Racing Newsmaker: Ryan Newman

Ryan Newman has won three pole positions this year and he's been a top-10 qualifier for all nine races. Despite his success in time trails, he's only got three top-10 finishes -- with a season-best fourth-place effort at Martinsville, Va. -- and he's 15th in the NASCAR Nextel Cup point standings.As he heads into Saturday night's Dodge Charger 500 at the Darlington Raceway, Newman talked about his season and his problems with Penske Racing South teammate Rusty Wallace in a national telephone conference call. Here are excerpts of that conference:

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Question: Are you ready for your season to turn around at Darlington?

Newman: We got turned around a few times there at Talladega, but I guess a different kind of turnaround would be good at Darlington. We also look forward to racing at Darlington. We haven't been to victory lane there yet, but it's typically a good track for us as far as leading laps and running up front.

Question: Looking back at last week's race at Talladega, what are your feelings on restrictor-plate racing?

Newman: I'd like to figure out how many races in the last 10 there's been a big crash. Of the last 10 races, how many cars have been involved in big multi-car crashes?

Question: You were one of 25 drivers caught up in the big crash at Talladega. Who was to blame?

Newman: I haven't watched the tape, but it really doesn't matter from the standpoint that you put the cars in position like that on a racetrack and drivers are going to be aggressive at some point. If it hadn't happened 80 laps from the end, it would have happened with five to go. That's just the way NASCAR has laid out the rules and the packaging for that type of race track. How many races have there been in the last 10 races at Talladega when there hasn't been a big multi-car crash? You just have to go on from that situation. Everybody has to deal with it. It's not fair. It's not safe, but it's part of NASCAR racing right now.

Question: What is the solution to fix it?

Newman: A couple of years ago NASCAR had the right idea as far as trying to separate the pack. We don't do it anymore. Once we stop, I think it takes about four laps for the cars to get in one big clump again. Maybe something needs to be done to separate the cars, [like] the aero package.I was talking to Richard Petty after the accident there while we were trying to fix our car, and he said, ÔMan, it didn't use to be like this. We were so squirrelly back 20 years ago that we couldn't get close enough to race each other.' Maybe there's a situation where we can make the cars go faster and at the same time be less susceptible to racing four-wide or side-by-side for that matter.

Question: Can the drivers unite and approach NASCAR for a better solution?

Newman: I think there's potential for that. I think NASCAR has to look out for themselves at the same time, and they've got plenty of people working for them that can figure it out at the same time also. It's kind of a Catch-22. You can say one thing and it'll be an ingenious idea and they take it and run with it and everything works out good. Or you could upset them because they think what they have is great and it's awesome for the fans and everything else. Obviously, safety is the biggest and most important situation we go to bat for, and we don't want to put anybody in a situation where there's a 27-car pileup or call it what you want, where there's a greater risk of drivers getting injured.

Question: Why haven't you been able to win this year?

Newman: We've been in a couple of situations this season where we've had cars that were capable of winning. Las Vegas, California -- and I thought we had a car that was capable of winning at Talladega, but we've had good qualifying efforts whether it's been at an impound or non-impound track and that leads to leading laps and things like that. In general we're not performing like we'd like to be as far as being a dominant race car. In general, I think we're still knocking on the door. We just have to maybe open it for ourselves.

Question: Are you frustrated?

Newman: A little bit, but some of the situations are out of our control. We had a car that led five laps out front all by itself at Talladega which hasn't happened in quite a while for us. You take that in retrospect that we got involved in a big crash that was none of our doing. There was nothing I could do other than be in front of it. You're at the wrong place at the wrong time in that situation. You just have to take the ups with the downs and vice versa.

Question: What makes Darlington so difficult?

Newman: It's probably the most challenging race track for a number of reasons. No. 1, you run so close to the wall so you've got a good possibility of damaging your race car. Looking at how the tires usually fall off, it takes a real good driver to manage his tires and manage his race car and be fast the entire run. Not to mention the tires change so much and the speed changes so much through the entire run that you have to change your driving style and drive to points as far as when you brake and when you accelerate because the handling changes so much. So many variables change in the entire equation as far as driving that it's the most challenging. For that reason, I like it.

Question: Darlington lost one of its two annual races this year and there are continued rumors it may be dropped from the schedule in the future. What would you think if that happened?

Newman: I think they would feel the same way as they did when we lost Rockingham as far as the race track goes. It's a race track I always look forward to. I know Matt Kenseth always liked both of them (Darlington and Rockingham). They're drivers' racetracks. They offer great racing and they're not super dangerous with crazy high speeds. There's a little bit of everything involved Ð braking, horsepower, downforce, everything a race car should be about. A driver is a big part of the percentage when it comes to the entire package, whereas when you go to a track like Michigan or Indianapolis, it's more about the race car than it is about the driver. A driver is more weighted at Darlington, and I would not want to lose those racetracks by any means. In the future, I wish it was possible to put Rockingham back on the schedule.

Question: There's no question there's a problem between you and Rusty Wallace. Has that affected your performance?

Newman: Not at all. Rusty has voiced his opinion in a lot of areas. I've maintained a pretty calm stance, and basically our performance has been related to our performance as a team in the No. 12 Alltel Dodge. We've had our goods and bads throughout the season and none of it has been anybody else's fault except ours.

Question: Where is your team with the new softer tire?

Newman: I don't think the tires are hugely different from last year. I think in general some teams have struggled with it and some teams have nailed it. I think those are pretty easy to figure out because they've been to victory lane, but in general I think we've learned a lot. You always have more to learn, and I can't say if we've learned 20 percent or 90 percent of what we need to learn this year so far.

Question: So what's the problem?

Newman: My generic and best answer is that it's a combination of everything. We've struggled with the tires at times and we've struggled with other things at times, but I think it's been a combination of everything and bad luck is a part of that and good luck is part of that and everything else.

Question: So is there an aerodynamic problem with the Charger?

Newman: The whole design process and application process with the new nose and new tail section was something that happened mid-year last year and I think it might have happened before they chopped off the rear spoiler. I think an aero-balance situation could be the case. It also could be a situation of where we've seen Dodges run up front. We saw the three Chip Ganassi cars run awesome at Texas and had a shot at winning the race there. We had a shot at winning the race at Vegas and other teams have been shut out of victory lane basically. I don't think there's a distinct advantage by any team right now. To answer your question, I think some of the Dodge teams are struggling with some of the balance situations.