Ryan Newman to leave Penske?
07/13/08 Ryan Newman was "Mummy" on whether he will leave Penske Racing after this season. Newman, promoting the soon-to-be-released movie "Mummy" on his car in Saturday night's Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, is considered the leading candidate to join Tony Stewart next season at newly-formed Stewart-Haas Racing. Sources have told ESPN.com that deal to join the Indiana natives is close to done and could be announced in two weeks at Indianapolis. Newman said he has three serious options outside of Penske and that ownership is part of at least one of the options. He also said re-signing with Penske is an option. Asked if ownership could be an option at Stewart-Haas, where Stewart was given 50 percent of the company, Newman said, "I won't answer that." Newman said last month he would not re-sign with Penske unless the performance of his team improved significantly. He said the team has made some strides to improve, but not enough to convince him it is ready to challenge for a championship. ESPN.com
06/18/08 Ryan Newman has an agreement to revisit his latest contract offer with team owner Roger Penske after an undisclosed deadline, but said he will not return to his current NASCAR Sprint Cup team unless his No. 12 Dodge program shows significant improvement soon.
Newman’s season has been mostly a disappointment after he opened with a victory in the 50th Daytona 500. He’s 17th in points with five top-10s but four finishes of 30th or worse, two because of engine failures.
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| Ryan Newman |
“It’s a performance issue," Newman, 30, said at a pre-Coke Zero 400 media event at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday. “There’s no excuse. The other guys aren’t doing it. We shouldn’t either. We strive to be the best at everything, and we’re failing at that."
Newman’s latest engine disaster led to a 42nd-place finish last week at Michigan. That second incident, he said, will impact his decision on whether to return to the team that gave him his start in NASCAR in 2000.
“Heck yeah," said Newman, who has won 13 Cup races, eight in 2003 when he finished his career-best of sixth in for the second of three times. “Without a doubt. My goal is to be the best driver I can be and get the best results, wherever that is, whether it’s Penske Racing or any other place. I have to be fair to myself and my long-term goals and everything else, and Roger knows that. We’ve talked about that. It’s no secret. Sunday was obviously a step in a bad direction when it came to that." St. Pete Times
04/25/08 Ryan Newman’s contract with Penske South expires at the end of this year and he is definitely considering his options.
“I haven’t signed my contract yet, and we haven’t even really talked about it yet," he said at Talladega Superspeedway. “There’s some options out there, obviously. … I’m sitting happy in my seat right now, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be happy someplace else."
“I know that there’s other things out there," he said. “I know that there’s other things besides retaining my position at Penske Racing."