There is no Preseason Thunder this year at Daytona International Speedway, but that didn't prevent Ryan Newman from climbing into his new No. 39 Chevrolet and tooling around a Florida track on Wednesday.

With NASCAR eliminating all testing this offseason at tracks where sanctioned events are held during the year, Newman and his new teammate/owner at Stewart-Haas Racing, Tony Stewart, spent Wednesday familiarizing themselves as much as possible with their new Sprint Cup rides for 2009 at New Smyrna (Fla.) Speedway.

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The season-opening Daytona 500 looms a month away, and Newman is the defending champion of NASCAR's most prestigious event. But he will not defend in the No. 12 Penske Racing Dodge that he drove to Victory Lane in that race last season -- and Newman admitted that will seem a little weird.

"I think the strange moment will be going to the Daytona 500 Experience [prior to the actual race for a ceremony with fans celebrating last year's victory] and being part of that and pulling the old car out. That will be, I guess, the cutting of the umbilical cord of sorts," Newman said.

This will be Newman's 10th season driving in the Cup Series. The first nine were all spent with Penske Racing, nearly all of them behind the wheel of the No. 12.

The Daytona 500 victory was the 13th of his career, but Newman struggled as last season progressed. By late in the summer, he had decided he would join the newly formed Stewart-Haas organization and make the switch from driving a Dodge to a Chevrolet.

Newman said that's what makes days like Wednesday so important for both him and Stewart, who left Joe Gibbs Racing to help from the new team and will be switching back to a Chevrolet after one season in a Toyota. Newman said the first thing he and Stewart and their respective crew chiefs need to accomplish is to make sure they're all communicating on the same page when they talk about what their teams need to do to make the cars go faster.

"For me it's important to understand what [Stewart's] balance feels like, and vice versa; for [crew chiefs] Darian Grubb and Tony Gibson to work together; to understand when Tony says the car is loose that it's drivable or undrivable for me, and vice versa," Newman said. "Those are the things that we'll work on from a communication standpoint and from a teamwork standpoint within the drivers and the crew chiefs and the teams."

Although he admitted that additional testing probably would have helped him and Stewart in their current situation, he doesn't mind not getting on the track for Preseason Thunder as in years past.

"I'd say if we were in this situation last year, then it would be a bigger situation knowing that we are taking a brand new car to a big track for the first time," Newman said. "But I'm very confident in my crew and my team, and I think Tony is in his, as well. I don't think it is at all necessary for us to go down there and test Daytona.

"Would it be an advantage for us as a team? Yeah. But it is for every team, and that's why it's not necessary."

On the other hand, developing chemistry with Gibson, his new crew chief, is absolutely necessary. And that's what recent testing at Rockingham Speedway and Tuesday's outing at New Smyrna were mostly about for Newman.

Gibson is joining Stewart-Haas Racing after working most recently for Dale Earnhardt Inc., and previously for Hendrick Motorsports, which has formed a technical assistance alliance with Stewart-Haas.

"I got to know Tony [Gibson] a little bit more toward the end of the season and his wife, Beth, and really think a lot of him," Newman said. "He's very much like Tony [Stewart] and I and enjoys the outdoors, fishing and hunting -- and that's nice so you can connect outside of the race track. But his experience, his personality, his understanding of the way Hendrick Motorsports works and respect for the things that we do at Stewart-Haas Racing in conjunction with Hendrick Motorsports should all really help. I really look forward to working with him and the team and trying to succeed and accomplish our goals."

Those goals are lofty, Newman added. Despite being a spanking, brand-new team, he said he sees no reason why he can't successfully defend his Daytona 500 title, earn a spot in the Chase, and contend for the championship.

"I am confident coming out of the box that we'll be a contender at the Daytona 500," Newman insisted. "I feel that there are going to be some things that we'll have to learn, but I think as a group, with our team ... that we'll be competitive. I feel with the Hendrick components, myself and Darian Grubb and Tony Gibson, that there's no reason that we're not [going to be].

"Secondly, our goal is for both cars to make it into the Chase. Once we're in the Chase, we'll determine how much of a contender we are for the championship. ... I really look forward to creating our own successes."