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Wallace says Roger Penske made the decision for Newman to leave
By SceneDaily Staff
Friday, July 25, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS - It appears the bad blood that existed between Rusty Wallace and Ryan Newman as teammates at Penske Racing isn't gone.
Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Wallace said the perception that Newman and team owner Roger Penske mutually agreed to part ways next season was inaccurate. Instead, Wallace claims Newman was let go by Penske because of criticism toward the team for its performance this season.
Told of Wallace’s claims, Newman stood by his statements and questioned Wallace’s motives for saying what he did.
"He didn’t leave [Penske],” Wallace said Friday. “… Roger Penske called Ryan Newman up to his office and said, ‘I don’t need your services next year.’ Ryan Newman didn’t come to him and say, 'I’m leaving.’ That’s exactly how it went down.”
Newman disputed that version of events.
“I don’t know what Rusty’s grounds are, or what he’s trying to prove by saying that,” Newman said. “That wasn’t the case - point blank. Roger and I decided mutually to not continue and it was more my decision than it was his, I would say. I’ve said our goals didn’t align and for that reason and for that reason alone we decided not to continue after 2008.”
And thus almost three years after Wallace’s retirement from racing, the two former teammates whose once frosty relationship was well publicized appear to be at odds again.
"Was he conscious when he said it?" Newman said. "I guess it is [still bad blood] because it's not true. It doesn't matter to me. I know Rusty. I know his personalities. Plural. Everybody's different."
Wallace said that Penske wasn't happy with some of Newman's criticism.
"Roger doesn't like anybody telling him his equipment is junk or he doesn't like this or doesn't like that," Wallace said. "Obviously Ryan and I never got along real well, that's for sure. You guys all know that. This guy will give anybody anything they want – engineers, whatever. Ryan knows that, and we hyped up for ever and ever how he is the engineer for years and years and they can't get that car figured out.
"I talked to Roger and he didn't like it. He didn't like all the negative stuff. I don't know exactly, but I knew they needed to move on quick."
Newman doesn't deny that he spoke his mind to Penske.
"Nobody likes to be criticized as a driver, nobody likes to be criticized as an owner, but constructive criticism is part of what I have to do as a driver," Newman said. "If I don't feel like I have good equipment or as good equipment as the guy who is ahead of me, then I speak up. That's a racer. That's just the way it is.
"You have to be able to stomach a percentage of that, whether you're a car owner or a crew chief or a guy changing tires. That's part of it. And I would expect the same thing in return."
So did that lead to his pending departure at the end of the season when his contract expires?
"I don't think that it helped anything, but I don't think that anything I have ever said is anything but the truth," Newman said.
According to Wallace, Penske not only took issue with Newman’s criticism of his team’s performance but Penske was also upset that until last week, Newman had been undecided on his future plans for much of the season.
“He needed to move on and find a driver rather than Ryan saying, 'Well, I don’t know if I want to come back or I might or I might not,'” Wallace said. “Roger’s not like that. He’s not going to be held hostage by somebody else. You’re either in or you’re out.
"There’s no waffling and Ryan was waffling. And Roger just said, ‘I’m not waiting, I’m moving on and that was it.’”
Mentioned Drivers: Ryan Newman
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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Comments
22 responses to "Wallace says Roger Penske made the decision for Newman to leave". Post a Comment.
Anonymous said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 3:52 PMWow... Rusty how can we miss you if you don't go away. Even if this is true, which I highly doubt then why is your place to go running around shooting your mouth off.
Report as AbuseSecond, if Roger is going to fire someone for criticizing his race team then Kurt would have been gone a lot sooner. Just listen to Ryan and Kurt's in-car each week. Kurt can get downright unconstructive and mean with respect to Penske performance. (A couple of races ago he commented on how underpowered the engine was as well as how the car once again wasn't turning well and saluted "Good old Penske engineering".
And are we to believe that Roger Penske doesn't see his entire team's lack of performance and he's going to let Ryan go to solve that? He gets a championship driver like Kurt Busch and I guess he's the problem too?
Rusty, just shut the heck up and go sit in your rocking chair.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWILLIAM KAHL said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 4:13 PMSHUT UP RUSTY! IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUISNESS ANYMORE! WE DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 4:28 PMNone of your business Rusty. Here again you are mouthing off for someone else - where were the quotes from Roger in your write up above - didn't see any - can't Roger speak for himself? Or do you now own the Penske team? You are still mad because a young gun like Ryan came in and stold your spotlight - it's about time you grew up!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportMatthew Connors said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 5:36 PMIt is Rusty's business. He's a member of the media now. He believed that something being reported by his fellow media members was inaccurate and he said what he said to (in his mind) offer a different version of events, as he interpreted them.
Report as AbuseIf anything, give him credit for questioning the story that came off a press release that 99.9% of the media reported as pure fact.
Or maybe all you people want is re-hashed press releases masquerading as news itself?
Oh, wait, if you voted for Bush twice and support this administration, you probably like your news spoon-fed to, and lapped up by, a pandering news media.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportCallaway said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 5:56 PMNow I can see why his kid is such a knot head on the track he inherited the trait, I'm not a Newman fan nor a Roger Penske fan however what ever happened between the two men is none of Rustardos business. The comments were not made as a member of the media as a poster suggested they were made by a petty ex-teammate and ex-employee of Penske Racing. Roger Penske has made millions of dollars and worked out enough big deals not to need Wallace to come flying in like Air Mobile to defend him. It's enough to know for all of Wallace's bravado and nonsense he was never able to win the big ones The Championship, Daytona 500, The Brickyard, a race on a plate track for "The Captain" but Newman has right Rusty? Concentrate on not putting us to sleep while your on TV and your race team or just go away and let the other teams business remain the teams business. Geez Dale Jarrett is a breath of fresh air this year.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportilikebusch said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 6:22 PMRusty Wallass is a dolt!! Even his hair
Report as Abusetransplant is bad!!! Please Rusty do us all a favor and shut up!!! ESPN please fire
this goof!!!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportScott Baker said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 6:27 PMWhether it is true or not it makes Wallace seem petty.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportHELEN FORD said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 6:41 PMInteresting said: Grow up Rusty and for pity sakes stop rehashing all your old experiences and concentrate on the people you are suppose to be reporting about and keep your pettiness to yourself.......in other words, grow up!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTimothy Schultze said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 6:47 PMIt has been stated by Buddy Baker that if a driver was asked to be let out of his contract the following year that THE CAPTAIN Roger Penske would oblige the driver and tell him if he wants to go DONT WAIT GET NOW.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTimothy Schultze said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 6:51 PMNot a big rusty fan but callaway check your facts NEWBE Wallace does indeed have the 1989 WINSTON CUP CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY
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» Confirm Abuse Reportella dean said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 6:55 PMRusty Wallace continues to be boring, sour and whiny. His "on camera" persona requires strong caffine to not induce a nap coma. When will ESPN finally get rid of this disaster? He still has only a vague notion of how to cover a race, preferring to talk about himself, his interests over whatever is going on during the race. Phootey......... There are such personable drivers available to replace him. ESPN - move this along.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportCarole Robbins said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 6:59 PMJealous Rusty again. He was a loser as a driver, now he's a loser as an announcer. No wonder all Rusty does is talk about himself when he calls a race because when it comes to talking about anything else, Rusty doesn't have a clue!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportMike Barrett said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 7:04 PMAs some of us know that has been watching Nascar for years,Rusty has always run his mouth and most of the time couldn't back it up and was one of the biggest cry babies about other drivers when he drove.He won a championship by smear luck due to other drivers bad luck.I didn't like his mouth as a driver and sure can't stand to listen to him on tv.He is a horrible commentator!!!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportkenny mckinney said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 8:04 PMrusty i think your brother kenny needs a tire changer on his car (when he has a ride)
Report as Abuseor maybe you can ride with him in the family car and watch your other brother mike doing nothing in racing just like you did. of all people to watch he had to watch you...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBrandy Wise said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 8:18 PMRusty Wallace needs to stop running his mouth. Noone cares what his opinion is and he needs to get off the air. He sucks.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJeri Richards said:
Jul 25, 2008 at 10:05 PMYou guys are all ridiculous, Rusty is a great guy and Newman is very, very, immature.Quit whiting Newman and take it like a man, somebody finally told Newman that he is not needed. I have no use for Newman. Rusty and Penske are still good friends and nobody likes a whiner like Newman. Thanks Rusty for your input.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportLORNA SMITH said:
Jul 26, 2008 at 5:48 AMyo!! Rustys comments are not input! its just wining plain and simple. MOST of these bloggers are correct...Rusty needs to shut up and go home. And Ryan immature?? i don`t see Ryan sling mud around like an old washwoman! go home Rusty let someone else do the talking. go give your little brat a spanking....maybe he won`t turn out to be your clone after all.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportanonymous said:
Jul 26, 2008 at 6:52 AMANOTHER REASON WHY RUSTY WALLACE DOES NOT NEED TO BE IN THE BROADCASTING AREA FOR NASCAR. SEND HIM BACK TO IRL WHERE HE CAN BE OBJECTIVE. I MUTE HIM WHENEVER HE OPENS HIS MOUTH BECAUSE IT IRRITATES THE YOU KNOW WHAT OUT OF ME. ESPN DO SOMETHING PLEASE.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportwalter gruner said:
Jul 26, 2008 at 8:05 AMMaybe a few of those "rusty" supporters need to read what Penske himself had to say. He said that "rusty" was incorrect. He supported Ryans version as being factual. "rusty" was both out of line and wrong and thats unusual how?
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» Confirm Abuse Reportcharles zech said:
Jul 26, 2008 at 9:03 AMespn please fire rusty wallace
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» Confirm Abuse ReportDiAnne Ewing said:
Jul 26, 2008 at 2:18 PMIf Rusty so smart, why didn't he tell his kid auto racing is not his forte. As an announcer, he has to recant every call after a replay. Rusty go home!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportTODD BURLOCK said:
Aug 1, 2008 at 5:57 PMgood luck Ryan , Hay Rusty , you have a lot of fans, take their advice !
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