NOTEBOOK: Newman One Of The Mod Gang
Szegedy: “It’s great that Ryan’s running with us. He’s one of the best out there. I wish he could race with us every week.”
Loudon, NH — Ryan Newman is 2-for-2 in NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour starts this season, and with the pole position for Saturday’s F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway he’s in a great spot to add to that win total.
It’s easy to see why some might grumble that it seems unfair for a Sprint Cup Series driver to dabble in the Modified ranks. But not everybody feels that way.
“I think it’s great that Ryan’s running with us,” said Todd Szegedy, the 2002 Whelen Modified Tour champion who starts second on Saturday. “It brings us notoriety. I know there’s talk about, ‘He comes in and he takes all the money.’ So what? It’s fair and square he’s winning.”
Newman won both the pole and the race at New Hampshire in June, and he went out and won again when the series visited Bristol Motor Speedway in August. The car is owned and prepared by Kevin “Bono” Manion — crew chief for Jamie McMurray in the Cup Series and a graduate of Modified racing in the northeast.
The fact that the team has Modified roots isn’t lost on Whelen Modified Tour teams.
“The guys that work on his car are Modified guys,” Szegedy said. “They’ve been around a long time, so we’re learning a lot racing with him. He’s one of the best out there. It’s going to benefit us in the long run.
“I wish he could race with us every week.”
Ryan Preece took that notion one step further on Thursday. He said he wouldn’t mind seeing Newman enter the season finale at Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut next month. Almost immediately, Newman asked when it was.
Informed that the race would be held the day after a night race at Charlotte Motor Speedway, the gears seemed to be turning in Newman’s head.
“I’ll even practice the car for you, if you want,” Preece said.
“I wouldn’t say that I’m coming ‘back,'” Newman said of competing in a Modified, which he’s also run at New Smyrna Speedway in Florida during Daytona Speedweeks in the past. “I would say that they’re just as good, just as talented racers as I race with on Saturdays and Sundays in the Cup Series. There’s a ton of great drivers out there that are looking for the next opportunity to go race a Cup car.”
Newman pointed to drivers like Ted Christopher and Mike Stefanik — two of the best drivers in Modified racing history — who have run at NASCAR’s upper levels before returning to Modifieds because they enjoy it.
“These style race cars are just a blast to drive,” Newman said.
“It makes it a little bit different,” Preece said of having someone like Newman in the field Saturday “I just think it’s a blast.”
“It’s fun racing these guys each and every time i get in the race car,” Newman said. “I have a lot of respect for them, and I think in turn they have a lot of respect for me. It’s not like I’m the greatest driver in the world jumping in a race car to race against these guys.
“I feel like I’m one of them.”
NOTES: Saturday’s F.W. Webb 100 will be shown live on SPEED at 1 p.m…. Several drivers encountered trouble in the lone 90-minute practice session on Thursday, including Rowan Pennink and Dale Quarterley who were caught in a frontstretch melee. Pennink returned in time to qualify his No. 93, while Quarterley was unable to make it out for time trials… Both Doug Coby and Eric Beers suffered engine troubles and couldn’t make it to the track for qualifying… None of the three drivers — Quarterley, Coby or Beers — officially withdrew from the race… Justin Bonsignore was the top qualifying rookie in 20th position.
Sources: Travis Barrett, Special to NASCARHomeTracks.com