10/15/2019
Newman Edged at Line, Finishes Close 2nd at Talladega
LINCOLN, Ala. (Oct. 14, 2019) – It came down to the final few inches for Ryan Newman at Talladega Superspeedway Monday afternoon, as he was just edged out by Ryan Blaney at the line to finish second in his Wyndham Rewards Ford Mustang.
“It’s disappointing to not win that one, to be so close,” Newman said afterwards. “I’ve been that close here before. Quite a few years I’ve tried, but just crazy racing and proud to get our Wyndham Rewards Ford a good finish. I’m disappointed obviously we didn’t win – to be that close. It’s part of racing.”
With a three-lap shootout to the finish, Newman lined up fifth on the inside line for the restart. After a four-car group went single-file coming to the white flag, Newman took the lead and led coming out of four and through the tri-oval, before Blaney went to his inside and won by mere inches.
It was a long 188 laps for the entire field at the 2.66-mile Superspeedway after rain set in Sunday afternoon postponing the event after 57 laps were completed in stage one. When cars returned to the track Monday afternoon, Newman was 19th when the green flag dropped as his patience proved to be key from there.
When cars rolled back off pit road at lap 58 on Monday, Newman immediately pitted for service. He would restart tail end of the field for stage two, before pitting again 31 laps later for fuel only. At lap 106 a multi-car accident occurred bringing out the yellow with Newman in 20th. That caution would end the second stage with Newman in 20th, before he hit pit road for repairs on the grill of the car.
After lining up 22nd for stage three, the caution came back out five laps into the segment with Newman in 21st. He would pit again for service, this time lining back up 19th at lap 125. From there the caution came back out a few more times, one of which came at lap 162 when he ran 27th when multiple cars were collected.
Following that yellow, he lined back up 21st with 19 laps to go, before the field was halted again at lap 182 for a red flag following a crash. Those series of events led to the final three-lap shootout, where Newman finished second at the line.
Newman and the No. 6 team return to action next weekend at Kansas Speedway. Race coverage on Sunday begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on NBC. Coverage can also be heard on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.
