Ryan Newman: "We'll just stay focused. I think the ultimate goals are the same for every team and that's to win the race on the weekend." Credit: Autostock

Newman in desperate need of Dover rebound

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After engine problems at New Hampshire International Speedway in the first Chase for the Nextel Cup race, Ryan Newman is in deep trouble.

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With nine races left to determine the 2004 Nextel Cup champion, Newman finds himself 136 points out of the lead. And this time, the points won't be reset.

To win the title, Newman and his Penske Racing team have to figure out a way to make up that many points and crawl past eight drivers.

And he knows it won't be easy.

"I'm concerned for sure," Newman said. "We had a chance to be 30 points out of the lead vs. 130. It definitely hurt. We've had to fight back pretty much every season with this Penske organization, and I think this is just another 10-race season for us that we're going to have to fight back. We're prepared to do that."

After sneaking into the top 10 at Richmond, Newman was fast at NHIS. He ran in the top five most of the day before smoke began billowing from his No. 12 Dodge.

"We had an awesome car all weekend," Newman said. "With Saturday getting rained out, we were pretty happy with the performance of our weekend so far and looked forward to the race. We had a really great racecar on Sunday. Something happened in the engine. We don't exactly know what yet.

"We definitely had a shot at the win. We were leading at the point where we pitted, even when we had the engine problems. Unfortunately, we weren't able to continue."

Ryan Newman Credit: Autostock

Newman wasn't alone at NHIS, for Tony Stewart and Jeremy Mayfield had trouble, too. Newman is only 12 points behind Stewart but 65 behind seventh-place Mark Martin.

Dover International Speedway, site of this weekend's MBNA America 400, is a good place to start clawing back. Newman is the race's defending champion, and he has two victories and four top-10s in his five previous races there.

"We're just going to go there with the same plan we had at Loudon, and that's to win the race, lead the most laps and get the most bonus points possible," Newman said. "Just stay focused. After the race (at NHIS) Sunday, we went out on top. Unfortunately we went out, but the good thing is we went out on top, and we haven't been able to do that this year as far as performance goes.

"I felt good to be that competitive and be up front pretty much every lap of the race. I look forward to the opportunity for the last nine races. I think we've learned a lot getting up to these last 10 races. I think you'll see a lot stronger 12 car in the last 10."

Newman certainly isn't giving up hope on the 2004 championship. Bad luck could strike the other Chase drivers, which would move Newman back into contention.

"I expect there's going to be at least one car every weekend that has a problem," Newman said. "Whether every car in the top 10 has a problem in the last 10 races, obviously, nobody knows. I think having the three we had this past weekend was probably on the high side. You'll never know. We'll just go on and see what happens in these next races. Talladega could wipe out all 10 of them or it could wipe out none. You just never know."

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Having earned an engineering degree at Purdue, Newman knows a thing or two about advanced mathematics. But he's not about to delve into "championship math" at this point in the season.

"I glanced at it once when I got home Sunday night, but I haven't even looked at it. I haven't done any math," Newman said. "We're going to go to Dover and we're going to go to Talladega and Kansas and every other place, and we're going to go there to win. We're just going to stay focused.

"We went out on top, which we haven't been able to do much this year. We've been able to do it a few times as far as running in the top five and having a good if not dominant car, but it felt good to be able to run that good and that put a smile on my face after Sunday."

But can nine great races overcome one bad one in the first Chase for the Nextel Cup? No one knows yet.

Nothing, however, changes for Newman.

"The feeling is still the same," Newman said. "You're doing your best. If you win the championship by a point or lose it by a point or win it by 150 points, you're still trying your hardest. That happens from the first lap you run off the truck to the checkered flag drops on Saturday or Sunday.

"We'll just stay focused. I think the ultimate goals are the same for every team and that's to win the race on the weekend."