Newman’s gamble pays off
Tire strategy results in win
AVONDALE, Ariz. - A big gamble in the desert heat ended a long victory drought for Ryan Newman.
When just about everybody else decided to take a tire-changing pit stop in the final few laps on Sunday, Newman figured he’d be going in with them.
His crew chief Luke Lambert thought otherwise.
It was a decision that earned Newman a victory in the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Camping World 500, ending his 127-race winless streak.
“Just a heck of a gutsy call by Luke Lambert,” Newman said. “It’s his first win as a crew chief in the cup series and I think making a gutsy call like that makes it that much more special for him.”
While the leaders were in the pits, Newman moved from seventh to first and for the final two laps held off Kyle Larson, the second-place finisher for the third straight race.
Kyle Busch, the leader for nearly all of the final stage of the race, was third on a day when the temperature soared to 97 degrees at Phoenix International Raceway.
Like nearly all the rest of the field, Larson and Busch went to the pits on the late caution caused when Joey Logano’s car blew a right tire and slammed into the wall six laps from the finish.
Newman won his 18th Cup race but his first since the 2013 Brickyard 400. He gave Chevrolet its first victory of the season and ended a 112race losing streak for Richard Childress Racing.
“I can’t say enough about what it means,” Newman said.
When the caution ended, two laps separated him from the win.
“You’re on old tires. It’s really easy to screw it up,” Newman said. “You’ve got to get your tires cleaned off right, you’ve to get a good launch, you’ve got to run through the gear box right, and then you’ve got to hold everybody off.”
Logano won the first stage and Chase Elliott the second in NASCAR’s new three-stage system.
Elliott dominated the second stage but lost the lead after Matt Kenseth, like Logano, blew a right front tire and slammed into the wall on the 193rd lap of the 314-lap race.
Kenseth was knocked out of the race.