Newman at Michigan clinging to Chase hopes

This was supposed to be kind of a next-step Sprint Cup season for Ryan Newman. But Newman knows that unless he notches a socko finish in Sunday's Carfax 400 at Michigan International Speedway (1 p.m. ET on ESPN), his 2010 step could be backward.

"We're on the outside looking in, and our goal is to make this Chase," Newman said this week. "To do that, we have to have a solid day at Michigan."

Newman was a good story in 2009. A bit of a comeback story.

After three consecutive disappointing seasons with Penske Racing -- seasons in which he missed the Chase and had one victory (though it was a big one, the 2008 Daytona) -- he signed with Stewart-Haas Racing, the team Tony Stewart was launching.

Newman didn't win any races last year, but he was competitive again; he had 15 top-10 finishes and, significantly, only one DNF, which was his fewest since going full time with Penske in 2002.

Best of all, he made the Chase.

At Daytona in February, confidence was high around the No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing team.

"We learned last year what we are capable of when we were performing to our ability with a lot of top-fives in a row, and that's tough to do in this sport," Newman said. "So I look forward to 2010 because of the things we experienced in 2009 and created as a team and as an organization."

Newman arrives at Michigan with his hopes for attaining the goals of making the Chase and clawing to the championship hanging by a thread.

With four races to go to get into the top 12 in the standings, he is 83 points behind Mark Martin, the current bubble driver.

Newman not only will have to hop over Martin and 13th place Clint Bowyer between now and the start of the Chase a month from now, but also keep an eye to his rear where Jamie McMurray is 11 points away and running superbly.

Newman has something only one of those other three guys [Martin] has -- a victory at Michigan. Newman has two, in fact, and although he posted them six and seven years ago and in Penske Dodges, it shows he does know how to handle Cup cars on the big, wide 2-mile oval.

"To have a good run at Michigan," Newman said, "there are definitely a couple of key things that you have to have. The first thing is speed. You have to have horsepower to get around this ultra-fast race track. I'm confident in that area because we have such strong horsepower from Hendrick [Motorsports] under the hood.

"The second key is handling. The handling of the race car is crucial, especially in Turns 2 and 3. The car can't get too tight off 2 or be too loose off 3."

The series will be making its second stop of the season at Michigan. In June, Newman started well but ran into something he absolutely cannot afford to run into on Sunday -- bad luck.

"I think we hung around the top 10 for most of the day," he said. "Unfortunately, we ran over a piece of debris on the race track, and that really changed the complexion of the race for us. The handling went away, the front of the car didn't work, and we ended up losing a lap."

Newman called MIS "fun" this week.

But unless he can log his first top-10 finish in six weeks, he might be calling it a major step backward.

Related:
• Weekend Preview: Return to Michigan about bonuses and bubbles