Newman will have Sox on
Roush Fenway driver pumped for Loudon
NASCAR driver Ryan Newman isn’t a huge baseball fan but he’ll appreciate the support of Red Sox Nation when he participates in the Foxwoods 301 on Sunday afternoon at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Newman’s ties to the Red Sox comes from the upper management of his racing team. Newman is an employee of the Roush Fenway Racing and he and teammate Ricky Stenhouse will throw out the ceremonial first pitch at tonight’s clash between the Red Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park.
John Henry, the principal owner of Fenway Sports Group, owns a 50 percent share of Roush Fenway Racing so Newman will be competing under the pine green RFR banner in the boss’ backyard.
“If it makes a difference in how fast my race car is than I’m all for it,” Newman said. “But I’m really excited about being a member of the Roush Fenway family and experience all those things that come with it.
“But at the same time my focus will be on Friday and Saturday and Sunday and doing whatever I have to do to get to victory lane for Jack (Roush) and John Henry and everyone else.”
Newman has built one of the most impressive racing resumes of any driver on the senior circuit. Newman has taken the checkered flag 18 times, including two of the stock car racing’s crown jewels, the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 500 at Indianapolis. Newman has qualified for the NASCAR playoffs eight times and finished as runner-up to Kevin Harvick in 2014.
Newman is in his 18th fulltime season in the Monster Energy Series but his first with Roush Fenway. At age 41, the native of South Bend, Ind., had to essentially reinvent himself after five productive years with Richard Childress Racing.
“It’s been good but there has been a lot of transition and a lot of new things with different people,” Newman said. “Literally the only person on the team that I have worked with in the past is my spotter because I brought him over with me.
“There is a not a person at Roush that has been on any of my teams in the past. It’s new and that’s good because there are no preconceived notions.
“It is all a matter of building and developing chemistry and relationships that continue to progress and results in a better performance.”
Newman has competed in 19 races this season inside the No. 6 Performance Plus Motor Oil Ford Mustang and currently is 17th in the driver points standings. Newman has one top-five finish and seven in the top 10, including last Sunday’s ninth-place finish at the Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway.
Newman is perched on the bubble to qualify for the 16driver Monster Energy playoffs with seven races remaining in the regular season. He needs to make an urgent but calculated move and Loudon is an inviting place to start.
Newman has notched three wins, seven top-five and 19 top-10 finishes in 33 “Cup” races on the Magic Mile. He has recorded an impressive seven poles at NHMS and finished sixth in last year’s race.
“I feel like we do have to step up our performances and I do look forward to going to Loudon,” Newman said. “It is one of my statistically best race tracks.
“It has just been a place that has been good to me and I look forward to going back up there. But we’ve got to make improvements in our performance and that goes without saying each and every week.”