For the first time since the Phoenix spring Cup race in 2017, Ryan Newman is a winner. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
The tears in Ryan Newman’s eyes said it all. This was not just any win.
Newman muscled his way past Marco Andretti in the waning laps of Saturday’s Camping World Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) race at Stafford Speedway in Stafford Springs, Connecticut, extending his points lead in the series and proving he still has what it takes to beat the best in the business.
With his daughters by his side in victory lane, Newman was emotional in his post race interview.
“To have these two girls here, nobody knows what this means to me,” Newman said, voice cracking with emotion. “I got choked up the last couple laps, and then seeing their smiles on their faces kind of took the tears away, but they’re still there. It’s so special, and I’m so proud to be a part of driving with the best drivers in the world, and to be victorious is extremely special.”
Throughout the weekend, Newman took several opportunities to publicly thank SRX for giving him the opportunity to compete. Not only has he competed, but the rest of the best are looking up at him in the points standings halfway through the SRX season.
It didn’t come easily, however, as Newman finished both heat races mid-pack with a seventh place finish in heat 1 and a sixth place finish in heat two.
He expressed some frustration between the heats and the main event after getting bounced around a bit by other drivers. However, he channeled that frustrating into motivation for the feature race, and quickly served notice that he was a contender.
Newman worked his hardest in the third SRX race of the season. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
While Marco Andretti and Greg Biffle duked it out at the head of the field in the early going, Newman moved from his ninth place starting position up to sixth by lap 25 of the 75 lap event.
Following a lap 45 restart where he restarted sixth, Newman drove around the outside of Bobby Labonte, then made a bold three wide pass of Biffle and Paul Tracy to quickly move from sixth to third by lap 52. It was another late restart that gave him the chance to seize the win.
With ten laps to go Newman restarted third behind race leader Andretti.
Andretti jumped out to the lead and Newman followed him past Tony Stewart. Then on lap 69, Newman dove to the apron in turn four and muscled his way past Andretti to take the lead.
He never looked back.
As Newman crossed the finish line, the CBS broadcast shared his radio communication, “Thank you guys. This means the world to me.”
After the race, Newman who competed in a modified race on Friday night, finishing eighth in the 32 car field, said he had learned some things about the track during that modified race that helped him earn the win.
“That restart on the inside was the first time I had (the inside) all night, I knew what Marco was going to do to Stewart was just run him up a little bit, and I was fortunate to get second on the restart and work him for a few laps,” Newman offered. “I got a good diamond in the middle of three and four, and I learned yesterday that it’s easier to pass here in three and four than one and two so that’s where I put my effort and that’s where we were able to pull it off.”
Andretti led most of the night, and while he was disappointed to not close out the win, he said he was pretty happy with second place, as he looks at the big picture of trying to win the SRX championship.
Marco Andretti channeled his late uncle, John, in terms of comfort in a stock car. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
“He did the bump – the same thing that everybody’s going to do to try to win the race and he did it with the perfect amount of time left,” Andretti said. “I’m learning so much from these cup guys. They’re just too good. I’m just trying to learn and trying to put it all together.”
Tracy had an interesting feature run which saw him involved with incidents with Michael Waltrip and Greg Biffle.
He pinched Waltrip up into the wall near the midpoint of the race, causing one of the cautions on the night, and he got into Biffle’s right rear just enough to send Biffle careening through the infield.
Despite those incidents, Tracy was in the running for the lead throughout the night and came home with a third place finish.
“Third, for me, felt like a win,” Tracy said. “I’ve got to thank these guys at Camping World – Tony Stewart, everybody here, the Montag family – everything they do to put on a good show for the fans. It felt good to finally get a good result, all night long. I’m looking forward to next week in Nashville. I ran good there last year.”
Stewart followed up his win at South Boston with a fourth place finish at Stafford Speedway. He said some late mistakes cost him, despite having a fast race car. Similarly, he said he remembered some advice from local hero, and last year’s winner, Doug Coby, and he relayed that to crew chief Tony Eury, who made the changes that helped him improve between the heat races and the feature.
“I needed to get down a little quicker and do a better job on that restart,” Stewart said. “I got myself behind there. It was a good run. This car was fast today.”
A respectable podium finish. (Photo: Sam Draiss | The Podium Finish)
Behind Newman, Andretti, Tracy and Stewart, Labonte crossed the line fifth with Hailie Deegan, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Matt Hirschman, Justin Marks, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliott and Michael Waltrip placing sixth through 12th.
Newman’s win drew a rousing ovation from the Connecticut fans, just two years removed from a horrific crash in the Daytona 500. Expressly, Newman seemed to be one of the fan favorites in the race, and fans responded even more when they heard the emotion in his voice after the race.
In a serendipitous twist, SRX title sponsor Camping World, was also part of Newman’s final win in NASCAR competition, as he won the Camping World 500 at Phoenix Raceway just over five years ago in March of 2017.
SRX returns to action next week at Nashville Fairgrounds in Nashville, Tennessee.
