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Post by 221dayton on May 12, 2016 8:27:03 GMT -5
Dustin Long NBC Sports 5/11/2016
WELCOME, N.C. — Ryan Newman and car owner Richard Childress both offered little on Newman’s future with Richard Childress Racing on Wednesday.
Newman signed a three-year contact to drive for the team beginning with the 2014 season. This is Newman’s third year with the organization.
No extension on Newman’s contract has been announced. With RCR at three cars and Ty Dillon, Childress’ grandson, on the path to move to Cup, the question is what RCR’s driver lineup will be next year if it doesn’t find sponsorship to expand to four cars.
“I’ll keep doing this as long as somebody wants me to do it and it’s fun doing it,’’ Newman said of his future.
Asked about next year’s driver lineup, Childress said: “We’re not looking at anything right now. We’ve got to focus and focus hard on trying to go out and win races. That’s our No. 1 focus right now.’’
Richard Childress Racing last won a Sprint Cup race in 2013.
Although Newman has yet to win at RCR, he finished second in the points in 2014 and was 11th last year. He enters this weekend’s race at Dover International Speedway 17th in the points.
He blew a tire late at Atlanta and finished 24th. A melted bead caused Newman’s tire to go down and he crashed at Phoenix, finishing 39th. He placed 28th at Talladega after being involved in a 21-car crash.
“Some of that is bad racing luck, some of that is self-inflicted,’’ Newman said.
Other than those finishes, Newman has finished between seventh and 18th this season.
Newman, who has 17 career Cup wins, is focused on snapping his 99-race winless streak.
“That’s what we’re working on is winning races,’’ he said. “It’s important for our sponsors that we get at least one win and hopefully can knock off two or three once we make it in the Chase and have a successful season again.’’
Will winning change if he is back at RCR?
“I have no idea,’’ Newman said.
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Post by VAisforRacers on May 12, 2016 11:50:44 GMT -5
I am disappointed in Ryan's career at RCR.
I expected a lot more.
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Post by Gant fan on May 12, 2016 12:32:22 GMT -5
dissappointed in RCR period.
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Post by sodakotajune on May 13, 2016 6:47:28 GMT -5
Rumors are that if Furniture Row expands to 2 cars, Ryan will be in the second. I'm torn on that, Martin Truex Jr. would be a great teammate as he & Ryan are great friends off the track, but a newly expanded team may not be able to provide him with the cars needed to win. Plus I'm not sure I can see him driving for Toyota.
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Post by 221dayton on May 13, 2016 8:51:43 GMT -5
UPDATE
Lee Spencer, MotorSports 5/12/2016
Certainly, RCR’s future inexorably linked to Chidress’ grandsons — Austin and Ty Dillon. Austin is currently leading the charge in the Sprint Cup Series. The 26-year-old racer won titles in both the truck and Xfinity Series prior to graduating to Cup, where he is currently eight in the standings. Veterans Ryan Newman (17th) and Paul Menard (24th) have flirted with the Chase zone throughout the first 11 races but both have been plagued with bad luck along the way.
Newman, 38, is in the final season of a three-year contract. Galida confirmed Newman’s acknowledgement that his sponsor Caterpillar is “a long-term contract.” Menard, who turns 36 in August and controls his own sponsorship, structures his deal on a year-to-year basis.
Galida told motorsport.com that RCR has “a timeline that we’re working towards,” when it comes to finalizing driver lineups for 2017.
“We’ll start moving on that fairly quickly,” Galida said. “I just can’t discuss the details. Our goal is to put Ty in a fourth car. That’s what we’re working on. We have a good relationship with all of our car partners.”
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tac10
Full Member
Posts: 225
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Post by tac10 on May 13, 2016 16:30:22 GMT -5
Newman has been a good driver. Maybe better when younger. He has been with some good teams too. But his year he seems to just be a mid packer.
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Post by Tom Pearce on May 20, 2016 13:26:59 GMT -5
There is no way I can see Austin being a better driver than Newman so it must be that Ryan is not getting the best equipment.
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Post by VAisforRacers on May 23, 2016 11:20:19 GMT -5
It is just human nature for a grandfather to take care of his grandsons.
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Post by Tom Pearce on May 24, 2016 15:44:58 GMT -5
It is just human nature for a grandfather to take care of his grandsons. I really can understand that idea va. But it just seems like a heck of a waste of a talented driver to give Ryan Newman anything but the best equipment available. I have always like his driving and bluntness but now he is running out of time to get a championship.
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Post by sodakotajune on May 25, 2016 6:42:25 GMT -5
It is just human nature for a grandfather to take care of his grandsons. I really can understand that idea va. But it just seems like a heck of a waste of a talented driver to give Ryan Newman anything but the best equipment available. I have always like his driving and bluntness but now he is running out of time to get a championship. Even when he made it into the top 4 & his crew was sub-par, RCR didn't give him Austin's crew (Kevin's old one). I'm not sure if it was because Ryan didn't want to, or it wasn't offered. Just seems to me that if you have that close of a chance at a championship, you would want the best of the best in the company working on it. Seems that has been Ryan's luck. :-(
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Post by VAisforRacers on May 25, 2016 10:50:15 GMT -5
I really can understand that idea va. But it just seems like a heck of a waste of a talented driver to give Ryan Newman anything but the best equipment available. I have always like his driving and bluntness but now he is running out of time to get a championship. Even when he made it into the top 4 & his crew was sub-par, RCR didn't give him Austin's crew (Kevin's old one). I'm not sure if it was because Ryan didn't want to, or it wasn't offered. Just seems to me that if you have that close of a chance at a championship, you would want the best of the best in the company working on it. Seems that has been Ryan's luck. :-( Reading your post the idea crossed my mind that maybe Newman being Newman he did not want to fire the crew that worked so hard to get him in the Chase in favor of another bunch.
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Post by sodakotajune on May 26, 2016 6:43:07 GMT -5
That is a possibility, VA. Maybe Ryan just doesn't want to rock the boat, so to speak. He has said he doesn't like the spotlight, that he prefers to be under the radar. I just want him to win a Championship! Not to mention a race & the sooner the better! lol
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Post by grahamcracker on Jun 9, 2016 14:37:06 GMT -5
Ryan Newman does not seem to be a competitive as he used to be. Maybe he is looking to retire too?
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Post by 221dayton on Jul 22, 2016 9:59:40 GMT -5
Richard Childress Racing moving closer to setting 2017 driver lineup
Dustin Long NBC Sports July 21, 2016
INDIANAPOLIS — Car owner Richard Childress anticipates he’ll know his 2017 driver lineup within three weeks.
While Childress told NBC Sports on Thursday that “we’ve still got a couple of months before we make any real decisions,’’ he did say that “we’ll kind of know in the next two or three weeks. We’ll have a direction.’’
The main question for the three-car organization is Ryan Newman’s status. He’s in the final year of his contract, and Childress’ grandson, Ty Dillon, appears set to move to Sprint Cup next season.
Newman is in his third season at RCR and enters Sunday’s race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET, NBCSN) 12th in the points after back-to-back top-10 finishes.
The team also includes Paul Menard, who is 23rd in the points. Childress said Menards is expected to return to the team as sponsor next year. The final member of the team is Austin Dillon, who is 13th in points and seeking to make the playoffs for the first time.
Ty Dillon, who won the 2014 Xfinity race at Indy, is third in the Xfinity points heading into Saturday’s race on NBCSN — the final Xfinity Dash 4 Cash event of the season.
Ty Dillon also has driven eight Sprint Cup races this season. He drove three races for Tony Stewart early in the season and has run five races for Circle Sport – Leavine Family Racing.
“I think he’ll be in a Cup car next year,’’ Childress said of Ty Dillon. “I’m pretty sure he’ll be in a Cup car. We’re working on some different programs. Hell, he may be with us, who knows? We’re just working on a lot of different things.
“Right now it’s just a lot of things are hanging. We’re trying to put together what’s going to be the best for everybody, not just for RCR, but for the drivers and the sponsors, we’re trying to put together good programs.’’
That also includes performance on the track. RCR last won a Sprint Cup race in 2013 when Kevin Harvick was with the team.
“I feel that our cars have gotten better over the last month, month and a half,’’ Childress said. “We were real fast to start out with, we took a little dip, now I think we’re coming back.’’
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Post by Schmoopy1000 on Jul 23, 2016 0:13:43 GMT -5
Ryan Newman does not seem to be a competitive as he used to be. Maybe he is looking to retire too? RCR cars simply aren't competitive. It would kinda suck for Ryan to help them (with notes & feedback en such) so when RCR is finally turning the corner they bail on him, but I don't think they are as close as RC believes. Not only does Ryan out point the rest of RCR, but for driving such crappy cars, he is only 8 points out of 10th in points. if he looks to retire it wont be from father time but simply not being able to land a good ride. The only time he has ever been with a good team was with Penske. he does more with less than almost any driver out there.
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