With only four races left in the countdown to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase, Ryan Newman is still holding strong to the possibility of nailing down a spot in the 12-driver field. Unfortunately, it’s not exactly the way he wanted to do it.
Any NASCAR fan knows, Ryan Newman’ s last few weeks have been crazy to say the least. Still energized from winning the Brickyard 400 at his home track, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, to the news of his teammate and car owner Tony Stewart’s injury last week, to now being the only hope for Stewart-Haas Racing to have a run for the Chase, one might think the pressure would be too much to bear. But Newman is taking it all in stride.
After a 14th-place showing at The Glen on Sunday, Newman is now in 14th-place in the point standings. Since Stewart is now out indefinitely while he recovers, the No. 14 Chevrolet driver has started to drop in the standings after Sunday’s race, elevating Newman and Kasey Kahne into the two wild card spots. If Newman continues to race well in the next few weeks, he could crack the top-10 in point standings. Currently, he is 20 points behind 10th-place Martin Truex, Jr.
Regardless, Newman knows there is still work to be done if he wants to lock in a guaranteed top-10 spot for the Chase, or one of the final two wild card spots. He now solely holds the hope for SHR’s chance to bring home a Sprint Cup, but he says he’s not letting that burden weigh him down. His only responsibility, he says, is doing the absolute best job he can do, for himself.
We at State couldn’t agree more. We’re proud of you Ryan!
