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BRISTOL, Tenn. — It’s a familiar scenario facing Ryan Newman as the Richard Childress Racing driver prepares for a two-race journey to lock in one of the 16 spots in this year’s Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field.
At this same point in the season last year, Newman sat ninth in points and was winless with two top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He eventually earned a Chase bid based on his points position, then parlayed the consistency that got him a berth into a ticket into the Championship Round, where he nearly became the series’ first winless champion.
Following his 10th-place finish in Saturday night’s Irwin Tools Night Race at Bristol Motor Speedway, Newman finds himself 11th in points, with four top-five and 12 top-10 finishes thus far this season. He’s also still searching for that first win, which would guarantee his status as a Chase participant.
At Bristol, Newman and his No. 31 team, led by crew chief Luke Lambert, once again did what they have become nearly the best in the series at doing — taking a car that wasn’t particularly fast and earning a top-10 finish with it.
“We weren’t the best car all day,” Newman said while standing beside the No. 31 Chevrolet on pit road after the race. “We kind of finished where we ran, if not just a little bit better.
“It was a good run for the team. We took a 20th-place car in practice and qualifying and turned it into a top-10 (in the race). We were not the best car and we didn’t win the race, but the guys did a good job in the pits and we made the race car better.”
Newman and the team hadn’t shown speed on Friday, working their way to 26th- and 18th-place positions during the first and second practice sessions, respectively.
At the end of the day, Newman logged the 18th-fastest time in qualifying for the series’ 24th race of the season.
Saturday night, Newman slowly made his way through the field, eventually cracking the top 10 well into the second half of the 500-lap race.
Not having that initial speed when arriving at the track has been a problem, Newman admitted, but added that it’s kept the team close as they battle to secure a Chase spot.
“Yeah it’s better when you start off the weekend better,” he said, “but that’s what makes us pull together as a team, find speed and … fight strong at the end.”
Newman, RCR teammate Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray (Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates), Jeff Gordon (Hendrick Motorsports) and Clint Bowyer (Michael Waltrip Racing) currently hold the five final Chase positions with two races remaining — at Darlington Raceway and Richmond International Raceway — before the postseason starts.
Newman, 37, is a six-time qualifier for the Chase, with last season’s runner-up finish to Kevin Harvick a career-best points finish.