Newman forced to start in the back at Atlanta


HAMPTON, Ga. - The Rocketman is back — almost.

On Friday night, Ryan Newman scored his first pole of the season following a 22-race drought and his seventh career pole at Atlanta Motor Speedway tying the record set by his mentor, Buddy Baker. It was the 38th career pole for the driver of the No. 12 Dodge.

But the luck of the Irish didn't hold up for Newman on Saturday morning when, after nine laps, he felt his car tightening up coming off of Turn 4 and realized something was wrong. Following his pole-winning lap Friday night, Newman said the engine was missing during his run. When oil was discovered in one of the spark plugs, the team opted to change engines. Consequently, Newman will have to start from the rear of the field on Sunday. "This is the best racetrack if you have to go to the rear," Newman said. "Obviously we don't want to do it, but we've got a great car. We only got nine laps on it this morning, but I think we can get back out in the second practice and shake down the new engine and go with it.

"Yesterday was good. I'm not going to complain at all about luck or a break. This stuff happens once in awhile. It's no fun when it happens. The 2 car had a problem at Vegas, and we're having a problem here. The guys at the engine shop are working hard, and we'll carry on."

This isn't the first time engine woes have crept up on Newman this season. He dug a deficit for himself at Daytona after his engine puked on Lap 175, and he finished 38th. After entering California 35th in the point standings, Newman bounced back with a 12th-place finish in the Auto Club 500.


Although Newman was not among the seven Dodges that dominated qualifying at Las Vegas, he was the top Charger at the end of the day after placing eighth in the race and moving up to 15th on the leaderboard. If Newman can keep his nose clean coming up through the back, he'll be a solid contender in the Kobalt Tools 500.

"I'd say, for at least this weekend, I can see it getting better," Newman said. "Our race run was really stout in practice. I pulled out and passed Kasey Kahne. He passed me back, and I was catching him. He won this race last year, so that's someone to gauge off of."

Kahne is the defending winner of the race, but Newman's teammate Kurt Busch topped the speed chart in Happy Hour on Saturday with a lap of 188.360 mph. Newman offered the No. 2 crew props after locking up the pole. The Penske teams are working closer than ever in the absence of Newman's longtime crew chief Matt Borland, who left the organization for Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of last season. Team engineer Mike Nelson assumed the role and has kept the line of communication open with Busch's crew chief Roy McCauley.

Newman says not to be fooled by the fresh faces.

"The team looks newer than it is," Newman said. "One guy from the shop is on the road and vice versa. We've got a different race engineer. The crew chief is the same, just a different position. We've got a different shock guy, and that's pretty much it. I think the dominant faces you see are different versus a whole new team. The guys are doing a good job, and they are adapting to a new situation."

Lee Spencer is a senior NASCAR writer for FOXSports.com. Talk racing with Lee at her NASCAR blog.

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OH no! This is bad. I knew it was too good to be true. On the other hand when Newman gets the pole he does not win the race. So, this might just work out for him in the long run. GO #12

If Ryan is still upbeat then I wouldn't worry. The team has been on their game to move him up in the pits and get him positions on the track. Just think good thoughts. Remember - better during practice than in the race.

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ZoomenNewman

well I guess mrs 12 will have to watch him come up through the field....

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Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports... the rest are just games........ Earnest Hemmingway

Zoomen said it best. I needed to hear that. I I am sure he will do better from the back. Ryan is a true competitor and he won't let mrsmopar12 down on her first race. By now they are best friends as they should be. GO #12 GO!

I talked to mrsmopar12 last night and she had just found out about this. I told her how positive Ryan was in all of the articles I have read, and she felt sure he was going to move up to the front! I had sent her a text message when Kyle Busch had the lug nut incident and asked if she was mojo'ing him, and she texted back "you know it". LOL
She is just overjoyed and has many many stories to tell when she gets back. She is bummed however that today it will be over and she will be going home lol. She will be sending more pics today too!!

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I had some Newmanites sitting next to me and they seemed to be up beat before the race. I would say he did a fair job in the race.

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Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion!!
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