Ryan Newman Visits Darlington; DCSD Fifth Graders Help Unveil 2019 Throwback Scheme

Ryan Newman Visits Darlington; DCSD Fifth Graders Help Unveil 2019 Throwback Scheme

by May 28, 2019 0 comments

DARLINGTON, S.C. – Ryan Newman stopped by Darlington Raceway on Tuesday to unveil his 2019 Bojangles’ Southern 500 paint scheme and to sign autographs for Brockington Elementary Magnet School fifth graders who enjoyed a few Oscar Mayer hot dogs.

Come Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway, Newman will pilot the No. 6 Oscar Mayer Ford that’s a throwback to Mark Martin’s 1993 Southern 500 win. The scheme features the traditional Roush No. 6. While the colors aren’t Valvoline’s red, white and blue, the Oscar Mayer branded colors are designed in the same pattern as the original scheme. Newman, who competed against Martin for a number of years is pleased to pilot a scheme that honors the NASCAR Hall of Famer and 40-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner.

“I think it’s obviously special,” Newman said about the paint scheme. “You want to drive a car that has good history. Not just history, good history. Mark won a lot of races for Roush Fenway and to come here at a racetrack where he won in this paint scheme is what it’s all about. We have to thank Oscar Mayer for giving us the opportunity to put their name and branding on an old paint scheme.”

On site for the paint scheme unveiling were fifth graders from the Darlington County School District’s Brockington Elementary Magnet School. The children got a front row seat for the unveiling, and they even toured the famous Wienermobile. Following the paint scheme unveiling, Newman signed autographs, and everyone had the opportunity to enjoy a few Oscar Mayer hot dogs.

Brockington Elementary Magnet School's top fifth graders were invited to the Darlington Raceway to meet NASCAR driver…

Posted by Darlington County School District on Tuesday, May 28, 2019

While at the track Too Tough To Tame on Tuesday, Newman mentioned that Darlington Raceway is one of his favorite stops on the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series schedule, due to its unique and challenging design. The Indiana native has never won at Darlington Raceway, but he has accumulated seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes in 20 starts. His best finish came in 2002, when he crossed the finish line in second. Newman only has one DNF that came in 2004, and he boasts a 12.1 finishing average at the track.

“I’ve always said, on your way home from work, there’s your favorite off-ramp, and this is my favorite off-ramp,” Newman said about Darlington Raceway. “It has got the right banking; it has the right curve. It’s just fun to race here. It’s fun to drive here. The race is always a challenge, but it’s really fun to drive here.”

So far in 2019, Newman has found speed during his first season with Roush Fenway Racing. In 13 races, he has earned three top-10 finishes. Back in April, Newman pieced together two ninth-place finishes at Bristol Motor Speedway and Richmond Raceway as well as a seventh-place effort at Talladega Superspeedway. This past weekend during the Coca-Cola 600, Newman led the field to the green flag on the final restart of the night, but he finished 16th. Newman’s teammate, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. left Charlotte with a fifth-place finish, his highest of the season, so the overall organization seems to be getting into a groove for the summer stretch.

“We’re just working on making them faster,” Newman said about Roush Fenway Racing finding speed in 2019. “We still have a lot of room to go in my opinion to have cars dominate, because we know that’s the potential and our goal for what we want to have. You can slow down to go faster, which sounds crazy, but that’s the case. Then you’ve really got something, and we haven’t gotten to that point yet, but hopefully we do.

“We probably could’ve played it safe last week and maybe got a top-10, but overall, we’re ready to push the buttons and test our luck. Scott Graves (crew chief) have done a good job at making the right calls. Sometimes they are the right calls and they don’t work out, but in the end, you’ve got to have confidence, and I’ve got confidence in him, and he has got confidence in me, so we’ll just keep plugging away.”

The 70th running of the Bojangles’ Southern 500 will broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) and the Motor Racing Network (MRN) at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 1.

Photo Credit: Hunter Thomas/TheFourthTurn.com

No Comments so far

Jump into a conversation

No Comments Yet!

You can be the one to start a conversation.

<