Need for speed key for Ryan Newman at Talladega

By David Exum - SceneDaily Staff
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
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Chris Graythen
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With seven races left on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule, Ryan Newman realizes he still has a job to do as the driver of the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge.
 
Since the announcement in July that Newman will team up with two-time NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, this year’s Daytona 500 champion has been doing his best to juggle his current responsibilities, while also focusing on the future.
 
“I’m definitely excited about next year,” said Newman before heading into Sunday’s AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway.
 
“I’m just trying to balance both situations and both scenarios so I can be successful at both.”
 
Although Newman has never won at Talladega in 13 career starts, he has recorded three top-five and six top-10 finishes and has only three DNFs. Newman’s best finish at the 2.66-mile facility was fourth in the fall race in 2003 and then again in 2005.
 
“I definitely like Talladega – especially when you have a fast race car,” explained Newman.
 
“We’ve had a good restrictor plate race car all year.  I got caught up in a wreck in the second Daytona race, and we won the [Daytona] 500.”
 
Like other drivers preparing to tackle Talladega, Newman understands that anything can happen when speeds reach close to 200 mph in bumper to bumper traffic.
 
No matter whether if it’s the first lap or the last, at Talladega, a wreck known as the Big One can occur and ruin a driver’s day instantly.
        
“Expect the unexpected,” said Newman in reference to racing at Talladega. “If it [big crash] doesn’t happen, then you made it out of there.”
        
Newman also explained that at Talladega the need for speed is the most critical component when it comes to restrictor-plate racing.
        
Without a fast race car, make that a really fast race car, a driver can’t get to the front and will have to do his best bunched up in traffic and dirty air swirling around his machine for 188 laps.
        
“You have to have a fast race car,” said Newman. “It’s track where handling is at a minimum.  You just do your thing ,and hopefully you can walk out of there with fenders on the race car – if so - you’ve had a good day.”
        
Being successful at Talladega not only tests each driver’s mettle in terms of keeping the accelerator mashed to the floorboard, it also requires precision and patience.
        
“Patience is the biggest thing,” he said. “The ability to stay calm and not overreact – you have to be totally predictable of what might happen, and that’s so questionable.”
        
Another aspect about Talladega that cannot be ignored is knowing when to make the move to gain position on the track without causing a multicar pileup.
        
“The second biggest thing is that so many cars are so close and so equal – you almost have to wait your turn if you’re not in that group that’s running in the top five,” said Newman.
        
“Trying to predict that future [at Talladega] is extremely difficult, but it can be done.”

Mentioned Drivers: Ryan Newman

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2009 Sprint Cup Race for the Chase Standings

Driver Standings after the AMP Energy 500

1 Jimmie Johnson 6248
2 Mark Martin -184
3 Jeff Gordon -192
4 Juan Pablo Montoya -239
5 Tony Stewart -279
6 Kurt Busch -312
7 Greg Biffle -340
8 Ryan Newman -402
9 Kasey Kahne -414
10 Carl Edwards -437
11 Denny Hamlin -448
12 Brian Vickers -556

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