January 11, 2006

By Rebecca Gladden

They call him "The Rocket Man" and "Flyin' Ryan" - testaments to the fact that Ryan Newman can drive very, very fast.

But a question seems to hang over Newman's head these days like a dark cloud: when will his qualifying speed translate to race day wins?

Perhaps it is inevitable when one compares Newman's mastery of qualifying to his relative number of victories. The driver of the No. 12 Alltel Dodge took the season-long Bud Pole Qualifying Award again in 2005, as he has every year since he came to Cup full time in 2002, with eight poles. He had nine poles in 2004, eleven in 2003, and six in 2002.

Newman does have a total of 12 wins and has finished in the top-10 for four straight years. But eight of those wins came in a single season in 2003. He had just two wins in 2004 and one in 2005, and has been unable to break into the top-5 in title points - not even in his eight-win season, which was marred by seven DNF's.

In an October 2005 teleconference, Ryan bristled at a question about his relative lack of wins. "I've done these teleconferences and sat there every other question and said, you know, when we get the monkey off of our back, you'll see. I think (crew chief) Matt Borland and everyone here at the shop have done an awesome job of giving me the best equipment that's out there, whether it's for one lap in qualifying or the race itself. Like I've always said, it's two laps in qualifying, and that's a heck of a lot easier than 200 to 500 laps during the race - with pit stops, debris, potential accidents that aren't even your fault. There's a lot more to it than just a racecar that's capable of going fast."

The touchy subject even came up at the 2005 Nextel Cup Awards Banquet, when Newman had this exchange with comedian and host Jay Mohr:

• Mohr: I have a two-part question. What's the secret to winning a pole, and how do you apply that to winning a race the next day?

• Newman: Could you separate the question?

• Mohr: Alright. What's the secret to winning a pole?

• Newman: Good teamwork, a lot of effort, hitting your marks - there's no secret.

• Mohr: It's like acting - you just hit your marks.

• Newman: Yeah ... second part of the question?

• Mohr: How do you apply winning those poles to winning the race?

• Newman: I don't know.

Although the conversation was played for laughs, it is no doubt a sore subject for Ryan, who wants to win more races and ultimately a title. "Our team can't rely on top-10 finishes alone to win this championship," he said in 2005. "We're very happy with our newfound consistency and the team is truly relaxed and confident in our abilities right now. But a streak of top-10's is going to have to turn into a streak of top-5's and a few wins to secure the championship."

Meanwhile, Newman and team started testing for the 2006 season this week without former teammate Rusty Wallace, who retired at the end of the 2005 season. In a press conference Monday, Newman expressed hopefulness about working - or at least peacefully coexisting - with new teammate Kurt Busch. "As a driver I'm not going to sit in a meeting and tell Kurt Busch how I drive my racecar. That's not how it works. It's more talking about if the track changed or if you saw something on the racecar that stands out. He may drive the car totally different than I do. That was the case with Rusty. It's going to be a learning process in a lot of different areas, not just myself or the engineering group or the way I drive."

Looking ahead to the new season, Ryan's qualifying feats will likely continue, but he is definitely hoping for race day success to match.

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. Although we may not always agree with what is said, we do feel it's our duty to give a voice to those who have something relevant to say about the sport of auto racing.