As the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to the home state of the 2013 NCAA men’s basketball national-champion Louisville Cardinals, count Ryan Newman as one driver who hopes to take a cue from the championship team by winning at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta.
As a native of the basketball-loving Hoosier state to the north, Newman knows the importance of a rebound. When the game is on the line, a key-timed rebound could change the whole complexion of the game and put a team back in contention for the win.
A rebound from his past performances – and a win – is just what Newman and his No. 39 Quicken Loans team need Saturday night in the Kentucky 400 to put himself contention for a coveted spot in the 12-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship.
With 10 races remaining to the Chase, Newman sits 18th in the point standings with 418 points, 155 markers out of first and 35 behind 10th place. To make the Chase, Newman needs to perform more consistently with top-five and top-10 finishes to be able to get into the top-10 in points and lock himself into the Chase. Or, perhaps more importantly, Newman needs to earn a win as positions 11 and 12 in the Chase are wild cards, awarded to the two drivers between 11th and 20th in points with the most wins. If multiple drivers have the same number of wins, a driver’s point standing serves as the tiebreaker.
Newman scored his most recent top-five and his second of the season at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway three weeks ago. However, in the last two weeks, he has finished 18th at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn and 15th at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.
Newman knows those finishes aren’t good enough to put his team in the Chase, but he also knows his team is capable of turning its fortunes around and engineering a run for the No. 39 Quicken Loans team to get back to victory lane and in contention for the Chase.
And, just like in a basketball game, all the Quicken Loans team needs is to huddle up, take a deep breath, refocus and get back to the basics – shoot, score, rebound. Or, in racing terms, qualify well, run up front and contend for the race win.
Saturday night’s race at Kentucky could be just the place for the No. 39 squad to begin a surge toward the Chase. Newman has a solid history at the 1.5-mile oval in the Bluegrass State.
In August 2000, in just his third stock-car start, Newman scored his first-ever stock-car pole in the ARCA series race at Kentucky. He dominated that event, leading 83 of 134 laps, and won by almost a full second to score his second consecutive ARCA victory.
In the inaugural Sprint Cup race at the Kentucky oval in 2011, Newman finished a strong fourth. Last season, he qualified fifth and ran solidly in the top-10 when his engine expired, resulting in a disappointing 34th-place finish.
While the game – rather, the Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship – isn’t on the line just yet for Newman and his No. 39 team, it’s time to engineer an amazing string of race performances to help put Newman in line for a spot in the Chase. So, for this Hoosier, the goal for Saturday’s Kentucky race is to rebound, shoot, score and “Bring It Home” for Quicken Loans and his fans.
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