"I love you man."

Those were the words I mused Ryan Newman had cried into teammate Tony Stewart's ear during the driver's first Victory Lane celebration in the No. 14 last weekend at Pocono Raceway.

Elated with pride, Newman was the first guy to congratulate Stewart with a full on man hug during the post-race festivities.

“

We are really close. It's a combination that the deeper you got into it, the more you realized how perfect it really was. Just gets stronger and stronger every week.

”

-- TONY STEWART

Not since the Jimmie Johnson-Casey Mears tearful, man hug when Mears won his first Cup race back in 2007 at Lowe's Motor Speedway have NASCAR fans witnessed such a 'bromance' bloom between two drivers.

Like Shrek and Donkey, Sam and Frodo or better yet Ricky Bobby and Cal Naughton Jr., Stewart and Newman are in the midst of a notable bromance best described, unofficially, as the admiration and man-affection shared by two heterosexual males which doesn't cross a line or put into question said manhood.

You don't see them spring up very often in the competitive and perceivable too-tough-to-handle arena of NASCAR, but every now and again, tight friendships between teammates are created under special circumstances.

As is the circumstance with Stewart and Newman; both are Indiana natives working on a new team together and have amazed NASCAR fans and competitors with their almost instant success on the track this season. They both like old cars, and if not racing, would rather be fishing.

During an interview after winning his first point race as an owner/driver last weekend, the first to do so in the Cup Series since Ricky Rudd in 1998, Stewart said the relationship between him and Newman just gets stronger and stronger every week.

"He was one of the first people up there to congratulate us when it was over," Stewart explained. "So he goes, 'I'm not really a guy that likes hugging guys,' but gave me a hug and said he was proud of me."

The story Stewart recalled in the Pocono Raceway media center elicited a collective 'awww' from the crowd.

"I didn't really mean it that way," Stewart retorted. "Just that's what he said. It was his words, not mine."

It's OK Smoke, we understand.

“

I always thought of [Stewart]as a race car driver. That's all I ever knew him as. So it's nice to see that he's got great ethics and he's got a lot of respect for the people around him and the opportunity that he gives his employees. He's a very giving man.

”

-- RYAN NEWMAN

"But we are, we are really close," Stewart continued. "His wife is helping me build my house. It's just little things like that that shows the relationship we have with each other. It's not just Ryan and I, it's his wife (Krissie) and I and his people and our people get along really well. Like we said, from day one, we have so many common interests. It's a combination that the deeper you got into it, the more you realized how perfect it really was. Just gets stronger and stronger every week."

Since coming together at Stewart-Haas Racing this season, the drivers have traded compliments back and forth and both say the key to their chemistry on the track and at the shop is communication which stems from the many commonalities the two men share.

"The great thing is Ryan and I, personality-wise, we get along great," Stewart said. "We're both passionate about the outdoors. We both love our dirt track racing. We're into old cars. There are so many things that are parallels for us. Anytime you can get a teammate like that, that you're on that level with, it just makes the communication better, it makes the understanding with each other that much better."

And there's equal professional admiration between the two drivers as well. Stewart is impressed by Newman's engineering background while Newman is impressed with Stewart's business sense and ownership ability.

"He's much more business savvy than I ever thought he was," Newman said. "I know he's got a lot of great people around him, but at the same time, he's much more involved than I ever thought or considered him to be. I always thought of him as a race car driver. That's all I ever knew him as. So it's nice to see that he's got great ethics and he's got a lot of respect for the people around him and the opportunity that he gives his employees. He's a very giving man."

Newman went further to say, "If I was looking for the ideal teammate, it would be Tony Stewart, because of the things that we like, whether it's rehabbing our baby deer, enjoying old cars or enjoying the open wheel side of things that we came from. He owns cars and I talk to him about his owning cars. So we have a lot of things in common. I don't have any ownership, but I still have a very big love of those race cars."

Stewart, the Cup Series leader, appreciates what Newman, who is sitting fourth in the standings with five top-five finishes, has brought to his Stewart-Haas organization.

"The great thing is that we feel a lot of the same things, but with his engineering background, he's so much smarter than I am," Stewart said. "I feel like an idiot being around him because of his engineering degree and how's he's able to dissect a race car and know exactly what every part of that race car's doing and why. It's been a big help to me."

So the question remains: Will Stewart convince the Hoosier turned Carolinian to move back to the 'Bend of Indiana or close to his new home in Columbus?

"No. They have got an awesome piece of property north of Statesville [North Carolina]," Stewart said. "North Carolina is their home."

Fair enough, we don't want the bromance to turn into the break-up.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.