Here’s a NASCAR news flash for you, courtesy of last week’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series event in Phoenix – Ryan Newman is still racing! Who knew? He seemed to come out of nowhere to grab the checkered flag in the Camping World 500 on March 19 at Phoenix International Raceway, taking advantage of a late caution and staying out on old tires to claim the win, his first in nearly four years.
Well hello, Newman.
While his Cup Series racing career actually began in 2000, Newman didn’t compete fulltime until 2002. He proved to be no flash in the pan; rather, he was simply a flash, winning six poles that year, earning his first win, and beating out some kid named Jimmie Johnson for Rookie of the Year.
That wasn’t too shabby, but 2003 was even better. Newman won eight races and a staggering 11 poles that season, acquiring a cool nickname in the process – Rocket Man.
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Unfortunately, it was a moniker that would eventually come back to haunt him a bit in the lyrics of the famous Elton John song of the same name. Beginning in 2013, he experienced “a long, long time” between wins.
“I’ve lost count. That’s how long it’s been,” Newman said after his victory in Phoenix. (For the record, that lengthy losing streak numbered 127 races.)
Ryan Newman is famous for a couple of quite significant things. He has proven to be an absolute master at winning the aforementioned pole positions, starting at the front of the pack 51 times. Additionally, according to NASCAR, he has been the only driver in any series with a college degree (in engineering, from Purdue University).
What he isn’t famous for is charisma, or sparkle. To help illustrate this, let’s draw a head-to-head comparison between Newman and a different sort of driver, someone like Michael Waltrip, for example.
Newman has 18 wins, the 51 poles we’ve already discussed, and 225 top 10 finishes so far. He’s super-smart, not particularly chatty, and funny if you enjoy dry, sometimes acerbic wit.
Waltrip, on the other hand, is an outgoing goofball, and his pre-race pit road antics have been one of the high points of the weekly TV broadcasts in the opinion of many race fans. His racing credits aren’t even close to the ones Newman has amassed – Waltrip, who retired earlier this season after competing in his final Daytona 500, has won four races, four poles and has finished in the top 10 133 times in 33 years of competition, but his popularity rating blows Newman’s out of the water. He isn’t afraid to take risks, or to look silly, and fans absolutely love him for it.
As for Newman? Well, let’s just say the chances are slim to none that we will ever see him competing on Dancing with the Stars. Would we even want to see him tripping the light fantastic in one of those shiny spandex outfits? I’m thinking … NOT.
Team-switching isn’t all that uncommon in NASCAR these days, and Newman has engaged in his fair share. After winning 13 times with Penske Racing from 2002 to 2008, he announced that he would be moving to the newly-formed Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) organization in 2009. In his five seasons with SHR, he won four times, including the Brickyard 400 in 2013.
That relationship ended when team co-owner Tony Stewart persuaded his pal Kevin Harvick to make the move from Richard Childress Racing (RCR) to SHR. Without the financial backing to field a fourth team, it was bye bye, Newman … and hello, RCR. Yep, the two drivers swapped seats.
It turned out to be a sweet deal for Harvick, who won the series championship in his very first season at SHR. But for Newman? Not so much, as evidenced by that dry spell we’ve been discussing.
Only time will tell if his win at Phoenix marks the first of a new string of successes for the driver of the No. 31 Chevy. A cryptic remark he made after the race has me scratching my head and wondering what in the world he and his crew chief Luke Lambert have up their sleeves for the remainder of 2017.
“What a gutsy call. I called for two tires, and Luke called for none,” Newman said. “I’ve won more races with no tires than I have with four.”
The ability to win a NASCAR race with no tires? That’s impressive. We might just have to change his nickname, because if Newman can back up that claim, the Rocket Man will also be a Miracle Man.
Cathy Elliott is a former public relations director at Darlington Raceway and author of books Chicken Soup for the Soul: NASCAR, Desktop 500, and Darlington Raceway: Too Tough to Tame. Contact her at cathyelliott@hotmail.com.