Two poles and a win for Ryan Newman at NHMS

Ryan Newman won today's Whelen Modified F.W. Webb 100 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This marks his third consecutive win in the New Hampshire race and his fourth win in the series.

Ryan Newman signs the Coors Light Pole Award banner Friday at New Hampshire
Motor Speedway. Credit: Genevieve Cadorette for Skirts and Scuffs
Newman started on the pole for the Modified Series race and won the Sprint Cup Coors Light pole on Friday night for Sunday's Lenox 301 in Loudon, N.H. This is his third pole in the last three Modified races here at New Hampshire, all of which ended with Newman in victory lane.

“I enjoy the race,” he responded when asked why he keeps coming back to the series. He’s raced in the Modified Series at New Smyrna and won last year at Bristol.

“They’re a lot of fun here (at NHMS) with the way they draft and the way you have to work in the corners. The groove is actually quite a bit different for modified than in Cup cars,” Newman said.

He says his team, with a car owned by Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew chief Kevin “Bono” Manion, does “a really good job putting a great car together. We’ve got Aggressive Hydraulics on the car, Menards and ECR built a great engine for it.” Newman looks at it as “an opportunity for us to come up and do one of the things we love, is race without stress.”

The Whelen Modified Series is the oldest series in NASCAR and is very much loved in New England. This year, nine-time Modifieds champion Richie Evans was named to be inducted in the 2012 NASCAR Hall of Fame class of 2012.

"The Modifieds do drive quite a bit different," Newman said Friday. "They have different characteristics in clean air and dirty air. They actually create lift when they're out front or in clean air. So when you get behind somebody it's kind of like the old school stock cars; I should say the old, old, old-school stock cars, where they created lift and they got a single file. And when they got behind somebody it wasn't down-force, it just wasn't lift so the car actually stuck better."

"So I like the way those cars race, for sure. This is a lot of fun here to do the drafting that we do with the Modifieds. Obviously when you come here and are as consistently good as we are with the Modifieds. Obviously, when you come here and you are consistently good as we are with the Modified, it helps on Fridays as well as with the Sprint Cup car," Newman said.

Newman admits that he doesn’t like to race Cup at NHMS because of how flat the track is. If he were to build a track in his back yard, he’d build one with 20-degree banking. He’s not sure why he runs well here, but said he’s always had a good car and he likes that. This marks his 47th pole in Cup; he earned his nickname "Rocket Man" by winning 11 poles in one season.

Stewart-Haas Racing team owner Tony Stewart will start next to Newman. Stewart finished second in Friday's first practice and second in qualifying for Sunday. He says that "it's awesome" that his team swept the front row. It's the first time both SHR cars will start together on the front row.

Both Newman and Stewart are grateful for the great engines and chassis from Hendrick Motorsports.
Two poles and a win for Ryan Newman at NHMS Two poles and a win for Ryan Newman at NHMS Reviewed by Unknown on Saturday, July 16, 2011 Rating: 5