Newman Still Does Not Have to Win

To be the 2014Sprint Cup Champion, win-less Ryan Newman has to finish ahead of Harvick, Hamlin, andLagano,With NASCAR's arsenal of wave-arounds, lucky-dogs, pit-road speeding, loose lug nuts, AND the ultimate sliver bullet........DEBRIS CAUTION, it's possible. Stick and ballers DO have to win to make it to the final four. How is it possible that multi-time 2014 winners are now sitting on the sidelines, locked out of the championship? Guess the brain-trust never saw this one coming.

You have to admit it has changed the way the game is played. If Ryan wins it he will have a unique trophy for sure and also a title others may not have a shot at having.

Those talking heads on the beach will surely have a thing or two to say after this season ----------- or maybe not..

It is highly possible Ryan could pull this off and it would be ok with me for a couple of reasons:

1. I really like and respect Ryan Newman. Winner or not, if he is Champion they can never take that from him.

2. A winless Champion, after all the hype NASCAR gave us about "it's all about winning" would be a hoot. Not that NASCAR, especially Brian France, would care.

It has been repeated over and over the past six or eight weeks, that this format has drawn more fans, sold more tickets, and sparked more interest in the sport than anything done in the past dozen years. I've even talked to race fans, young and old, who repeat the mantra espoused by NASCAR. Other than the Phoenix sell out of grandstand seats, I really haven't seen it, but folks are claiming it's fact! Television ratings for Phoenix should be interesting and I'm waiting to see those.

What we have is four guys with a total of what, 8 wins between them, going for a championship when you have guys like Keselowski (6), Jeff (4), Earnhardt (4) sitting it out. Yep, "It's all about winning".

Somewhere in there you have to put consistency Tim. Its not about winning its being there at the end in the proper place to kiss the trophy and or ---- girl

I leave for Homestead Friday AM - plan to take in all 3 races. For Sunday, it would seem Harvick would be the favorite. However, he has been plenty fast this season only to have something unexpected go awry. Of the other 3, I'll give the edge to Newman for one simple reason.

He legitimately chugs his Coca-Cola post-race. Hamlin and Logano just unscrew the cap and fake sips when the cameras are on. As one who has all but abandoned drinking soft drinks, I get how downing a big ol' Coke - full of salt and sugar - may not be the first thing I want to do after crawling out of a hot race car. But Newman does - and does it genuinely. Having said that, I'll take his honesty as the deciding factor over the two fakes. Ha.

It's not Ryan Newman, it could be any driver. The issue is a win-less champion. Consistency is a virtue, but that a'int the reason folks by tickets and watch the race on TV. The "big game" a'int won by the most consistent team, that actually has not won a game..........only in NASCAR.

Well I have never drank alcoholic beverages and after crawling out of the car whether I won or just finished I loved a cold Pepsi, and yes the full flavored kind. If you ever got out and pushed yourself past a limit you set then you know the pleasure of the drink. Ryan to me is an all American guy,no frills or fancy lights just a good ole boy who loves racing and who can drive the wheels off a car.

My Hero ANDY ! !

I can't belive this could happen--Don't think I would be to proud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks--Harlow Reynolds,Lynchburg,Va.

Consistency not winning make you a Champion???????????????????

Thanks--Harlow Reynolds--Lynchburg,Va.

I know the Benny Parson's story. Ralph Moody cut the roll cage from another car, and welded it into Benny's...........etc. etc. etc. I know the story. But, as you point out..Benny WON A RACE. So far, Newman has not. Which flies into the face of NASCAR's own mantra for 2014.........it's all about winning......... This system was supposed to reward wins....such was not the parameters of 1973.

Monte Dutton has made it clear to me that Newman doesn't have consistency either. Hes only finished in the top five four times. I like Newman and was rooting for him but now I can't. Dutton also reminded me that Junior would been champion last year without any victories. Not likely that we would hear as many complaints about the system if he had triumphed.

I thought up a system the other night that kept the eliminations but included all teams and spread them out over the entire season - every nine races or something. I was trying to decide if a win should let you back in after elimination but then decided that we didn't really need another screwy chase formula, we just needed to make the whole season count.

I would rather dump the chase go back to the old points system, but if we're going to have a chase then this is my favorite format so far. For me, it's built excitement and made me watch more often than I have in recent years. I know it's just a gimmick and most of these eliminations would have happened anyway. But it works for me and I don't follow stick & ball sports.

Some people have been eliminated this year that I think should still be in it. Keselowski and Gordon especially. Some people are in it that shouldn't be. I can deal with that. My biggest grudge against this new system is that it all comes down to luck in one race. One bad pit stop shouldn't be able to take the championship away from Logano and Harvick. Up until now, they've had two other races to redeem themselves and now there's just one.

As great a season as Keselowski had, somebody on his team choked. He had to fight to make the next round twice and only succeeded in doing so once. Logano has essentially the same machinery and is in the playoff. Denny Hamlin choked one year and Carl Edwards another. It happens and it's nothing to be ashamed of. But last year they didn't even make the chase after winning the championship the year before. Something's very wrong there and they need to get to the bottom of it.

I don't get any of the concerns expressed here. The people that own the series set the rules. ALL the drivers and team owners knew the rules at the start of the season. ALL the drivers entered and ran ALL the races to the best of their abilities, and ALL the pit crews attended to their carsevery time the driver pitted. Just as in life, atthe start of the season each team and driver was guaranteed equal OPPORTUNITY. NONE wereguaranteed equal RESULTS.

Whoever wins the championship, will win under the same guidelines provided for EVERYONE, and deserves the results WITHOUT an asterisk. As far as 'choking' is concerned, what was/is observed as 'choking' was actually donein the midst of competition, not the cool side of a TV.

Got to agree with that Will. Totally and Completely.

Nice to hear from you Tim, you are a large reason that I check in from time to time. I apologize for not knowing more about your background, but from my perspective you have a cleaerr view of the 'inside stuff'. Would have liked to have spent more time with you at the RR. The invitation of a visit to my shop to you, andothers, is still open.

Wouldn't say NASCAR brain trust didn't think this could possibly happen but still, it's a strong 3:1 odds against Newman. A long shot by any means. Pretty sure all three will run ahead of him on track and one of them will finish ahead of him.

If he does overcome those odds, he deserves it. Not like he's a random Joe that just lucked into it. Newman is one of the great talents in my book. You don't win 8 races in a season at any point in time otherwise. Not to mention his qualifying legend.

Thanks, Will. I sincerely appreciate the honor of your comments. It is always my pleasure to interact with you.

Yes sir, there are several of us who want to come visit your shop. I have been busy with family stuff with grandsons into all kinds of sports but I'm going to call a few of those expressing interest AFTER I talk to you about your available dates. I'll be calling you in the next day or two to get your schedule.

As for my background, all you really need to know is that I've been around the sport since 1952 when my Uncle Bobby and my grandfather took me to my first race. After that, Uncle Bobby kept taking me all over NC, SC, and Georgia to races every where. We started doing the "big races" with the 1957 Rebel 300 at Darlington. With that start, it was all the major races and a lot of the small races all the way up to about 2004. Don't go much any more but still watch. I was the guy who was always in the way in the pits during the 70s and 80s as I had press credentials for the radio show I did for a local FM station. But most of all, I love stock car racing.

I'll be talking to you soon. Again, thank you for such a nice compliment.

You are welcome to stop by any time that I am at home. I travel some each month as I am helping a gentleman in Tennessee restore some very rare Bugatti's and a Rolls Royce boat tail speedster (NOT race cars, LOL).

Here is a link to my website that might give some perspective of my humble current shop. It is about 45ft x 65ft and was built from an old horse barn, and bears no resemblance to my old racing environment.

http://www.mantiquesresto.com/aboutus/aboutus2.html

I have gotten away from race car 'stuff' as well as the Model A 'stuff' and am now concentrating on metal shaping and building aluminum body panels. After having spent so many yearswith the NASCAR rulebook, then the Model A restoration guidelines, I am really enjoying the freedom from printed 'rules'.

Here is a link to the 'stuff' I have been working on in the last few years. Only the speedster remains in the shop at this time. It is not racing stuff, but if you are still interested, I would enjoy having you here.

http://www.mantiquesresto.com/Projects/Projects2.html

Again, you are welcome, and feel free to bring anyone that you wish to invite.

It's not about Newman, other than crashing Kyle Larson on the last turn at Phoenix, (his "season was on the line........blah, blah, blah") he's as capable driver as any of them. Yes, of course everybody 'accepted' and are running under the same rules..........what were the options? NASCAR makes the rules and it's their way or the highway. The issue, to me, is that multi-time season winners, those who have consistently won, and contended for wins, (for all his other attributes, Ryan Newman has not) are locked out of the championship,becauseof the rules. My issue is with the system.......the new and grandiose "elimination chase". The Bob Latford model rewarded consistency, and that's fine, if that's the system. But the NEW format encouraged winning.....don't see how this edition represents the advertised intentions.

2 of the final 4 Chasers have nine wins between them. While the other 2 have got there primarily on consistency. So in a way, this system has something for everyone, those who like to see wins at critical, pressure-packed junctions get rewarded and those who like to see their champions stay consistent and avoid trouble.

So what if some of the other guys with many wins are not going to be champions? In 2003, you had Newman with 8 wins lose to a guy that stroked his way thru the season.

Agree 100% Will. All the teams start the season off with the same NASCAR rule book. I for one am pulling for RCR and Newman. The championship should be shared by the team and I could name a crew or two who've had problems this year BUT won't.

Maybe somehow, NASCAR should award points next year based on theRaceday team of each driver and not just the driver.May or may not work but at least then the driver would have more respectfor his team members andmight support them more instead of spouting off on TV how bad the team was when mistakes happen.