Kevin Harvick Opens Door While Door Shuts on Ryan Newman
The old saying of one door closing and another opening was most fitting for both Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
Harvick officially announced that the door has been opened for him at Stewart-Haas Racing while Ryan Newman acknowledged that the door has been shut for him at that team.
“It’s nice to officially end all the speculation,” Harvick, the new 2014 driver of the No. 4 Budweiser Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, said. “For me, Stewart-Haas was intriguing just for the fact that you have Tony (Stewart) as a teammate who’s been a big part of what we did at KHI to get it started.”
“We have a friendship that goes beyond the race track,” Harvick continued. “Obviously Gene Haas makes it very intriguing with the guarantees that he made to make the deal happen to put the car on the race track.”
“When you have a family and you start seeing those guarantees of sponsorship for the car, it makes you think about things,” Harvick said. “I think not only about those two pieces, but also the Hendrick tie with the engines and the support.”
“I think the potential is really high with all those resources and relationships and things that go with it.”
“I got a phone call from Tony (Stewart) on Wednesday about 20 minutes to seven and we talked for basically 20 minutes,” Newman said. “That was it.”
“His phone call was about making the announcement and that I would not be a part of Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014.”
Both drivers acknowledged that they have the highest regard for Tony Stewart, both as a friend, racer and team owner.
“I feel like our relationship is going to help progress things as they move forward on the performance side,” Harvick said. “Tony balances a lot of things and I’ve been in that boat.”
“I think it’s going to allow me the time to help him and be able to make it better.”
“We only ever argued over how hard we race,” Newman said. “That is the kind of friends Tony and I are.”
“His stress was the importance of our friendship and that to me will never change.”
Both drivers talked a great deal about sponsorship as for Harvick, his major sponsor Budweiser will be following him to Stewart-Haas Racing while Newman is currently unsure about the status of any of his sponsors.
“We’ve had three years with Budweiser and looking forward to moving forward with them as a sponsor,” Harvick said. “Those guys at SHR took full responsibility to have the car funded and that made my life a lot easier.”
“We have great sponsors in Quicken Loans, Wix Filters, Aspen Dental, Code 3 Associates, and Outback,” Newman said. “They have all done us well.”
“There are no answers that I have,” Newman continued. “Obviously I have my own homework to do.”
“I want to be competitive,” Newman said. “I’m not just going to go out there and just find a ride.”
“I want to find a ride with somebody that has the same goals and perspectives as I do.”
Both Newman and Harvick had nothing but praise for their current teams, Stewart-Haas Racing and Richard Childress Racing respectively. And both intend to race as hard as possible for their owners and teams.
“I’ve had a good run,” Newman said. “I look forward to finishing out this year.”
“Look forward to the opportunity to make the Chase, win races and putting ourselves to have a chance to win a championship,” Newman continued. “That’s my ultimate goal and it always has been.”
“We’re going to go out and race every week as hard as we can,” Harvick said. “It’s not like we detached ourselves from what we’re doing and those guys on the team, they don’t care about the politics of the sport; they just want to win races.”
“They like spraying beer in Victory Lane and as a group we’re going to do that until we get to Homestead,” Harvick continued. “We’ll start working on the future plans when that race is over.”
The two drivers, however, expressed very different emotions about the transition, with Harvick on one hand talking about the change as rejuvenation while Newman showing his upset about the uncertainty of his future.
“It wasn’t anything personal from Richard (Childress, team owner) or a team standpoint doing anything wrong,” Harvick said. “It was just me needing to rejuvenate myself to get to the race track and really be excited to show up.”
“Just like everybody else’s job, sometimes you just need a change to get going again.”
“I do not know what my future holds,” Newman said. “I have no idea right now.”
“That’s something that weighs on my shoulders,” Newman continued. “That is part of racing and part of the situation that I’m in.”
While the door is opening for Harvick and closing for Newman in 2014 at Stewart-Haas Racing, both drivers have to focus this weekend on competing at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway in the 21st Annual Camping World RV Sales 301.
In fact, Ryan Newman is doing double duty at the Magic Mile, racing both in the Cup Series and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour.
“For me, it’s a track position race,” Newman said. “You get a limited number of chances to adjust on your race car and tune your race car and work in those windows that either the cautions or the green flag runs give you.”
“Excited it’s a big race this weekend for Wix Filters and they are also sponsoring the modified which is a lot of fun for me.”
“We know that we have to come back here and race for the Chase so obviously this is an important weekend to kind of evaluate where we are with our short track program,” Harvick said. “Flat tracks are a big part of the Chase.”
“I think this is an important weekend to fully understand what we need to do going forward.”
So, what will the future hold for Harvick as a new door opens and Newman as a big door closes?
“I can’t say I’m happy with how everything unfolded,” Newman said. “There will be a change for me in 2014 and I don’t know what that change is.”
“It’s nice to be in this position to be able to focus on racing a car and getting the performance and doing the things we need to do,” Harvick said. “It’s worked out well.”
Joey Logano Is Making Dreams Come True at the Magic Mile
Joey Logano announced the fulfillment of a dream come true today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the establishment of a foundation bearing his name at a track which means so much to him.
“We’re here to announce the formation of the Joey Logano Foundation, which is something that I’ve been wanting to do the last few years,” the driver of the No. 22 Shell Pennzoil Ford said. “This is a great race track to announce this, being my home track here in New Hampshire.”
“I won my first Cup race here and actually watched my first Cup race here so to announce my Foundation is the best place for that to happen.”
With Logano being able to fulfill his dream job behind the wheel of a Cup car for Penske Racing, he now feels in the position to help others achieve their dreams. And he hopes that his NASCAR fan base will be right there with him helping others.
“I feel like I’ve been very blessed and to be able to drive a race car for a living is a dream come true for me,” Logano said. “I realize that not everyone is as fortunate as myself so what I want to do with my Foundation is directly impact people’s lives to make them better, whether that’s fixing someone’s roof or helping a soldier who came back from Iraq outfit his home for a wheelchair.”
“Whatever that is, I want to be able to do that,” Logano continued. “And I want the NASCAR fans to help point out who these people are and then we will help them.”
Logano is already busy fulfilling the dreams of others through his brand new Foundation. In fact, the first event of five more to come will happen right at the Magic Mile this weekend.
“Our first event is actually this weekend,” Logano said. “We have the Connecticut State Police Crime Squad, who investigated the Newtown school shooting, here this weekend.”
“I was in Las Vegas for the race and walking around the Caesar’s Palace shops when a group of guys recognized me,” Logano continued. “I found out they were part of the Crime Squad at Newtown.”
“I really wanted to do something for Newtown at the time but I didn’t know what to do because there were a lot of people helping out,” Logano said “But I wanted to find the people that were getting lost in the shuffle.”
“After talking with these guys, I realized that they were the guys that were getting lost in the shuffle,” Logano continued. “With New Hampshire Motor Speedway’s help, we’ve been able to bring 200 of them up here with their families to enjoy an all-American NASCAR race.”
“I’m really excited about that as the first deal we’re going to do and we have four more coming up, at Atlanta, Charlotte, Michigan, and Phoenix.”
Logano has also had some help with making his Foundation dream come true. Some of his major partners in his new endeavor include Coca Cola, the NASCAR Foundation, and his sponsor Shell Oil Company.
“This organization wouldn’t have started without the Coca Cola’s Chug for Charity program,” Logano said. “It helped me out with my charity donations and to have them help me start this is a dream come true.”
“Also, with NASCAR, we will be doing some online auctions with the NASCAR Foundation, some for race experiences which will be cool,” Logano continued. “Obviously Shell Pennzoil has also helped and backed me one hundred percent.”
Tom Swindell, NASCAR Director of Racing Operations, presented Logano with a $10,000 check on behalf of the NASCAR Foundation, as did the Shell Oil Company, who also presented their young driver with a $10,000 dream gift.
“I’ve been around Shell for a long time, thirty-three years, and I’ve watched what we’ve done for charity and kids in the community,” Paul Stanifer, Shell Oil Company General Manager, said. “For him at his age to decide to do what’s right for the community is kind of phenomenal.”
“It fits well with us because our customers live in the communities,” Stanifer continued. “So, this will be a national fit.”
“We’re going to throw a lot of resources to Joey and try to engage our wholesalers in areas that are important to us,” Stanifer said. “That will be a nice fit because it’s more about people helping people.”
While Logano is most excited about making his Foundation dream a reality, he also hopes to have a dream finish at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. And the driver of that No. 22 Penske race car is counting on his recent tire test at the track to help him to do just that.
“This has been a hit or miss track for me,” Logano admitted “I have either run decent or really struggled here.”
“I came up here and we did the tire test and we left here and I didn’t feel like we were very good,” Logano continued. “So, we used one of the Penske tests here and we came up here and felt like we would make up some ground.”
“This is a very difficult race track to make a car work,” Logano said. “There will be a few cars that can do it and they will stand out.”
Logano is certainly hoping that he will be one of those race cars standing out at the Magic Mile. But even more important to the young driver is that he can do something good by making dreams come true for others.
“This Foundation is not about me,” Logano said. “My name is on it, but that is to bring awareness to it.”
“This Foundation is about other people and about how we can help other people,” Logano continued. “This was the right time for me to do this.”
“I plan to have a lot of fun with it.”
