedy at Fort Hood in Texas this week.

I’m truly honored to represent our soldiers on the racetrack each and every weekend, and to hear about such a senseless tragedy involving the people who have fought to give us the ability to do what we want freely in this country is just devastating. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this.

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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