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Newman's Gamble Worth Risk

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By TONY FABRIZIO

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 16, 2008

It's easy to forget how good Ryan Newman was his first two years at NASCAR's top level.

Here's a refresher: He set a rookie record with 22 top-10 finishes and edged future all-time great Jimmie Johnson for Rookie of the Year honors in 2002. The following season, Newman won eight races, or seven more than champion Matt Kenseth.

In recent years, though - after decent seasons in 2004 and 2005 and despite setting all sorts of qualifying records and winning this year's Daytona 500 - Rocketman has mostly languished with underachieving Penske Racing.

Change for the sake of change isn't always the best approach. But for Newman, the time had come to try something different, even if different meant taking a career gamble.

Newman's move to Stewart Haas Racing for next season, made official Friday, is an apparent step backward. It's a step backward with the prospect of eventually taking two steps forward - not such a bad outlook for a guy who has missed the Chase the past two years and has managed only two top-five finishes in 22 races this year.

"The bottom line is, I'm here to have fun," Newman said Friday at a news conference at Michigan International Speedway. "I know Stewart wants to have fun doing this. Racing hasn't been a whole lot of fun for me lately, due to the fact we had success in '02, '03 and part of '04, and since then it hasn't been very successful."

Newman is only 30 and has a little time to invest. He may need it.

Haas CNC Racing, which won't officially become Stewart Haas until next year, has never won a race and has managed only one top-five finish in its history. Its two cars, currently driven by Scott Riggs and a collection of drivers, respectively, are outside the top 35 in owners points.

If both cars finish the year outside the top 35, Newman won't have an automatic qualifying spot to start next season and, theoretically, could miss the Daytona 500 as the defending champion. (Stewart will have a former champion's provisional.)

Stewart got an ownership stake for making the move from Joe Gibbs Racing. Newman isn't getting any ownership, so if building the team takes three or four years, he'll basically lose that time.

Kevin Harvick, the 2007 Daytona winner who fields teams in the Craftsman Truck and Nationwide series, doesn't see Stewart Haas Racing contending for championships at the outset.

"The hardest part of starting a new team is ... when you get into the summer months and you start crashing cars and things start going wrong," he said. "So I will say they'll come out of the gate strong because they'll have a lot of time to prepare and get things situated. But the character-builders will come in the middle of the year."

Newman had made his decision not to return to Penske, announcing it last month. He had to go somewhere, and the only championship-caliber ride available is Stewart's spot at Gibbs - and Gibbs appears ready to promote 18-year-old wunderkind Joey Logano to that car.

In joining Stewart, rather than going to, say, a new fourth team at Richard Childress Racing, Newman gets to race with and for somebody he respects and enjoys. He gets to take a chance on himself, believing he'll help Stewart raise the team up.

"I think a lot of Tony from a personal standpoint as well as a driving standpoint," Newman said. "I've seen the success he's had from an ownership standpoint with the USAC and World of Outlaw cars."

At worst, Newman will languish in a more interesting fashion.

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