He fights off Jeff Gordon and shrugs off a lack of power steering.
By Compiled from Times wires
Published June 2, 2003
DOVER, Del. - Victory eased the pain Ryan Newman felt after muscling a 3,400-pound stock car around the track for half the afternoon.
Newman lost his power steering but still held off Jeff Gordon to win Sunday's MBNA Armed Forces Family 400 at Dover International Speedway.
"I'm definitely tired," Newman said. "My arms hurt, my back hurts, my neck hurts, and I'll be really sore (today) and probably Tuesday.
"But we had a fast race car, and I wasn't about to pull into the garage and say, "That's it, guys."'
After making a charge that carried him late last season to a sixth-place finish in Winston Cup points and the rookie of the year award, Newman has had a difficult start in 2003. No one has failed to finish more races.
This time he overcame adversity.
"I lost the power steering with about 180 laps to go and that made it really hard," he said. "I couldn't even scrub my tires like the rest on the cautions because of it."
But the burly driver had enough strength to keep Gordon behind him when the four-time series champion tried to drive underneath in Turn 1 on a restart after the final caution period with six laps to go.
"He raced me clean, and I appreciate that," Newman said. "He could have tapped me and got me loose. I was proud to race with him."
Crew chief Matt Borland was proud of his 25-year-old driver.
"The kid did an awesome job," Borland said.
Gordon agreed.
"Ryan's very smooth and runs a good line," Gordon said. "He deserves to be in Victory Lane today."
But Gordon and third-place finisher Bobby Labonte thought Tony Stewart would have won had it not been for a one-lap penalty for pitting slightly out of his pit box.
"Tony was by far the class of the field," Gordon said.
But Newman didn't necessarily think so.
"It's just too hypothetical to say," he said. "If we had power steering the whole race, I might have lapped the field."
Stewart, who was third and closing in on Gordon late before falling behind Labonte, recovered to finish fourth. He had no comment.
But his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli, thought sanctioning body NASCAR was nitpicking.
"We weren't over the line, we were on the line by an inch," he said. "What are you going to do? A rule's a rule."
Stewart was unhappy at one point when he tried to pass Newman to get back on the lead lap.
He just missed when a caution flag came out, and he forced Newman up by the wall after the cars slowed.
Newman earned his season-high fourth pole Friday. He parlayed that into his second win this year and third career.
His Dodge led 162 of 400 laps on the Monster Mile, and beat Gordon's Chevrolet by 0.834 seconds. After the Chevys of Labonte and Stewart came the Pontiac of Johnny Benson.
