Blog
Newman Hopes For Successful Defense of Title
Mention last spring's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville Speedway to Ryan Newman and you'll surely get to see one of his sly grins.
His victory in last year's STP® Gas BoosterTM 500 was big for him for several reasons. It snapped a long losing streak. It was his first Martinsville win. He managed to avoid the late-race shenanigans that created overtime work for wreckers. And he did with a car that didn't stand a chance of winning most of the day; in fact at one point he was lap down after a pit-road speeding penalty.
And last year's results have him feeling pretty good coming into the STP® Gas BoosterTM 500 on April 7.
"We were way off early in the race, we weren't a winning car," Newman said recently, recalling his only win in the 2012 season. "But once we got our lap back, we were good."
He got the chance to prove just how good his car was after a caution came out on lap 497. On the restart on lap 504 Clint Bowyer took Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon three-wide in the first turn and all three cars spun. Newman slipped through the wreck untouched and then held off A.J. Allmendinger in what was the longest race in Martinsville Speedway's history, 515 laps after two green-white-checkered restarts.
"I went to go past (Bowyer), he blocked and I gave him room and he clipped the curb," Newman said of the next-to-last restart and wreck that set up his victory. "If he hadn't clipped the curb, he may have won, but it gave me an opening and I took it."
But he still had to survive another green-white-checkered restart and he had Allmendinger and Dale Earnhardt Jr. nipping at his heels.
"I knew I had track position and the bottom line," Newman recalled. "My biggest goal was to keep Junior three wide and me on the inside. I knew if I could keep the 22 (Allmendinger) on the outside, I knew it would be better. Then we drove away. It was a win and that's what we're here for."
It's a year later and we are back to the STP® Gas BoosterTM 500 and Newman is searching for his first victory since he won here last spring. He knows nothing is guaranteed, but he feels good about his chances.
"Anytime you win, it's going to give you confidence when you go back to that track," said Newman. "It just doesn't guarantee that you're going to win again."
Tickets for the STP® Gas BoosterTM 500, the Kroger 250 and Martinsville Pole Day may be purchased by calling 877.RACE.TIX or by visiting www.martinsvillespeedway.com online.
Martinsville Speedway's phone hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. To 5 p.m.
Martinsville Speedway's ticket office is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays through the upcoming race weekend. The ticket office will be closed Easter Sunday, March 31.