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Newman is eyeing pole position at Indy
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Published: July 26, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS - It looks like a good day to put some money on Ryan Newman for the Indy pole. And Sunday may be a good day to put some money on Mark Martin for the win.
Newman, who said he has decided where he's going in 2009 but isn't quite ready to talk about it until all the paperwork is finished, posted one of the fastest laps in yesterday's practice for today's pole runs for Sunday's Allstate Brickyard 400, at 179.723 mph.
Chevy teammates Jimmie Johnson (180.047) and Jeff Gordon (180.007) were both a tick quicker, but Newman drew an excellent qualifying time slot, second, while the Rick Hendrick duo drew less than thrilling slots. And at this temperature-sensitive track, that could be the difference today.
Plus, Newman has a bit of extra incentive after getting dissed by former teammate Rusty Wallace, who described Newman's pending departure from the Roger Penske team as not of Newman's own making: "Roger called Ryan into office and told him his services were no longer needed. I just want to clear that up," Wallace said.
Newman and Wallace were infamously bitter teammates during their time together with Penske.
Newman was clearly stung by Wallace's statement. "From what I understand, he said I was fired, which is not the truth," Newman said. "He's wrong.
"It doesn't matter to me. I didn't expect him to do me any favors. He never has.
"I know Rusty and his personalities. Plural.
"Nobody likes to be criticized as a driver, and nobody likes to be criticized as an owner. Constructive criticism isn't part of what I have to do as a driver: If I don't feel like I have good equipment, or as good equipment as the guy ahead of me, then I speak up. You have to be able to stomach a percentage of that, whether you're a car owner, crew chief, or a guy changing the tires."
Today, Newman could have the last laugh: "We did five 'qualifying' runs today, and the last one was the fastest. Hopefully Saturday is even better. We've got a good qualifying draw, and that will be advantageous.
"It's Indy, the Brickyard, the home of the 500, and 100 years of racing history."
However, despite the glamour of this race,
NASCAR has only 43 full-time Sprint Cup tour teams in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway garage, padded by four part-timers. That's a very small pack, compared to past 400s.
Sunday's 400 comes as a number of drivers and teams are making repositioning moves for next season, with several uncertainties.
Tony Stewart held another news conference yesterday, to talk about his new Chevrolet
NASCAR operation, but what he didn't talk about was more news than what he did say. And what Stewart did say certainly didn't spark any enthusiasm among outsiders that Stewart and his new team will be strong competitors next season.
Stewart's own car will carry No. 14 — a paean to mentor A. J. Foyt, who ran that number for years in NASCAR — and he will have Office Depot and Old Spice as co-sponsors.
But he had no answers yet for these key questions:
❑ His new teammate?
❑ His sponsor for his new teammate?
❑ His own new crew chief, and the crew chief for his new teammate?
Newman has been penciled in as Stewart's co-driver next season, but Stewart said that Newman is just one of three drivers on his short list. Presumably, Martin Truex Jr. and Jamie McMurray are the other two. And Stewart is battling car owners Joe Gibbs and Richard Childress, who are both also looking for drivers.
McMurray's future with car owner Jack Roush has been up for debate the past several weeks, and the speculation has become intense that Roush would be releasing McMurray. But apparently sponsor Crown Royal is pushing Roush to keep McMurray in the fold, and as tough as good sponsors are to find, that could well end that whole debate. McMurray has been mentioned as being on Childress' short list for his new fourth team.
But Childress now appears to be back in the market trying to sign Truex. A Childress-Truex deal was in the works earlier this year, until Teresa Earnhardt, who owns DEI, said she would hold Truex to the option year on his current DEI contract for 2009. Now, though, there have been persistent rumors that Earnhardt has been looking at some major ownership changes or new financial partnerships.
Mark Martin is also leaving DEI, which makes Sunday's 400 even more important both to him and the team. And Martin has been very confident about his chances here, and he's been talking it up for a couple weeks now. Friday he was eighth-fastest in simulated pole runs "so I don't have egg on my face yet," Martin said with a laugh.
"Y'all are all getting carried away with this, though. It's not like Babe Ruth pointing to the stands….
"But, listen, this is a good team, and this is a sweet car. We do need to get a little better in race trim. We need to pick the car up just a whisker to be a contender.
"The car felt awesome, and it's doing pretty much what I expected.
"No, I can't 'guarantee' a win. But this team needs it, and I'd love to see Tony Gibson (his crew chief) and those guys get one. Me, I don't care, but it would be great for them and for DEI."
■ Mike Mulhern can be reached at mmulhern@wsjournal.com.
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