Ryan Newman (with crew chief Matt Borland) is used to having a roller-coaster existence in the Nextel Cup Series. Credit: Autostock

In Review: Ryan Newman

Inconsistency haunted No. 12 team in quest for Nextel Cup

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- At the start of the 2004 season, many observers picked Ryan Newman as the man to beat for the Nextel Cup championship.

And after winning nine poles and two races, you'd figure Newman would be in a good position to win that title.

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Of course, Newman was high on another category. Only six drivers had more DNFs than Newman's nine, and none of them were ranked in the top 25 in the final point standings.

So for every victory, every pole, every top-five finish, there was an accident and a 31st-place finish or a blown engine and a 33rd-place finish.

Up and down? If Newman's season was a stock chart, Wall Street analysts would jump in front of Manhattan traffic.

"Well, it's been the same pretty much the last three seasons, and I've called it a roller coaster every time," Newman said. "I guess it's part of the sport when you've got 42 other competitors. Your odds are kind of against you that you're going to finish in the top 10 every week.

"So just the roller coaster part of it is something you have to fight through. You know, as in battles, the strongest teams survive, and we're doing our best to try to survive."

Newman's Penske Racing team survived, but the war was won by someone else.

Newman visited Victory Lane twice in 2004. Credit: CIA Stock Photo

"(This season) was not as successful as it could have been or should have been," Newman said. "When you win nine poles and two races, some people struggle to get a pole or a win, so you have to consider it successful. Compared to last year, it's not as successful as we wanted it to be."

Newman headed into 2004 with a lot of momentum, winning twice and finishing in the top 10 in eight of the final 10 races of 2003.

But inconsistency plagued the team throughout this season. Newman won three poles in the first six races, finishing seventh or better in four of those events. The other two finishes? Thirty-first at Daytona and 27th in the other.

Then came Newman's first DNF of the year, a crash and a 39th at Texas, where he was the defending champion.

Then came a fifth, an 11th, a third and a ninth to move to sixth in points.

Of course, that was followed by a 35th, a 24th and a 30th to drop back to 10th.

Still, Newman remained a threat, given he stayed in the top 10 for so long and the explosive nature of his talent.

Finally, Newman broke through with a victory at Michigan in June. But Newman didn't have another top-five for four more races.

As the Chase for the Nextel Cup neared, Newman struggled to maintain his spot in the top 10. He finished 31st after a crash at Indianapolis to fall to 10th, and then fell to 12th with a 26th at Watkins Glen.

But like Newman's roller-coaster season, he rebounded with a second at Bristol and a fifth at California, holding on to the top 10 with a 20th at Richmond.

Newman had a strong car at New Hampshire to open the Chase, but blew an engine to finish 33rd. The next week, Newman won at Dover. After a 16th-place finish at Talladega, Newman crashed and ended up 33rd at Kansas.

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Was he done? Not really. He won the next four poles, finishing third at Martinsville and second at Phoenix. Winning the championship wasn't out of the question with two races to go, although it would've taken a miracle.

And for Newman in 2004, there were to be no miracles. He ended the season with back-to-back DNFs, finishing seventh in the final standings.

"We started the Chase 10th and finished seventh, but we should have done better," Newman said. "We're a championship team that had a lot of bad breaks."

Oh, and you can't forget about the very public disagreement with Penske teammate Rusty Wallace. The duo raced for position late in the October Martinsville event, with Newman getting the better finish.

Wallace bumped Newman on pit road after the race, costing Wallace a $10,000 fine. The two drivers continued to spar off the track, trading barbs in the media while failing to reconcile.

But Newman didn't seem too worried about Wallace or any other driver. He worried about simply going fast.

Newman finished seventh in the 2004 Nextel Cup Series. Credit: Autostock

And Newman sure was fast, winning the Bud Pole award for the third consecutive season. His ninth pole of the season was the 27th of his career, and those came in only 114 races. Newman is already tied for 23rd all-time after only three full seasons.

But Newman did more than qualify well. He led 567 laps during the Chase, the most of any Chaser.

Of course, for every good statistic in 2004, there's a bad one. His four DNFs during the Chase was the most, too.

"We didn't end up on our lid at any point this year, but we've had a lot of goofy things happen to us," Newman said. "We were going for second at Charlotte and had a wreck in front of us. We had a shot at the win and ended up 17th. That hurt us in the last 10 races.

"We've had some crazy things happen to us this year. We struggled for a part of this year, maybe the second third of the season. The final third of the season has been great, maybe the last half of the season has been great as far as performance and running good. We just don't have the numbers and results we need."

Oh, he had the numbers. Some of them just weren't the right ones.