Newman: In Chase, luck leads to title
By BRANT JAMES
Published January 16, 2005
DAYTONA BEACH - Ryan Newman didn't think much of the Chase for the Championship from the beginning. And unlike virtually all of his peers, he maintained that dislike throughout the format's maiden season. Even when he slinked into the top 10 and qualified for the 10-race playoffs, giving him the chance to salvage an otherwise disappointing season in which he won six fewer times than in 2003.
So it's hard to discount his continued criticism as frustration over finishing seventh in the Nextel Cup standings with two wins. Though "the last 10 races are all about performance," Newman said, Kurt Busch's championship run had a lot to do with being the most fortunate.
"The way it is now, it's just more luck in the last 10 races," Newman said Thursday during testing at Daytona International Speedway. "In my opinion, Kurt did a good job and his team did a good job, but he was the luckiest guy. I think he spun out more than anybody in the last 10 races. Jimmie Johnson won four times (in the last 10), and I think Kurt spun around four or five times and didn't hit anything and kept going and got good finishes. You look at the Homestead deal. You don't break a right front wheel and not hit the wall, come in and hit the right front tire and miss nailing the wall. That's luck."
STILL DOODLING: NASCAR officials still were trying to hash out the details of qualifying for the Feb.20 Daytona 500 on Thursday, even as they released a new scheme that will assure the top 35 in owner points spots in every points race. The top two for the 500 have been determined by qualifying speed, third through 30th by finishing order in two qualifying races and the rest through a combination of qualifying results and provisionals.
UP TOP: Jeff Gordon topped the speed chart in three of five testing sessions, notable because two-time Daytona winner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and three-time winner Michael Waltrip were there. But Hendrick Motorsports director of competition Ken Howes wasn't ready to suggest Gordon, a five-time Daytona victor, had distanced himself from the Dale Earnhardt Inc. teammates.
"People inevitably ask, "What's up with (Earnhardt) or (Waltrip)' and "Why aren't they where they need to be?' " Howes said. "Who knows the answer why. They've had a lot of personnel changes and different things happen to the cars. We're like anyone else - we've got to rely on them and respect their ability at these tracks. So, it's a little surprise to us, but in the scheme of things we don't know what's going on down there or what problems they could be having. Hopefully for us they stay struggling."
Teams finishing in even-numbered positions in owner points last season will test Tuesday through Thursday at DIS.
SPEAK UP: Travis Kvapil is in an interesting situation. The 2003 NASCAR Truck series champion earned a chance of a lifetime in December when he was signed by Penske Racing South to drive its third car - the No.77 Dodge - in the Cup series Thing is, Brendan Gaughan, another trucks standout, was in that position in December 2003. But Gaughan was dumped after finishing 28th in the standings.
Kvapil could be Dodge's third consecutive rookie of the year - following Jamie McMurray (2003) and Kasey Kahne - or the failure that ends an avenue of opportunity for truck drivers.
"I'm not going to be afraid to ask (questions)," Kvapil said. "At first I was little intimidated to go talk to the veteran drivers. I didn't know them. I found out these guys don't necessarily want to help you, but they know we're going to be running side by side and they don't want to give you bad information and take the chance of you messing up and wrecking them."
CANCELED: The first day of Truck testing at Daytona was rained out Saturday. The series has a session scheduled for 9 this morning.