SPEEDWAY, Ind. (July 5, 2020) – In an action-packed stage one at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Ryan Newman had a tire go down early, ultimately causing damage he was unable to overcome, ending the day early for the Oscar Mayer Ford Mustang to finish 34th.
For the fifth race in a row, weather had an impact on raceday as lightning entered the Indianapolis area right around race time (4 p.m. ET), delaying the start to just past 5 p.m. ET. After the random draw for starting positions, Newman rolled off 13th for the 160-lap event.
With a competition caution at lap 12, Newman ran 21st, reporting he was tight inside his Oscar Mayer machine. Under yellow – with the whole field pitting for the first time for service – a multi-car incident ensued near the entrance of pit road, resulting in a red flag.
Newman, a native of Indiana, was ahead of the incident, running 19th by the restart at lap 18. With 10 to go in the stage, a tire went down on the right side of Newman’s Ford, resulting in hard contact with the wall. After multiple trips to pit road, Newman restarted five laps down for stage two, but ultimately was forced to the garage due to the prior damage.
Next up, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Kentucky Speedway for a 400-mile event next Sunday afternoon. Race coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on FS1, and can also be heard on PRN and SiriusXM Channel 90.
