NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES
QUICKEN LOANS RACE FOR HEROES 500
PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL RACEWAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
NOVEMBER 7, 2014
RYAN NEWMAN, NO. 31 CAT MINING CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his view of the Chase with two races remaining, drivers he’s admired, mind games, and more. Full Transcript:
GIVE US YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RACE AT PHOENIX THIS WEEKEND
“I just look forward tot this opportunity. It’s a good race track. I said before Martinsville started that I thought we had an equal opportunity at Martinsville, Texas, and Phoenix. I have been to Victory Lane once at each track and feel confident based on our run at the spring race here; what I really call our first true run and race together as a team because Daytona is a unique situation in itself.
“But to have our first race together to be a seventh place finish and then follow that up with another seventh at Vegas, we started the season strong. As I’ve said before, hopefully we can come back and improve on the things that we’ve experienced and have a better finish yet.”
YOU ARE LIKE THE ‘SLEEPER’ IN THE CHASE RIGHT NOW. DO YOU LIKE THE POSITION THAT YOU’RE IN? IS THERE LESS PRESSURE ON YOU AND THE TEAM?
“I don’t really pay any attention to it. I’m enjoying the position I’m in. I’m enjoying the camaraderie and the teamwork that we have at RCR and the guys at ECR are doing a good job. I’m just having some fun with it. I’m not really so much worried about what somebody thinks of me and if I’m a sleeper or an underdog or the odd man out or whatever you want to call me. I’m having fun and that’s what it’s supposed to be about.”
YOU GREW UP IN INDIANA. WHAT DRIVER DID YOU LOOK UP TO AND WHY?
“In my racing career, I looked up to several people. I always thought that Dale Earnhardt was an awesome driver because he could beat the competition before he ever got to the race track. A.J. Foyt could drive any race car any time and win at it. And there are very few people that can do that. I’ve always said that Tony Stewart is the modern day A.J. Foyt. Richard Petty is always the ultimate fan driver. You’ve got to be good in the first place. But then to be able to give back so much to the fans I’ve always admired.
“But the one person that probably gets not said or brought up enough is Mel Kenyon. I drove for him. He’s just an all-around stand-up human being, a gentleman; and I got to be his teammate, which was kind of an unexpected dream come true I guess you could say because I never really thought I would be a teammate to Mel Kenyon. And the things that I learned from him and his brother, Don. My first experience was here right after I had driven for them. I was standing up here thinking about the Safer barriers and stuff on this wall. I remember spinning out backwards in the Midget, up in the air with my bumper above the pit wall. And I’m think that today, I would have crashed because the Safer barrier is there. But, those are the things that I remember from that past that make Phoenix a special place.”
YOUR MOVE TO RCR HAS BROUGHT ABOUT THEIR RETURN TO THE CHASE, SO TO SPEAK. WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOUR MOVE THERE THAT HAS BROUGHT THAT TEAM TOGETHER TO RUN THE WAY THEY HAVE THIS YEAR OVERALL?
“I think it’s really just teamwork. We have not been a dominant car by any means if you look at our laps led and top 5’s, but we’ve been a consistent car and guys have gotten better. When I say the guys, I mean me included because we’ve matured this year as far as getting to experience more things coming back to the race tracks for the first time and improving on the things that we’ve learned. Richard (Childress) has given us the tools that we need. ECR has given us the tools that we need. We’ve been very reliable and it’s a big part of what’s got us to this point. So, like I said, every race and every time I’ve talked to you guys (the media), we have to continue to improve on our performance so that if we don’t win this week, we have a better chance of winning next weekend.”
FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE, WHY IS EVERYBODY SO MAD AT BRAD KESELOWSKI? WHAT IS HE DOING WRONG?
“I don’t know that anybody has done anything wrong, I just think that everything has been extremely intense this Chase. I really don’t see it much different than it ever has been except for that level of intensity has brought out some anger management issues. It’s really my perspective on it. It’s no different than I think racing has ever been. It’s got some more Saturday night short track feel to it now. And we see that during the race as well as after.”
DO YOU THINK WE’LL SEE THE SAME SORT OF MAYHEM THIS WEEK THAT WE SAW IN TEXAS AND CHARLOTTE? AND IF SO, IF YOU’RE BACK IN THE FIVE TO TEN RUNNING POSITION AND THERE IS A BIG PILE-UP IN FRONT, ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THAT?
“Absolutely. I think there is huge potential especially with the extra racing room that we have back there in the dogleg on restarts, I think is going to be quite crazy. And I hope that everybody is respectful and we don’t have a situation that jeopardizes somebody’s chances; and I will keep that in mind. But at the same time, I also hope to have it in my mirror. That’s the best place to be. We were in that position in Talladega and knew what guys had to do to get themselves in and we were somewhat in that position even at Martinsville, and saw some of the craziness at Charlotte. Anything can happen, without a doubt. At some point, you just have to do your job and expect a little bit of racing luck and the racing gods to be on your side.”
YOU SAID YOU LOOKED UP TO DALE EARNHARDT BECAUSE HE WOULD BEAT THE COMPETITION BEFORE HE EVEN GOT TO THE RACE TRACK. DO YOU THINK THAT’S SOMEWHAT OF A LOST ART; OR, NOT AS COMMON A TRAIT BY DRIVERS THESE DAYS?
“I wouldn’t say it’s lost. I think the last real time I saw that happen was when Tony (Stewart) and Carl (Edwards) went at it for ten races and the last five were pretty good mind games. So yeah, I think you have to have that mental strength but you also have to have the performance to back it up. Otherwise, everybody forgets it. And Dale Earnhardt had that. He had that each and every week, no matter what race track he was going to. He had the equipment to back it up some of the mind games that went into it. I’m not calling them ‘games’. I didn’t know him well enough to call them that. But in the end, he was pretty impressive as far as beating the competition. I think you could talk to a lot of guys today who were from that era would say that they knew when they came to the race track that they were potentially running for second.”
ON THE FORMAT CHANGES TO THE CHASE FROM A DRIVERS’ STANDPOINT, IS IT ANY MORE EXCITING FOR YOU THIS YEAR THAN LAST YEAR OR THE YEAR BEFORE?
“I think it has been more exciting. I don’t know that it necessarily makes it any more fair or less fair just because of the risk that’s involved in a three-race bracket. But at the same time I’ve got several fans, and not just because I’m doing well this year, but several fans that say they enjoy it and the intensity of it and all the action that goes along with it during the race and after the race. I think it’s been a good thing. I’m not saying that it’s perfect, but I think it is a good thing. I can feel the intensity in a race car. It’s definitely picked-up. The restarts have gotten crazy ever since the first double-file restart we had at the All-Star race a while ago. So, it’s definitely picked-up.”
CONSIDERING THE SEASON YOU’VE HAD, DO YOU HAVE ANY SENSE OF GIDDINESS OR BEWILDERMENT THAT YOU’RE STILL IN THE CHASE?
“We’re just doing our job. We’ve kept ourselves in the hunt. We’re doing our job and having fun doing it. I don’t let the emotions side of it carry any real weight.”
YOU GET TO A CERTAIN LEVEL IN YOUR CAREER AND YOU DON’T TAKE A JOB WITH RCR THINKING YOU WOULD JUST GO THERE AND FADE AWAY. WITH TWO RACES LEFT TO GO, DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AS A TITLE CONTENDER IN THE MIX WHO COULD WALK AWAY WITH THE CHAMPIONSHIP AT HOMESTEAD?
“I’ve never doubted my ability as a driver. I think that’s my responsibility. But you never know what situation you’re going to be in from an ownership standpoint or from an engine standpoint and the ability of the people around you to perform. You never have that knowledge I think, until you get so many races under your belt to be able to prove it. Thirty some race now, we’ve had a lot of fun and done a lot of good things and been super consistent and we’re at this point. So, I never thought of it as a move to whither away or continue my racing career and let it just ‘happen’. I still want to win this championship.”
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