Ryan Newman’s bid to make it into the field for the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway was hampered by damage sustained in a multi-car crash, which started when Noah Gragson got into the inside wall on Lap 50.
According to Newman, he would have missed the crash, had it not been for another driver slamming into him from behind. According to Newman, that driver was Ty Dillon.
“I didn’t see what happened in front of me. The 77 just piledrove me down into Turn 1, and when they were crashing in front of me, it just shoved me into the crash, which is typical — who was that? Ty Dillon? That’s typical him. Because he’s always struggled a little bit.”
From there, Newman’s car was crippled, and after repairs, he found himself off of the lead lap.
“It ended our day I guess in the grand scheme of things because it tore our car up. We ended up losing a lap trying to work on the car on pit road,” Newman explained. “It’s unfortunate. We had a pretty good long run car, which is what we needed for that second stint, the 60 lapper. Just want to thank everyone at Rick Ware Racing for the opportunity to come out and have fun.”
While being involved in a crash for the second-consecutive weekend was certainly not ideal, Newman was happy that the changes his team made to his racing seat over the last week worked well, and he felt no discomfort from behind the wheel.
“The seat was fine. We worked on it a little this week. I backed off on the hamburgers and cheeseburgers and stuff, so we’re good,” Newman joked.
As far as further starts for Rick Ware Racing, or NASCAR in general, Newman is committed to continuing on, as long as he is having fun. And according to Newman, the last two weeks have been fun for him.
“I want to do it, as long as it’s fun,” Newman stated. “That’s what I told the guys originally. If I could have fun doing it, then I’ll keep doing it. Obviously, the results aren’t there but I think the results are there for them as far as seeing the good communication and making the cars be competitive.”
