Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Pace-O-Matic/PSR Products Modified, talks to Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 17 Pace-O-Matic Modified, during practice for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Pace-O-Matic/PSR Products Modified, talks to Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 17 Pace-O-Matic Modified, during practice for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
during practice for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Pace-O-Matic/PSR Products Modified, talks to Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 17 Pace-O-Matic Modified, during practice for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Pace-O-Matic/PSR Products Modified, talks to Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 17 Pace-O-Matic Modified, during practice for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Pace-O-Matic/PSR Products Modified, talks to Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 17 Pace-O-Matic Modified, during practice for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
during practice for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
Ryan Newman, driver of the No. 39 Pace-O-Matic/PSR Products Modified, talks to Bobby Labonte, driver of the No. 17 Pace-O-Matic Modified, during practice for the Virginia is for Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway on Oct. 27, 2022. (Adam Fenwick/NASCAR)
By AMANDA VINCENT
Ryan Newman’s partial NASCAR Cup Series schedule with Rick Ware Racing begins with Sunday’s Goodyear 400 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway. The remainder of his race docket with the team consists of short-track races — the NASCAR All-Star Open and, potentially, the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro (N.C.) Speedway on May 21, Richmond (Va.) Raceway on July 30, Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway on Sept. 16 and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on Oct. 29.
Newman agreed to the Darlington race to be eligible for the All-Star Open the following week. He needed to run a race prior to the Open, because he hasn’t been in a Cup Series car since 2021. Otherwise, he’ll only run Cup races on short tracks for safety reasons. Darlington is a 1.33-mile track.
“I don’t think the car is as safe as it should be or as safe as they say it is on the big tracks,” Newman said, as quoted in an Autoweek article.
Several drivers were critical of the safety of the Next Gen car in its first year of competition in the Cup Series last year. Kurt Busch and Alex Bowman both missed multiple races in 2022 because of concussions sustained in the car. Busch’s injury led to his retirement from full-time competition prior to the end of last season.
Newman wrecks in two separate superspeedway races, a 2009 race at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and the 2020 Daytona 500 led to changes to roll cages. A bar, now known as the “Newman Bar” was added after the Talladega crash. Two more bars were added after his Daytona crash.
“I don’t need to be a crash test dummy,” Newman said. “I’ve already got two bars named after me. I don’t need a third.”
