With a history of bad luck and wrecked race cars at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, Ryan Newman elected to play it safe with his Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) racecar in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout. Newman rode near the back in his No. 39 WIX Filters Chevrolet for much of the race while hoping to avoid “The Big One” – the multi-car melees that the 2.5-mile speedway has become famous for over the years. That plan paid off for … Read entire article »

Ryan Newman led 12 of the last 13 laps in Saturday night’s Budweiser Shootout at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway, but coming off turn four of the 2.5-mile oval on the final lap, his challengers used slingshot moves to scoot around his No. 39 WIX Filters Chevy, relegating him to third. Often in restrictor-plate racing at Daytona and its sister track at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway, the lead car is in a precarious position – especially on the last lap. If the cars that are behind pull out of the draft, they can slingshot around the defenseless lead car, which is what Kurt Busch, Jamie McMurray and Denny Hamlin did to Newman as the four-car pack exited turn four on the 75th and final lap of the Budweiser Shootout. “Well, I knew I was … Read entire article »