I'm not one for "unnamed" or "sources close to the situation," but ESPN reported last night Ryan Newman has a verbal agreement with Stewart-Haas Racing.
Duh. Haven't we been saying that for two weeks now?
J.D. Gibbs said over the weekend they don't have sponsorship for a fourth car, so that flies out the window. But there were, and I suppose still are, possibilities at Petty Enterprises and Gillette Evernham.
But look at the advantages of Stewart-Haas.
First off, lots - and I do mean lots - of press coverage.
Next, it's two heartland racers getting together. One is pretty outspoken, but maturing. The other is grounded, quieter and already mature. One is streetsmart, the other seriously booksmart. That works well together.
The two Indiana boys are philanthropic, serious givers. Tony's we've discussed here already. Newman and his wife Krissie compiled and published Pit Road Pets, to benefit their foundation which focuses on animal welfare and no-kill shelters.
Both are poised and polished spokesmen for sponsors. Tony's done great commercials for Home Depot. Or Ryan and the Alltel spots calling other drivers to say the race is cancelled. And don't you hear the Gillette Young Guns yelling "New-man!" when you think about the name?
And for Newman, his buddy and former crew chief Matt Borland is competition director for Stewart-Haas. That's a good pairing, period, considering all but one of his wins has been with Borland. They were a hot team when I started watching NASCAR. I was greatly impressed by the gambles - and wins - on fuel mileage. Maybe they fudged the tanks, maybe not, but they won.
On the negative, there is pressure to succeed. Plenty of pressure to succeed, for both drivers.
All Hoosiers, all the time. Now if they could only run Hoosier tires...
No comments:
Post a Comment