Ryan Newman meets with NASCAR officials in effort to learn from scary wreck at Talladega

By SceneDaily Staff
Friday, November 06, 2009
Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Newman is eighth in the Chase For The Sprint Cup standings heading into Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway. (Jim Fluharty / NASCAR Scene)

Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Newman is eighth in the Chase For The Sprint Cup standings heading into Sunday's race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Jim Fluharty
NASCAR Scene

Related stories: Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Newman receives outpouring of support after Talladega crash

FORT WORTH, Texas. - Stewart-Haas Racing's Ryan Newman met with NASCAR officials Wednesday to discuss his crash during Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway and potential changes that could prevent similar incidents.
 
Newman's car went airborne following contact in the closing laps, landed on Kevin Harvick's Chevrolet, slid off that and across the track. As it slid back down the track, Newman's car flipped again and he landed on his roof in the infield grass. Newman's car had to be turned over and then the roof was cut off to remove the driver.
 
Newman, who has repeatedly pointed out the need to prevent similar incidents over the past few months after others flipped in recent races on restrictor-plate tracks, said he requested the chance to talk with officials - and that he was pleased with the meeting.
 
He met with Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton and Sprint Cup Director John Darby to dissect the crash and learn about testing officials have done in an effort to prevent the cars from leaving the ground in crashes.
 
Newman, who has an engineering degree from Purdue University, said that testing will need to be done to determine what type of change would work the best, especially since each crash is unique. He said that he obviously feels like there are things that can and should be done.
 
"From an aerodynamic standpoint, ultimately our biggest thing is to keep the race cars on the ground," Newman said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. "Crashes have always been a part of racing. There are fans that like that. Sometimes that adds to extra excitement, don't get me wrong, when we can bounce off each other, get the car fixed, go back out and try to win a race, I understand that part of it. 
 
"Keeping the race cars on the ground is how we keep the drivers and especially the fans safe.  So that's the one thing."
 
He pointed out that it was ironic that he had been discussing the same thing after the Talladega race earlier this year, an event in which contact between Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski sent Edwards onto Newman's car and then into the catch fence.
 
He says that added to his frustration following his own incident last weekend.
 
As to what specifically can be done, Newman says that more study and input will be needed before NASCAR can determine the best solution.

"From an engineering standpoint, whatever we can do speed-wise and aerodynamically to keep the cars on the ground, in particular things in the back of the car, when it sees the air first for downforce, keep the lift out of the back of the cars is what we need to focus on," Newman said. " There has been testing done. I learned some of that stuff on Wednesday morning talking to Mr. Darby and Mr. Pemberton, that they have tested. 
 
"But I don't know that they have tested everything. I don't know that you can test everything. But obviously more testing needs to be done in order to make it safer for everybody. Speed is a part of it. The faster you go, the more likely you are to take lift.  We were talking before, an airplane takes off at 160 miles an hour. We're 40 miles an hour above that at times. There's plenty of potential for a car to take lift, whether it's going forwards, backwards or sideways. We have to take everything into consideration, as drivers, as teams, as a sanctioning body, to control that situation."
 
Newman said that a spoiler could be a part of the solution, but would not be all of it. After all, Nationwide cars have also flipped and they do have the spoiler. He was also asked about the impact the wing might have had on the incident, but wasn’t speculating on specific aspects. 

“My point from our conversation is ‘Do you think?’ is not the answer,” Newman said. “We have to do testing so that we know.”
 
There are things that might seem to be easy fixes, but then lead to other issues. Or there could be a series of changes needed. That's what the teams and NASCAR need to work together to figure out, Newman says.
 
He added that he was pleased with the safety crews efforts and had no complaints concerning his extrication from the car.
 
He was, however, a little concerned with the way the roll cage reacted in the car as it came down into the driver's cockpit.
 
"When I had 3,400 pounds come down basically on my head, I never was compressed physically in the car," Newman said. " … It's just like a head-on collision.  When two cars hit head on, you have the force of both. I had the force of me going up in the car while the car was coming down on me, so I was compressed. My spine was compressed, but I never was compressed to the point that it pushed my butt down into the seat. There was an instantaneous load there that hurt, don't get me wrong, I'm still sore from it, but I was never wedged."
 
He said that once the car was turned upright, he had room to take his helmet off. But he does think that the crash warrants study into what happened there.
 
"I know it was a heck of a hit, don't get me wrong," Newman said. "We've got to be able to learn from that. Whatever we might be able to do from a welding standpoint, from a wall thickness standpoint with the tubing, to make it stronger so that doesn't happen again is equally as important from a safety standpoint."
 
The series returns to the track April 25 for its next Cup event. Newman says that there are definitely changes that can be made between now and then, especially based on both Newman and Mark Martin flipping in the recent Talladega race and Edwards' incident earlier this season.
 
"Aerodynamically there are things that need to be done to keep the cars on the ground," he said. " I said that six months ago. Six months is plenty of time to make those changes. 
 
"The important thing is to make the right changes, to do the testing, the best of our capabilities with the tools that we have, meaning wind tunnels, modeling, things like that, to make the difference, make the right difference." 

Comments

27 responses to "Ryan Newman meets with NASCAR officials in effort to learn from scary wreck at Talladega ". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    Short-Track said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 2:01 PM

    I hope he demanded a little more RESPECT for the current drivers that are supposedly professionals.

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  2. 2
    Meg said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 2:34 PM

    Maybe if Ryan suggested they race around the track one lap at a time, as they do in qualifying, it would assure nobody would be able to touch anybody's car. Yeah, that would be fun to watch.

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  3. 3
    bubblechick said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 2:47 PM

    it doesnt have anything to do with touching each others car, it has to do with the cars staying on the ground, and running in such tight packs that one little wobble or bump from someone can cause a serious crash. Ryan is very lucky that kevin was were he was at the time of the crash, or the outcome may have been different.

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  4. 4
    Motorsportsphotography said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 2:51 PM

    All that NASCAR has to do is put the control back in the drivers hands. That means give them back throttle response. That means no more plates that restrict the HP to 450. The roof flaps working with the new wing does not work in all situations because of the air flow going over the car. They know the roof flaps work with the spoiler and that's something they need to work out. The simplest solution and the cheapest is to run the 4 races at the 2 Super speedways with a spec crate motor that produces 500 HP and that will give the driver the throttle response back to get away from a mess like we have at those tracks. NASCAR knows that this will work and the motor only cost about $10,000. It does work. The speeds will still be up around 190 but you give control back to the driver.

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  5. 5
    BOSN said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 3:08 PM

    In order to avoid the tight packs and getting airborne, it only seems to make sense that removing the restrictor plates and going with a smaller engine would be the answer.

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  6. 6
    minethief said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 3:19 PM

    I (like everyone else) have some suggestions. First would be mandatory grill size and shape openings on the cars. That’ll slow them down and cool them better without any cost (even lowering cost due to better cooling). Grooved tires are used in other series that want to regulate speed. And (you’re all going to hate me for this one….) six cylinders at Talladega and Daytona would make sense. Heck, it’s in the cars we’re buying. It should eliminate restrictor plates (for now) and give the race back to engine builders and drivers. It’s coming anyway, don’t fight it.

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  7. 7
    jwill8 said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 3:21 PM

    A chicane on the backstretch will solve all the problems.... :) j/k ...Seriously though, these cars need to stay 4 wheels contacting the pavement. Fans and Nascar peeps can fly to the track. The drives don't need to fly AT the track.

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  8. 8
    minethief said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 3:26 PM

    As for the flipping problem, an accelerometer can tell systems on the car that it's pointed the wrong way and roof flaps (and other devices) can be mechanically (instead of aerodynamically) deployed into the airstream and retract them when they get back around. They could even drastically and instantly adjust the wing to help with the situation. My iPhone knows when I’m walking backwards. The technology is out there.

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  9. 9
    lgerringer said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 3:45 PM

    Anybody other than me remember the 200mph plus at Talledega when all they wore were T-shirts, football helmets and a seat belt.
    I didn't hear anybody complaining then.

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  10. 10
    aaamt2003 said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 4:00 PM

    #1: What's RESPECT? got to do with Ryan flipping over. #8:To put the roof flaps and rear wing under computer control, leaves all kinds of avenues for cheating. The code in the wing controller can be rewritten so subtly that most coders could not detect the cheating.
    #6: the idea of v-6's making less horsepower, Formula 1 had v-6's making 1000 BHP!

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  11. 11
    bthompson133 said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 4:38 PM

    keep the same engines and change rear gears to slow cars. mthe gears are only $300. then you'd have great trottle response. ratios could even be changed day of show to match track conditions.

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  12. 12
    bthompson133 said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 4:42 PM

    rousch invented the roof flaps that have done so well, listen to him for once he's been an engineer longer than ryan and has more applied experience. oops forgot he's not chevy!!!!!

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  13. 13
    Werner said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 4:42 PM

    LGERRINGER....i can go back many years, but i don't think they had on those "uniforms"....Baker turned a 200mph lap, in 1970 by himself...

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  14. 14
    blachley said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 4:47 PM

    Go back to the spoiler, cooling duct size and shape could help. JUST IN CASE SOME OF YOU MIST IT, Ryan would have been DEAD in the old cars, this is no joke.

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  15. 15
    4EVER3 said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 5:11 PM

    Nice NASCAR is talking with Ryan.Now all they need is to listen to him and others.

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  16. 16
    Chevy-oh-what-a-joke said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 5:26 PM

    The COT is just junk!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  17. 17
    nascarnutsheeler said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 5:41 PM

    You know it is really amazing how everone knows more than the engineers. I feel the same as BTHOMPSON, let a group of engineers Like Jack Roush & Ryan Newman get together and work on these problems As far as Ryan being younger doesn't fly. A lot of times the guys just out of school have a lot of new ideas. Who cares if it's Chevy, Ford, Dodge and those other T guys I think they all want to stay alive. I don't think I can ever get to like plate tracks I just think that the speeds are too high. I think that when you get up to those speeds on high bank tracks it isn't sport anymore it's crazyness. Those speeds are for the salt flats.

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  18. 18
    jerryswiatek said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 7:57 PM

    Gimme a break, everybody said the COT would fly with the wing if it turned backwards. I think Brian France had a few again too many.

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  19. 19
    indioblanco said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 8:49 PM

    The headline reads: "Ryan Newman meets with NASCAR officials in effort to learn from scary wreck at Talladega." What did Ryan learn? Did NASCAR set him straight?

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  20. 20
    Werner said:
    Nov 6, 2009 at 9:49 PM

    you would think that the car had gone to the wind tunnel in the developement stage and been checked to see what affects going backwards at 200 mph would do...was this just a freak accident?...

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  21. 21
    pws1011 said:
    Nov 7, 2009 at 12:36 AM

    All Darby did was put a muzzle on Newman for his comments post race.Nascar might wanna check roll cage since it did'nt hold up so well.Ryan's lucky to walk away from that crash.Question is??????What is Nascar going to do?We shall see.It's past time to do it's job,Re: Super Speedways.Driver safety and Fan interest are whats at stake.Can they actually do something long overdue.we'll see.

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  22. 22
    nascarnutsheeler said:
    Nov 7, 2009 at 12:41 AM

    They were prbably in such a hurry to get the car out they may have forgot to check it in the wind tunnel. Seeing as it was the second freak accident.

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  23. 23
    jrfeeney said:
    Nov 7, 2009 at 8:59 AM

    Take off the plates ...ASSIGN A GEAR AND A CHIP TO LIMIT THE SPEED let them work with springs and shocks as they wish .......LET THEM RACE..... If NASCAR keeps this up they wont have to worry just leave the lower grandstand seats UNSOLD they won't need them anyway.

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  24. 24
    STP43FAN said:
    Nov 7, 2009 at 1:38 PM

    JEFEENEY - Greg Zippadelli shot this down in May - "we're already gear bound at these tracks."

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  25. 25
    STP43FAN said:
    Nov 7, 2009 at 1:45 PM

    MINETHIRD - -grooved tires and V6s are proven failures.

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  26. 26
    Rainier said:
    Nov 7, 2009 at 2:39 PM

    Maybe they should race in UPS trucks.

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  27. 27
    Werner said:
    Nov 7, 2009 at 3:44 PM

    STP43...that's right grooved tires were tried in F1 and are gone...the V6 was shot down by the fans...don't you think with todays tech that V6 might just work now?...or at least like Yates has said to go to a 305(4.6?) V8?...

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