Ryan Newman’s 400th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start didn’t end with the celebration he had hoped. Instead his day ended early with a heavily damaged racecar in the garage as he finished 30th in the Hollywood Casino 400 on Sunday at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan.
“We had a real fast racecar, guys,” Newman said as he pulled into the garage. “I’m sorry about how the day ended. That’s not how I wanted our day to end.”
Newman, who started sixth, ran in the top-10 in the Code 3 Associates Chevrolet for most of the day before being involved in an accident on lap 181. Newman ran into the back of Kyle Busch, which turned Busch’s car. The contact also turned Newman, who was then hit by Sam Hornish Jr.
Newman spun through the infield grass, which caused extensive damage to the No. 39 Code 3 Associates Chevrolet, especially to the front end.
The damaged car underwent lengthy repairs in the garage as the crew cut off damaged sheet metal and replaced a broken radiator, among other work required for Newman to get back on track.
The No. 39 Code 3 Associates Chevrolet returned to the race on lap 220, but Newman could not maintain the minimum speed mandated by NASCAR due to severe damage to the front end of the racecar. He was forced to park his No. 39 for the remainder of the race.
“I’m not real sure what happened out there other than the fact that he (Kyle Busch) got loose, and I ended up hitting him in the middle of (turns) three and four and spinning him around,” Newman said. “Then we got clobbered by the No. 22 (Hornish). It was a chain of events, but he (Busch) just got loose in front of me, and it’s so fast here it’s hard to check up when he is getting sideways. I saw he already lost control of the car once earlier in the race. It’s kind of treacherous on the tires.”
Newman’s Stewart-Haas Racing teammate, Tony Stewart, finished fifth in the No. 14 Mobil 1/Office Depot Chevrolet.
Danica Patrick, who drives the No. 10 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing via a collaborative agreement with SHR, was involved in an accident with Landon Cassill on lap 154. Her car was damaged too extensively to continue, and she ended up in 32nd place.
Matt Kenseth won the Hollywood Casino 400 to score his 24th career Sprint Cup victory, his third of the season and his first at Kansas.
Martin Truex Jr. finished .495 of a second behind Kenseth in the runner-up spot, while Paul Menard, Kasey Kahne and Stewart rounded out the top-five. Clint Bowyer, Regan Smith, Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon comprised the remainder of the top-10.
There were a race-record 14 caution periods for 66 laps, with 16 drivers failing to finish the 267-lap race.
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