INDIANAPOLIS - Ryan Newman spent his childhood racing at every short track he could find in his home state of Indiana.
He graduated from Purdue, located in West Lafayette, and landed a summer job working in Jeff Gordon’s old race shop in Pittsboro. One of the perks? He got to live in the shop and sleep alongside the cars.
And like many Indiana kids, Newman, from South Bend, revered Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the track he first visited in 1986.
A victory at the famed Brickyard?
Newman made his boyhood dream a reality, taking the checkered flag Sunday, ending a 49-race Sprint Cup winless streak, and he did it in front of his home state fans.His parents, who fueled his love of racing and took him to the 500 as a kid, joined him for his biggest victory in Indiana.
Newman was as calm and collected in Victory Lane as he was on the track when he held off points leader Jimmie Johnson.
“I don’t show a lot of emotion, I think everybody knows that,” said Newman, who likened the victory to his 2008 victory at the Daytona 500. “I had the same emotion, the same thankfulness I did when I won the Daytona 500 because I feel everybody that has been a part of my racing career - from people that bought my racing uniform, bought me a right rear tire, given us a credit card to get to some race track at some point in my career - those are the people that helped me get to where I am today.
“To me, it’s awesome to be here at Indy. It’s awesome because it’s my home state. I’ve raced go karts at pretty much every go kart track around here, been kicked out of half of them. Those are the things that make it special. I think about those things more than I carry the emotion on my cheeks.”
Newman kept it together during his celebratory burnout and the drive to Victory Lane, a hallowed area that he twice had to ask his crew over the radio for directions how to get there. He took the customary ride in a convertible around the track with his wife and two young daughters, and happily bowed again and again to kiss the Yard of Bricks.
He smiled, and shared hugs with one of his daughters. But that was the most anyone was getting out of Newman, who had admitted to getting emotional after winning the pole on Saturday but seemed almost numb following Sunday’s victory.
“I’m not sure why,” Newman said. “I took an emotional hit yesterday. Just an awesome day.”
Newman set a NASCAR track record in knocking Johnson off the pole in qualifying, then Sunday with a fast final pit stop to snatch the victory from the four-time Indianapolis winner.
The two were the class of the field - they combined to lead 118 of the 160 laps - but it was Johnson who appeared to be just a bit better. But Johnson pitted from the lead with 27 laps remaining and it was a slow final stop for the Hendrick Motorsports crew.
Newman pitted after that, taking two tires, moving into the lead after the green-flag stops cycled through the field. The closest Johnson would get to him again was when he paid a congratulatory visit to Newman in Victory Lane.
The victory comes as Newman is looking for a job.
Stewart-Haas Racing has signed Kevin Harvick for next season, and team co-owner Tony Stewart informed Newman two weeks ago he won’t be brought back in 2014. It didn’t change the post-race mood, as Stewart hustled to Victory Lane, lifted Newman from behind and the two shared a long embrace.
“He just had an awesome weekend,” Stewart said. “I kept looking up the board and watching and I was scared to ask where he was at and how big of a lead he had. I didn’t want to jinx him. Just really proud of him - he’s a great teammate and an even better friend.”
Johnson finished 2.657 seconds behind Newman in second.
“We win as a team, lose as a team,” Johnson said. “ There’s been some late race mistakes on my behalf that have taken race wins away from us. Granted, not a major event like this. We still ended up second.”
Kasey Kahne, Johnson’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, was third and Stewart was fourth as Chevrolet swept the top four spots. All four cars were also powered by Hendrick Motorsports.
“We had pretty good power all day long. There were a lot of scenarios where I noticed how good it was,” Stewart said. “That’s what you expect out of the Hendrick engine department. That’s the standard that they set.”
Matt Kenseth was fifth in a Toyota and followed by Hendrick’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Gordon, as all four Hendrick entries landed inside the top seven. Earnhardt rallied from a loose wheel on the opening run of the race to grab his top-10 finish.
Mark Martin (Batesville) finished 23rd, 50.082 seconds behind Newman.
Sports, Pages 13 on 07/29/2013