Newman: Education is important to NASCAR career

By SceneDaily Staff Report
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
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DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. - Ryan Newman has some unusual advice for high schoolers dreaming of competing in NASCAR. Instead of suggesting they make contacts and make a name for themselves, he thinks they should first focus on getting an education.

It's certainly not the old-school way to make it into racing, nor is it the path being followed by the teen stars who will debut in the Nationwide Series this season. It is, however, something that Newman sees as a path to well-rounded career.

The Penske Racing driver is a graduate of Purdue University, with a degree in vehicle structural engineering. Newman not only speaks the language of the engineers flooding into the sport, but he also can discuss potential changes to the car in the same language.

Whether or not this gives him an advantage isn't Newman's point. Simply getting an education is.

"Just for the benefit of NASCAR and the effect that we have on kids and people that are in high school, instead of saying, 'I want to go to NASCAR,' I want them to say, 'I want to get an education and then go to NASCAR," he said prior to today's test session at Daytona International Speedway. "I think that would be nice."

Newman said that he was always guided toward a degree, by both his parents and then by his future team owner Roger Penske.

"It all started when my parents asked me, "Where are you going to college?'" Newman said. "I said, 'What? I don't know. I haven't really thought about it.' This is in high school. I just eventually decided to go to Purdue. If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have had the ambition to push myself, to pay for myself to go to college. They helped in both respects.

"... The second person that was highly involved with that was Roger Penske. He wanted me to have my diploma before we started racing and racing hard. That makes a big difference. That, I think, says a lot about Roger Penske as well as my father."

Now that he is in NASCAR, Newman is intent on winning a championship. He finished in the top 10 in the standings in each of his first four Cup seasons but has not made the championship segment of the season the last two years.

Roy McCauley takes over as crew chief this season, something Newman expects to spark the group. He's known McCauley for quite some time. McCauley started 2007 as crew chief for Penske's Kurt Busch but stopped traveling for personal reasons. He moved over to Newman's team for this season. Mike Nelson, who was Newman's crew chief last season, has moved into a management role.

Newman said that the relationship he and McCauley have is important, as is planning to stay together for the long term.

"It's extremely important," he said. "That was one of my goals, personally, when I was with [former crew chief] Matt Borland was to stay with him, have that strength of consistency and knowing, sharing and that relationship. That didn't happen. Obviously, the next goal is to have that with Roy McCauley."

How does Newman describe his new crew chief?

"Roy is what we refer to as on the chip," Newman said. "He's up there at 9,000 [rpms] the whole day and all the time. Not to say that Mike Nelson or Matt Borland never were, it's just that Roy stays there, and he's determined. He gets the job done, and that's why I look forward to a great 2008 season with him.

"Roy is a great team leader. I saw that when I was in the Busch Series with him when we won those races. He took that team over to the Cup series and won Bristol with Kurt Busch. I think that he can get the job done,

and I'm glad to have him."

Mentioned Drivers: Kurt Busch

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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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