Newman catapulted to 4th on restart

Image via WikipediaI don't suppose I will ever be happy with rained-out qualifying, although once again Ryan Newman made a little lemonade out of the lemons he was handed. 

Starting in mid-pack last week at the inaugural race at Kentucky, it was painful to watch Newman have to start 18th. It was harder to watch his team struggle yet again with an ill-handling race car. 

The pain turned right around though, due to some creative strategy and skilled wrenching on the #39 car. Though not ideal, racing today has as much to do with strategy as it does driving. Fortunately, Newman gets high marks in both. 

While Newman has so much going for him, the one place where he definitely needs improvement is his relationship with Lady Luck. 

This week, she picked Newman over Jamie McMurray whose engine blew up just before Newman was planning to pit under green. He was running in second place at the time. The caution under yellow enabled him to restart in the top 10, with new tires and fuel. 

One more pit stop was all Newman needed. The combination of driving ability and strategy catapulted him forward during the last two laps to a well-earned, much-needed fourth-place finish. 

So despite the iffy beginning, the end of the race, especially, Newman's final restart where he overcame three positions in the blink of an eye, was a beautiful thing to watch.

Newman's performance was reflected in the points' standings as well, as he now stands ninth in the upcoming 12-man Chase to the Championship.
 

Daytona thoughts

Alright, so Daytona proved not to be the race where Ryan Newman would cast aside whatever brings out the evil at Super speedways. I have to say that I am getting pretty tired of watching the carnage. If NASCAR wants to sponsor a demolition derby, perhaps the speeds are a little high.

My previous blog post may have been just a little too optimistic, but my hope really does spring eternal. I cannot imagine a Chase for the Championship without Ryan Newman in it. So I won't. He is only 80 points out of 12th, and there is plenty of time. So, we who watch the #39 so enthusiastically will just have to eat a few more tornadoes and just bide our time. It won't be easy, but is anything worth doing ever easy?

At least Newman didn't have to endure the spoils of Daytona's bad side all by himself. He was able to commiserate with the other 18 drivers whose cars also got wrecked.

I'm glad my Arkansas neighbor Mark Martin was OK. His role in the drama apparently looked much worse than it was.

My congratulations to Kevin Harvick who ran a great race. And how 'bout that Dale Jr.--finishing 4th? There will be plenty of people happy about that, although according to the post race interview, he didn't seem to be one of them.

Ah, Lady Luck. Someone should put her name on the front of their race car, or perhaps a decal on or near the spoiler or rear quarter panel. She seems to contribute more to races than just about any sponsor.

On to Chicagoland. Make it a good one Ryan Newman and tell Lady Luck where to shove it.