January 10, 2009
By Brenda Benedict
When David Stremme takes the wheel of the #12 Penske Dodge next month, he will be following in the footsteps of last year’s winner, Ryan Newman, in more ways than one.
Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 in 2008 driving the #12 Penske Dodge. Newman then went on to leave Penske and join Tony Stewart’s new team for 2009.
David Stremme and Ryan Newman were both born in South Bend, Indiana in 1977 less than six months apart from each other. They both began their racing careers in Midwest racing circuits.
Stremme was featured by NASCAR Wednesday in a video conference during which he stated that he is looking forward to returning to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series after racing in the Nationwide Series last year.
Stremme may have put a put a strain on his relationship with Newman by suggesting that Ryan Newman’s performance in 2008 was not as good as it could have been because Newman knew he was leaving Penske.
Stremme stated, “Ryan started out the season very well. He knew he was leaving. He done a very good job, but he was on his way out. He was going to look to do other things.”
Stremme tempered his statement later in the interview by saying, “I don't think Ryan gave up at all. You look at his performance. He was still there, running well. It's just as a driver and as a team, you know, you could see towards the end of the year when there's a lot of things happening, you're talking about next year.
Ryan Newman’s statistics for 2008 do seem to confirm what Stremme was suggesting. In the 2008 season, Ryan had only one win -- the Daytona 500, the first race of the year. He followed that up with two Top 5’s, eight Top 10’s while securing one pole. All of these accomplishments occurred before August 23rd. In the last twelve races of the year, Newman’s average finish was 21st.
David Stremme’s racing career has had its share of ups and downs. After a blazing start as a teenager in Indiana where he won the American Speed Association 2002 Rookie of the Year as a 23 year old, Stremme moved up the national series of NASCAR.
Stremme moved into the Nationwide (Busch) Series in 2003 and continued running in at least some of those races every year.
In 2005, Stremme began his Sprint Cup career where he ran four races. After running full-time for the 2006 – 2007 seasons, Stremme was replaced by Dario Franchitti in the 2008 season.
Stremme states he is very happy to be returning so quickly to the Sprint Cup Series after being out only one season.
“I’m not surprised I’m back so quickly. It was more of me being patient than anything because I wanted to make sure I was in the right surroundings.”
Stremme went on to say that he feels like 2009 is really going to be a “statement” year to showcase his ability.
“Well, I think a lot has to do with all the teams I was with before, it’s not disrespecting any of them, were all in either, I would consider B- or C- team environments. I’m at an A-team now, where I’m able to go out, and I feel like I can win here at this organization. They’ve put people around me to go win races, just be competitive each week. That’s the main thing. Especially starting out at the beginning of the season, we haven’t worked together, but again, we have a little bit throughout the testing.”
Stremme is poised to make a great return to Sprint Cup action. I am looking forward to what he can accomplish this year while driving with a stronger team and better support in the garage.
But then, I’m looking forward to everything about the Daytona 500 after this tempestuous off-season.
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
