Ryan Newman's Career At Penske Racing Ends
Another NASCAR Silly Season Domino Falls
In 2000, Penske Racing discovered a young Midwestern talent from South Bend, Indiana tearing up the USAC ranks. With Don Miller’s encouragement, Roger Penske signed Ryan Newman as a developmental driver in the spring of 2000, and the young driver immediately began to compete in the ARCA Series for Penske Racing with the endorsement from Alltel Wireless.
Newman made his first Sprint Cup start at Phoenix in November of 2000, and he was widely recognized as one of the sport’s up and coming talents. He won a pole at Charlotte in only his third career Sprint Cup start. He finished in the top five twice before he competed for the Rookie of the Year award. As a rookie in 2002, he won the All-Star event, as well as the fall race in Loudon, New Hampshire. Oh yeah, he beat out Jimmie Johnson for the 2002 Rookie of the Year honors. A year later, Newman dominated the sport winning eight races and eleven poles. He won just about every award possible except for the championship. Matt Kenseth’s one win proved that consistency could prevail over absolute dominance.
Newman and Penske continued to contend for wins as they notched two more wins in 2004, and finished seventh in the championship race. However, a feud with teammate Rusty Wallace overshadowed his accomplishments. Things began to go sour towards the end of the 2005 season. Penske Racing struggled on the intermediate tracks with the new Dodge Charger nose. He won a race and qualified for the Chase for the Championship, but in hindsight, things began to fall apart. In 2006, things were so bad, long-time crew chief Matt Borland left the organization before the season’s conclusion. Other than a third place finish in the Daytona 500 and a second place finish at Infineon, the season was abysmal.
In 2007, Newman began to show signs of his early years in the Sprint Cup series. He competed for several wins, banged fenders with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon, and practically had the October race in Charlotte in the bag before a broken trailing arm sent him into the wall with under three laps remaining. There were high hopes for 2008 even before Newman won Roger Penske his first Daytona 500 trophy. Things took an abrupt turn for the worse as engine and miscellaneous parts failures marred the first half of the season.
As one of NASCAR’s top free agents, Newman’s name is constantly in the rumor mill. His name is linked with Tony Stewart and a possible move to Stewart Haas Racing, or perhaps to Joe Gibbs Racing as Stewart’s replacement. Richard Childress Racing, one of NASCAR’s top four teams, has an opening with a big name sponsor on the hood. Supposedly, Newman is at the top of Childress’ list to join his brigade of drivers in the Sprint Cup series.
According to reports on ESPN and NASCAR.com, it the announcement was initiated by Penske Racing, despite the fact that they offered him a contract a few months ago.
"There's a point where there's a decision that has to be made," Penske Racing president Tim Cindric said. "Our first choice was to keep Ryan on board with us, but you can't draw it out forever. There's going to be a point where we either have to decide whether we're in or we're out, and obviously today was the day to part ways."
Judging by Newman’s comments, the divorce was amicable. "I appreciate Penske Racing and all they have done for me, but more importantly, I appreciate their friendship and what they have done for my career,” said Newman in a press release.
While Newman has a handful of options as to his future, Penske Racing may be limited as sponsorship issues, as well as performance issues could turn away key drivers. Martin Truex, Jr., if he become available, is the top free agent and would be a solid replacement for Newman. Casey Mears, David Stremme, and Michael McDowell have all been rumored as possible candidates to replace Newman.
Losing Newman was based on performance issues. Kurt Busch, Penske Racing’s other star driver, has suffered from the same inconsistencies throughout his tenure with the organization. Busch’s contract expires in 2009. If things do not drastically improve, Penske may lose another skilled driver with a winning resume.
