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Tag: Ryan Newman

The Final Word as Harvick beats Jimmie at Fontana, but Martinsville promises to be a very different story

[media-credit name=”Patrick McBride” align=”alignright” width=”277″][/media-credit]So, what did we learn from Fontana?

Well, we learned that those we had watched up front most of the day were not destined to finish up there. Kyle Busch? Nope, he was third. Tony Stewart? Nah, an unlucky 13th. Denny Hamlin? Sure, he led 15 laps but then his engine started to let loose and 39th was his fate. I could mention J.J. Yeley, who led for two but wound up 41st…but I won’t.

We learned that when you take the lead for the first time in a race as you are coming to the finish, you end up with more points than any of those other guys. Kevin Harvick gave Jimmie Johnson a wee love tap, then charged to the outside of his rival to claim the bubbly. Anyone else notice those mega-cans of suds in Happy’s hand in Victory Lane? Life is good with Budweiser as your sponsor.

We learned that skipping the pits on a caution can do good things. Stewart stayed out, caught a later caution as he was getting down to fumes in the tank, and managed to stay up there almost until the end. Too bad about his coach turning into a pumpkin as the race reached midnight, but at least he had his happy face on for a while. Stewart wasn’t wearing it after the race, however, as he skipped the post-race interviews.

We learned that sometimes even tracks better known for putting one in a coma can provide some pretty good entertainment. Eight stayed out under caution with ten to go, and six of them finished in the top eight. Matt Kenseth slipped on a fresh set of skins, and moved up five spots to wrap up the day in fourth. While Harvick moves to ninth with the win, Kenseth is now in that all-important tenth spot in the standings.

We learned that by finishing sixth, Carl Edwards takes first place. He is nine spots up on Sunday’s fifth place guy, Ryan Newman, ten ahead of Kurt Busch, 11 ahead of Kyle, and 14 up on Johnson. That will change, as Martinsville is not exactly one of his favorite tracks, with no wins, but he finished 8th in both races held there in 2010.

We will learn that if Edwards is going to be challenged next week, it won’t be by Newman. He is winless at the Virginia track, while Kurt Busch did win there, once, in 2002. He hasn’t a Top Ten there since 2005. Kyle Busch, a winner almost everywhere, has never won in anything at Martinsville. Four times he has been fourth, five times outside the Top Twenty, three times somewhere in between.

You will learn that the points leader after next week likely will be a certain Mr. Johnson. Six Martinsville wins, 17 straight Top Ten finishes there, with an average finish of between third and fourth since he finished 35th in his first race there way back in 2002. Yes, Virginia, there is a Jimmie Johnson, and he’ll remind you of that fact when the action heats up again this Sunday.

Enjoy your week. I’m sure Five Time will be enjoying his.

March 28, 2011
Ryan Newman Schools Students in the Name of Science and Technology

Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Haas Automation Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing and a Purdue engineering grad, took some time away from the big track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this weekend to school some science, technology, engineering and math high school students in the art of remote control car racing.

[media-credit name=”Gary Buchanan” align=”alignright” width=”223″][/media-credit]Newman spanked the field of students with his remote control race car on a small track set up in the Neon Garage at the Speedway, all for the sake of furthering their education. The students were part of a new NASCAR partnership called Ten80 Education’s Student Racing Challenge.

“I just really like the fact that it’s hands on,” Newman said of the Ten80 program. “There is a time to study, a time to read, and a time to apply all of those things to a piece of paper.”

“But when you take the opportunity to do it hands on, as a group, you become a better team,” Newman continued. “Doing what they are doing with the ten scale cars is something that I did when I was their age.”

“I had remote control cars,” Newman said. “I rebuilt them and tried to make them go faster too. I”m proud to represent the engineering group of the whole program, understanding the math and the physics and the science of it.”

“It’s extremely important not just if they want to be involved in NASCAR but whatever else they want to do in their lives,” Newman said. “Racing a ten scale, remote control car will have an impact on the rest of their career, the rest of their lives and the rest of their professions.”

Bobby Hutchins, Director of Competition at Stewart-Haas Racing, could not agree more with Newman.

“Just seeing the enthusiasm on the students’ faces as we were out there talking with them was great,” Hutchins said. “We talked to them about there being jobs in our sport for engineering and technology people.”

“I gave them a goal, to get through school, go to college and hopefully they can build their resumes and we can hire some of these kids into our race teams,” Hutchins said. “That’s a dream and a goal that Ryan and I had when we were kids a long time ago and we weren’t fortunate enough to have a program like Ten80.”

“I hope these kids can come into our world.”

The Racing Challenge uses a NASCAR-themed curriculum for students from grades six to twelve, simulating how big league race teams prepare for competition. In order to compete in the Ten80 Challenge, students had to build their own remote control race cars, similar to what their NASCAR counterpoints have to do every weekend with their stock cars.

“We’re very exited about the partnership that we’ve just engaged in with Ten80 Education,” Jjim Obermeyer, NASCAR Managing Director of Brand and Consumer Marketing, said. “This is a partnership that helps NASCAR and Ten80 have success in getting into the schools to teach science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM).”

“The program itself uses remote control cars at one tenth ratio to the cars that we have on track that allow for a lot of the setups with down force and camber set up the same way our teams participate,” Obermeyer continued. “We felt this was a great way to introduce ourselves into the schools in a way that separates us from all the other leagues in sports. This helps teach a much-needed territory for our youth today.”

Teri Stripling, President of Ten 80 Education, shared that the most important part of the program is the creation of heroes.

“The math and science concepts that students are learning all over the country, everyone single one of them is illustrated in NASCAR every week,” Stripling said.”When the cars are out on the track, the students can look out and see engineers on war wagons, looking at data and making decisions. From an engineering perspective that is very exciting and creates a bunch of heroes for engineers.”

Stripling also likened her progrm to the little league, creating a career ladder to the big league of NASCAR.

“So if NASCAR is the big leagues, Ten80 is the little leagues, Stripling said. “NASCAR makes sense to get students interested in science, technology, engineering and technology.”

The most eloquent spokesperson for the Ten80 program, however, was Kiera Fischer, a junior from Legacy High School right in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“NASCAR is something that I enjoy dearly and I’ve been a huge fan,” Fischer said. “When I found out my school was going to participate in Ten80, I was so excited that we would get to be involved with NASCAR.”

“We got to build our own cars and we act like our own little pit crew,” Fischer continued. “We design our cars to run on different tracks and see what is the best. It allows us to work on our cars in a way that is much more fun than a textbook.”

Fischer’s teacher got her into the Ten80 program and she was most excited to be able to build her car with her team and race against one of her racing idols Ryan Newman.

“Unfortunately we lost,” Fischer said. “But we’re hoping to get this thing going and next year, win.”

“NASCAR is definitely where I want to be,” Fischer said. “My dream is to own my own race team.”

And thanks to Ryan Newman, Fischer along with many of her other Ten80 compatriots, will no doubt have the opportunity to learn, grown and ultimately realize their own NASCAR dreams.

March 7, 2011
Kurt Busch Wins First Gatorade Duel; Bill Elliott and JJ Yeley Race Into the Show

On a balmy Thursday afternoon in the heart of NASCAR racing, Kurt Busch went two for two at Daytona, wining the first of two Gatorade Duel races after his Bud Shootout victory. JJ Yeley, who had to race his way into the show, did just that, along with veteran driver Bill Elliott.

[media-credit name=”CIA Stock Photo” align=”alignright” width=”238″][/media-credit]”This is just an incredible Speed Weeks,” Busch said. “I just don’t want it to end. We just keep doing everything right and it’s just amazing to be able to do this, find the right drafting partners out there to make it happen.”

“This is sweet,” Busch continued. “It’s amazing what partnerships can do out on the race track. When two guys can think the same way without saying a word, things are going to happen for those two guys.”

Busch also paid tribute to young driver Regan Smith, in the No. 78 for Furniture Row Racing, who successfully pushed not only Busch to victory but many of the other drivers who were in the lead throughout the race. Busch also gave credit to Brad Keselowski, his teammate with whom he has tested and who he hopes to partner with in the race on Sunday.

Bill Elliott, who has been having a very good weekend so far between his own performance and the signing of his son Chase by Hendrick Motor Sports, also raced his way in on time. Given that, Michael Waltrip, Daytona 500 winner from ten years ago, has a guaranteed starting spot in this special anniversary year.

“Coming in today we had a little bit of a cushion,” Elliott said. “But the key thing is when you get two really good cars working together, they’re going to be hard to beat. This is the same thing you’re going to see Sunday.”

JJ Yeley, driver of the No. 46 Red Line Oil Chevrolet, also raced his way onto NASCAR’s biggest stage. The driver, who had to have surgery to fuse his neck just last fall, was thrilled to have made the show.

“It’s awesome,” Yeley said. “I’ve never had to make the race on my own without being locked in. The stress that comes with not being locked in is tough and to know we had a lot of help out there, especially with Marcos Ambrose, we got where we needed to be.”

From the drop of the green flag, the race mirrored the Bud Shootout, with drivers almost immediately finding a partner and buddying up. Further back in the field, the drivers raced as a pack, at least for a bit, until finding their ideal mate.

Ryan Newman was the first driver to have problems early in the race, getting a nudge and going for a spin. Newman was able to recover, however, and ended the race in the tenth position.

While the duos found their speed together, some swapping back and forth was indeed needed to keep the engines cool, just as NASCAR had intended. Also interesting in this first true race on the new surface at Daytona was the fact that no teams had to take tires, most pitting for their sole stop to take fuel only.

The only other caution came late in the race for Michael McDowell, the driver of the No. 66 MRO HP Racing Toyota. McDowell’s chances at a place in the Daytona 500 expired in a huge puff of smoke, forcing a green white checkered finish.

But when the green flag flew for the final laps of the race, Busch, being pushed by Smith, emerged as the front runner, taking the checkered flag. With his win in the first Duel race, Busch will now move up into the pole position with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. having to go to the back of the field due to a practice wreck.

“It’s just going to be one of those moments in time that I’ll remember for a long time, leading the field to green,” Busch said. “I’ll just make sure to massage my calf so I don’t cramp up with Regan Smith behind me.”

With Kurt Busch as victor, Regan Smith, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne rounded out the top five finishers. Juan Pablo Montoya finished sixth, AJ Allmendinger finished seventh, and Mark Martin, Paul Menard and Ryan Newman completed the top ten in the first Duel race.

February 17, 2011
NASCAR’s Digital Fan Clubs Who is best? Who is biggest? Who has the best value?

In this digital age NASCAR and its drivers have begun to reach out to their fan bases via the internet. Fan based websites have gotten bigger and better every year with fan clubs going completely electronic in place of the old school paper newsletter that came through the mail.

This is the time of year that hosts the launch of most of the new fan clubs and their websites. Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch, Dale Jr, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and others all either have or will soon launch their new fan clubs and in some case’s their websites. So the Fourth Turn ventured out to see what was out there. The results might surprise you.

The biggest site is not the best site. The best is not whose you might think. The most well known is light years behind and disappointing. And by the replies from the organizations combined with their sites the drivers who are most committed to their fans would perhaps surprise you. But the biggest surprise is who has the biggest and most loyal following behind them.

[media-credit name=”Brad Keppel” align=”alignright” width=”180″][/media-credit]Jimmie Johnson’s fan club takes a very fresh approach towards his fan club. Their club is free and powered by Lowes. They offer perspectives from Chad Knaus and Earl Barban, in car audio, as well updates from Jimmie. A quick registration process has you ready to be in the middle of the quest for the 6-Pack.

Their store is powered by Sports Today and offers a variety of merchandise and team 48 encrested items. Although they do offer a live race day chat and live in car audio, I was not able to find a message board or an actual chat room. The site is however, packed with information and fun things for fans of all ages. It is definitely the championship contender of the free sites. Lowes has left no corner unturned to bring the 48 fans in close to their team. Their approach is very reminiscent of Football’s extra man. By educating and illustrating they eliminate the unproductive fuss seen in many places.

Kyle Busch does not offer a fan club dedicated website. His communications director Ryan Kingsbury stated, “I really see no value in an exclusive website for fan club members, we have a very powerful online presence for all our fans via our websites and social media assets. (KyleBusch.com, Twitter.com/KyleBusch, Facebook.com/KyleBusch) We offer an exclusive e-newsletter to the Fan Club members that we give them special offers, giveaways, first details on appearances, etc…In fact we will be giving away tickets to Daytona to a couple lucky Fan Club members in the coming weeks. Aside for the items they receive in the kit, Fan Club members receive a 10% discount on all purchases at our online store (RowdyBusch.com). We will also have an autograph session at KBM in May, Fan Club members will be able to RSVP and be assured an autograph, as well as an invitation to an exclusive Fan Club meeting in October at KBM. (Which will be well worth the price of the membership) Our Fan Club numbers are up 80% over last year already, for a once a year price of $35 it’s a great value.”

Kevin Harvick’s club offers a great exclusive membership package that features lots of sponsorship involvement in the form of coupons that are included in the package sent to members. According to Fan Club President Tyler Patterson, the kit includes, a t-shirt, membership card, merchandise discount card, Kevin Harvick autograph card, decal, keychain, ink pen and mouse pad that is also a calendar complete with race dates.

Patterson added, ”Each fall, we host an open house where fan club members can come and have the opportunity to meet Kevin and get a photo/autograph and tour the race shop. This year we have decided to take our fan club event on the road and will host gatherings at Martinsville in April and Phoenix in November.”

Fan Central is an extension of KevinHarvick.com and is a basic social network site that allows fans to interact with one another. Kevin “really only uses his Twitter to interact with the fans now,” According to Patterson.

You can also follow Kevin and Delana on Twitter. Their adventures with Mother Function and Lo are definitely not only entertaining but Delana offers Question and Answer on Race Day most weekends.

Ryan Newman will also be launching a new fan club based web site that will celebrate their 10^th year of operation. They will be doing so with an entirely new concept for fan clubs. Their new site will be a micro social network. The social network style will be the first of its kind in regards to NASCAR based fan clubs.

By utilizing all of the best things about Facebook along with the NASCAR/Ryan Newman theme and connection, they hope to improve their fan experience several fold. It will work very similar to Facebook, with profiles, post interactions like Facebook and like buttons that will be race points. The race points will be used in a leader board style to allow recognition to the fan club members that post the most participated in conversations and the most well liked pictures and videos.

Ryan Newman himself will also have a profile allowing him to participate as a part of the fan club. As a part of the group he can interact with the group as a member of the fan club family rather than as an outside object of conversation. The new site will allow Ryan more transparency and proximity to his fan base.

The site boasts bright colors and ease of use as well as its revolutionary concept. The site offers a live chat capability for its members based on events such as the Daytona 500 or news events that are taking place within the network itself. The site will be very much picture driven and allows I-Phone and I-Pad access.

The site, scheduled to launch before the Daytona 500, will seamlessly integrate the old site and its members into the new one. New members will have instant access once the new site has launched.

Four time Champion Jeff Gordon’s fan site has multiple levels. He has a pay site that features chats with Jeff and his wife. Contests and features like message boards and 24 hour chat. But he also offers a basic package that does not require a financial investment but offers family photos messages from Jeff and video’s of “Network” meetings.

His general site gives a glimpse into the world of Jeff Gordon, with information about everything from his racing and foundation to his winery and their offerings. Gordon also has launched a Hologram program to protect all of his fans from fake autographs and he allows you to enter the number from your hologram to see if yours is real.

Jeff’s commitment to his fans appears to be all year long as there were holiday messages found in archives from the last several years. Though Gordon’s blog appears to be more video in nature he keeps touch with scheduled regularity and offers a very close up view of his thoughts, his life, and his career.

The shining star of the new stars that we checked out is just getting started. His name is familiar but his face will surprise you. Bobby Dale Earnhardt’s fan commitment is second to none. His website is just forming but his internet presence is growing on a daily basis. Between Twitter and Facebook, Team Earnhardt is turning heads. Bobby isn’t just the object of this effort. Bobby is a part of this effort.

Bobby is Dale Earnhardt’s oldest grand child. He is the oldest son of Kerry Earnhardt. He is choosing to make his own way in the racing world without relying on his family or his family name although obviously he can not change that. He is determined to make his way the old fashioned way, the way his Grandfather did, on his own. It may seem a lonely way to get there but Bobby is gathering a great many fans to walk the road with him and maybe have a good time with it too.

Although nearly every driver’s fan club was contacted, only a handful responded. These are the most dynamic and the best of the offerings sampled. It is interesting to note, that in a time when NASCAR is suffering from a lack of people in the seats and on the couch, the common course in regards to its fan clubs is distant anonymity. The drivers who seem to be making the efforts to remain accountable to the fans and to stay close to their fan base are the drivers we see time after time rise to the top of the popularity charts and on the race track as well.

It is amazing that people have missed one of the greatest stories of the off season, that of the fans of Richard Petty. The king has been off the track for quite some time as a driver but his dedication and loyalty to his fans has never changed. That dedication and loyalty was returned when the King of stock car racing entered a different kind of race one to regain control of his name, it was his faithful following that provided the muscle to make that happen. Is there a lesson to be learned in that, most definitely. Will it be embraced? Only time will tell. But it is interesting to note that the largest fan base in all of NASCAR belongs to a man who hasn’t turned the wheel of a stock car since 1992.

February 6, 2011
NASCAR By the Numbers: Day 14 in the Countdown to the DAYTONA 500

We are counting down the days until the DAYTONA 500 using some fun facts.

Number 14

Number of Sprint Cup wins held by each Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman.

Poles won during the 1980 Cup Series by Cale Yarborough. In 1984, he became the first driver to qualify for the Daytona 500 with a top speed of more than 200 miles per hour.

Total number of races where Dale Earnhardt completed all 500 laps of the Daytona 500, which is the track record.

Car No. driven by Tony Stewart. Stewart has 39 Sprint Cup wins and two Cup Series championships in 2002 and 2005. In 2009, Stewart became the first driver/owner to win a Sprint Cup race since Ricky Rudd in 1998. He went on to win four Sprint Cup races and the Sprint Cup All- Star Challenge that season. Most recently, Stewart has been in the news for a confrontation he had with the co-owner of the Sydney Speedway over track safety concerns.

February 6, 2011