Sprint Cup Driver Review: Ryan Newman - MotorSportsTalk

After talking about the big stories and ranking our Top 10 drivers from the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, my colleague Tony DiZinno and I are taking a look back on how each of the 13 Chase for the Sprint Cup contenders fared this past year.

In his final year with Stewart-Haas Racing, Ryan Newman finished 11th…

RYAN NEWMAN
No. 39 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
2013 Stats: 11th Place, One Win, 6 Top-5s, 18 Top-10s, 128 Laps Led
Average Start: 15.6
Average Finish: 16.0
DNFs: 5

Estrada Says: Mixed bag, anyone? First, the good bits: Indiana boy Newman won the Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and then made the Chase after NASCAR lowered the boom on Michael Waltrip Racing and Martin Truex Jr. following the race manipulation scandal at Richmond. But on the flip side, Newman lost his ride at Stewart-Haas Racing, which maintained it didn’t have enough funding for a fourth team at the time; just weeks later, SHR’s co-owner Gene Haas managed to sign Kurt Busch for a fourth program (Newman eventually captured a 2014 drive at Richard Childress Racing). Once in the Chase, Newman couldn’t stay in the title hunt for long as a 35th place result at Kansas pretty much did him and the No. 39 team in.

DiZinno Says: An odd year for Newman really. Had his moments of brilliance, with the Brickyard win,and two pole positions a year after he went pole-less. Never seemed a true title contender, though, even as he ascended to SHR’s only championship hope when his team boss and teammate Tony Stewart got injured in a sprint car crash. And it was during that injury period that the process of replacing Newman began, which naturally lowered Newman’s desire to want to help his current team while seeking new employment. He threw his pit crew under the bus in the immediate aftermath of Richmond but then got in on after the MWR penalties. A change of scenery will likely do both parties well in 2014.

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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”