Following a 10th place finish last weekend at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Ryan Newman is hoping for another strong run this weekend in Las Vegas.
“It’s a fast race track; it’s got a lot of character,” he commented. “I’m kind of curious to see…just looking at the asphalt it has definitely lightened up so hopefully that lends itself to better racing. I understand that the Goodyear tire that we are going to have here is the Talladega rights that lay some more rubber. I don’t think we have ever really got a chance to fully use this race track to its full capability and I hope that another year on it will give us that opportunity.”
Even though he had success last weekend, Newman admits that he can’t pull a lot from Atlanta to Las Vegas due to each mile and a half track being different.
“The aggregate is so much different, the tire is different and there are just so many parts of it that are different,” he expressed. “That makes the cars drive different and therefore the racing is a little different.”
The event this weekend kicks off a strong schedule of events on the west coast – Las Vegas, Phoenix and Auto Club Speedway. Newman has run strong at each track, and says running them back-to-back out west makes sense logistically.
“It’s a little bit tougher on our guys I guess probably to get cars back and forth,” he comments. “I will go back for one of the weeks and I will stay back out here for a week and enjoy a little bit of time out here. A little mini vacation I guess.”
Last year, Newman put together a strong season that saw him make the Chase for the Sprint Cup, with consistency carrying him all the way to a second place finish in points. Looking to put the wreck from Daytona behind him, Newman hopes that consistency comes into play in rising from 21st in points.
