FYI WIRZ: NASCAR's Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart Team Up To Win Loudon

The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) took its show northeast, where abundant crowds from New England and Canada gathered on Sunday.   

Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart, aka “Rocket” and “Smoke,” took the Stewart-Haas Racing team to a one-two finish in the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon, NH. The notable finish ended like it began as Newman had the pole and Stewart started in the second position. 

Stingy grooves at NHMS cause an abundance of bumping and banging that can lead to crashes and cautions. The race attracted approximately 95,000 fans who watched 10 cautions and 14 different leaders during 301 laps.   

Both Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson went for spins during the race, but recovered to finish in the third and fifth spots respectively. Kyle Busch was not so lucky.   

Busch has never been known for making friends on race tracks. He has one brother and two teammates as speed allies, but some drivers carry grudges for Busch. Kevin Harvick has been vocal about seeking revenge after encounters with Busch. Both are off recent probation. 

Harvick complained after the Nationwide race at NHMS that he has been “handcuffed” by NASCAR. "I was told a few weeks ago if we touched the 18 car we would be parked," Harvick said. 

Busch got his share of banging during the race, including a nudge by Dale Earnhardt Jr. that may have caused a right-front tire to go down on Lap 59. Busch’s No. 18 car slammed the wall and the crash relegated him to a 36th-place finish.

Harvick’s No. 29 Chevrolet was not often in the area of Busch’s faster No. 18 Toyota, and finished in the 21st position.      

When asked if the Earnhardt contact caused the tire failure, Busch was swift to comment. 

“There is contact with everybody out there,” he said. “It had nothing to do with anybody else. Just blew a bead. Too much brake heat transferring through the wheel and blew a tire. Nothing else besides that.”

NASCAR drivers often take time to comment about the next event and race track. Some comments can be prophetic. The Top Three at NHMS, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, commented before and after the flags.

FYI WIRZ is the select presentation of topics by Dwight Drum @ Racetake.com. 

Ryan Newman (No. 39 Chevrolet) finished first (started in first).

Before the green flag:

"It's always a fun and exciting experience going to New Hampshire. It's a place of fond memories for me,” Newman said. “I've had my share of success there [with two wins] and feel as confident about this weekend as I have at any time in the past.

"Right now the race for the Chase is real tight and I would like to have more of a cushion in points. With the new Chase criteria of having two wild-card picks based on wins for positions 11-20, you definitely want to avoid a low finish. A win would be a huge boost for our US Army team, and New Hampshire is a place where we can get that victory."

After the checkered flag:

“I’m just really proud of this US Army team and Chevrolet and all the people that help out,” Newman said. “It’s a big deal for us. Gene Haas is here. Everybody is cutting up, having a good time. We had a great weekend at Stewart-Haas Racing and I’m really proud of everybody’s effort.

“Luckily we had that lead and luckily it stayed green or it would have been a green-white-checkered position or situation and we wouldn’t have been able to make it.

"It puts us in a lot better position, that's for sure. Getting that win was a great bonus in itself. We've been so close so many times this year, we've finished in the top five, but just haven't been able to get that win."

 

Tony Stewart (No. 14 Chevrolet) finished second (started in second).

Before the green flag:

“It’s a trade-off of whether your car rotates good through the center and seems like if you can get it to rotate through the center then the challenge is trying to keep the forward drive in it,” Stewart said. “If you get good forward drive then you are normally tight in the center. That’s the two variables you fight the most and the trade-off that you fight to find that balance between the two and how much you can give up in one area to get it in the other area.”

After the checkered flag:

“This is one hell of a perfect weekend for Stewart-Haas Racing,” Stewart said. “It was a sweet one-two in qualifying and one-two in the race. I’m so damn proud I can’t see straight.

“These things have been good, we just needed one weekend where we didn't have something stupid go wrong and it happened for both of us today."

Denny Hamlin (No. 11 Toyota) finished third (started in 14th).

Before the green flag:

“It’s tough, to me it can be the monster mile like Dover, because you never know what you’re going to get out of this place—it’s so hard to race at this race track, especially side-by-side,” Hamlin said. “The air gets taken off and things like that. It’s a tough race track. Track position is really big here. It’s kind of a one-mile track, but it races like a short track. It’s very tough to avoid trouble, especially on restarts here because everyone fights to get to the bottom.

“We’ve got eight or nine races to kind of hit our stride and hopefully get some good momentum going. Hopefully, if we were able to perform well enough over these eight, nine races then we should be hopefully trying to make a title run.”

After the checkered flag:

“Just perseverance on this FedEx team,” Hamlin said. “They don’t ever want to give up and they push me when I want to give up. It’s just one of those days where we had to battle back obviously. Third is a good day, but we just fought this car all day long and right there at the end we made one adjustment that really woke it up. Obviously, we were able to make moves there at the end towards the front.”

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained from official release materials provided by NASCAR.

Photo credit: Dwight Drum at Racetake.com