Newman, Crew Work Hard To Finish Ninth at Texas

Nothing was easy for Ryan Newman and the Outback Steakhouse race team Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, but their hardworking efforts were rewarded as their silver-and-black No. 39 Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) crossed the finish line ninth in the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

“It was a long day, but I’m happy that we were able to get a top-10, which means that tomorrow is going to be another Bloomin’ Monday at Outback Steakhouse,” Newman said. “It certainly didn’t come easily, so I hope that everyone appreciates the hard work we put it to make that happen for them tomorrow night when they get their free Bloomin’ Onion.”

Newman started 13th in the 43-car field and led once for two laps en route to scoring his fifth top-10 in 21 career Sprint Cup starts at the 1.5-mile oval. It was also his 17th top-10 this season.

From the drop of the green flag, Newman struggled with a loose-handling Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet that challenged his ability to make forward progress. At one point, Newman described his racecar as “crashing loose” and opted to play it safe until having the opportunity to pit. Crew chief Matt Borland ordered adjustments on every pit stop, ranging from air pressure to wedge and track bar, but was unable to dial the handling toward Newman’s liking.

Despite the uncomfortable handling of the racecar, Newman raced his way inside the top-10 in the latter stages of the 334-lap race. Newman and Borland agreed to make one last change during a green-flag pit stop at lap 297. Newman pitted for four tires, fuel and a final track bar adjustment, and returned to the track in 14th-place. Newman gained five positions over the final 34 laps to take the checkered flag in ninth.

“There wasn’t much that we didn’t try to change,” Newman said. “We fought with the handling of our Outback Steakhouse Chevy all day, but Matt (Borland, crew chief) and the team worked on it every stop, and it had gotten better. We just couldn’t get it to where I needed it to be. But in spite of how much we struggled today, to finish ninth was good. We’ll certainly take that after the day we had.”

Newman’s SHR teammate Mark Martin, interim driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS as he subs for the injured Tony Stewart, finished 11th.

TSC PR