Ryan Newman has finished sixth in three of his four full seasons on the Cup circuit. Credit: Autostock

YIR: Ryan Newman

Another Bud Pole Award, Chase appearance for No. 12 crew

Ryan Newman's struggle to return to the league-leading form he established in the Nextel Cup Series' Victory Lanes in 2003 continued in 2005.

There was no way Newman, crew chief Matt Borland and the members of their Penske Racing South No. 12 Dodge crew were satisfied to finish sixth in the Chase for the Nextel Cup -- where he's ended the season in three of his four years in Cup.

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Newman, who's lost none of his sheer speed, as evidenced by his fourth consecutive seasonal Bud Pole Award, could take some solace from establishing some late-season consistency with his aerodynamically challenged 2005 Dodge Charger.

Dodge continues to try to get a different nose treatment allowed for the Charger, which Newman is really banking on.

"I think once we get our hands untied we'll be able to show what we're capable of," Newman said. "We've done pretty well this year struggling with what we've had to work with.

"It's a clearer picture now than it was halfway through the season when we were struggling and we didn't know why. We look forward to the opportunity to get things right and have the right tools to work with so that we can shine like we feel like we're capable of."

Ryan Newman's lone win came in the Chase opener at Loudon. Credit: Autostock

Inside the Numbers Ryan Newman in 2005 Race Start Finish Daytona 500 9 20 Auto Club 500 9 9 UAW-DaimChrys 400 1 9 Golden Corral 500 1 14 Food City 500 7 30 Advance 500 2 4 Sam./R.Shack 500 1 16 Subway Fresh 500 7 14 Aaron's 499 5 39 Dodge Charger 500 2 5 Chevy 400 2 3 Coca-Cola 600 1 5 RacePoints 400 4 8 Pocono 500 17 34 Batman Begins 400 1 15 Dodge/S. Mart 350 11 9 Pepsi 400 27 14 USG Sheetrock 400 2 29 New England 300 4 7 Pennsylvania 500 4 5 Allstate 400 6 34 Sirius at the Glen 7 30 GFS Marketplace 400 5 12 Sharpie 500 6 39 Sony HD 500 28 18 Chevy 400 8 12 Sylvania 300 13 1 RacePoints 400 1 5 UAW-Ford 500 3 4 Banquet 400 11 23 UAW-GM Quality 500 2 7 Subway 500 4 10 Bass Pro Shops 500 1 23 Dickies 500 1 25 Checker 500 11 12 Ford 400 2 7 Averages 6.2 15.3

In fact, Newman perhaps did the best job of any Dodge driver, with the possible exception of Rusty Wallace, of stepping up his performance in spite of the car.

Newman, one of only three Dodge drivers to win a race, led 20 of 36 races and led the second-highest total of laps by a Dodge driver.

In 2005, Newman cut his DNFs by two-thirds from the season before and actually improved his top-10 finish total from the year before, from 14 to 16 despite dropping off by three in top-fives (11 to 8).

The Chase showed Newman was heading in the right direction at the end of the season, as his average finish in the last 10 races was 11.7, fifth-best among the top-10 drivers. His average for the season was 15.30.

However, the 2005 Charger's aero challenges on the 1.5-mile speedways ultimately put an end to Newman's championship hopes.

Newman won his first race of the season in the Chase's first race, and was second in the championship two races later.

He reached the midpoint of the 10-race Chase only 17 points behind the leaders, and after escaping Martinsville with a 10th-place finish he moved up a spot in the standings, to third despite dropping to 63 points behind.

But just how a game has to be stepped up to keep pace was spelled out at Atlanta and Texas, both 1.5-mile venues, where Newman had mediocre results of 23rd and 25th, respectively, after which he was seventh in the standings, 174 points behind and basically out of the title hunt.

How much of a challenge the Charger was, was spelled out by Penske Racing and Evernham Motorsports each opting to run newly built 2004 Intrepids in the Homestead season finale.

Newman led the race and finished seventh -- his sixth top-10 finish in the Chase -- and pointed out what they had faced all season, and what they needed for 2006.

	Ryan Newman had an average starting position of 6.2. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Most Bud Poles, 2005 Driver Bud Poles Rank R. Newman 8 6 E. Sadler 4 13 T. Stewart 3 1 C. Edwards 2 3 M. Kenseth 2 7 J. Gordon 2 11 K. Harvick 2 14 K. Kahne 2 23

"That's the best run we've had on a mile and a half track this year [and] we overcame adversity to do it -- we ran better than seventh most of the day," Newman said. "We're looking forward for a chance to improve, and we're looking forward to 2006.

"We know why we struggled this year, and we're going to try to have the right tools to do what we need to do next season."

Dodge continued through most of the fall to work with NASCAR on a new nose configuration for the Charger, of which the Homestead Intrepid experiment was a part. It makes Newman, Borland, et al, focus on the big picture.

"We haven't had the year we wanted to as a whole for the Dodge teams," Newman said. "Our Busch program is a little different as far as the aero rules and stuff. I don't think we've got the results we wanted out of the Charger this year.

"I think we've proven through most of the Chase that we're a good, solid team that is a threat. If we can get a better handle on the new Dodge, then we'll be even more of a threat next season.

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"There's no one thing other than teamwork, a lot of effort and just pure performance to make the car go faster and us look better."

Newman proved the difference the car -- or at least its set-up package could make -- as he excelled in a limited, nine-race program in the Busch Series. The different aero package showed up, as Newman and crew chief Roy McCauley were able to win a league-leading six races in nine starts.

"It's all about going out and performing and beating everybody, whether it's the Busch Series or Cup Series, it doesn't matter," Newman said. "We know the competition is not the same, but it's tough in both series and to go out and experience it is all we want to do."