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Ryan Newman signs contract extension with Richard Childress Racing
Ryan Newman and Richard Childress Racing are keeping their relationship going after this season.
The team announced Monday that Newman had signed an extension to remain in the No. 31 car. Newman’s three-year contract with the team was set to expire at the end of 2016.
“I am pleased to continue driving for Richard Childress Racing,” Newman said in a statement. “Our goal to win a championship all but turned into a reality during our first year together. I feel like since then, we have some unfinished business to complete. I’m fortunate to have forged a great relationship with my crew chief Luke Lambert, and I very much want to not only help him reach our goal of winning a Cup championship but also getting him his first Cup victory.”
Newman’s last Cup win came in the 2013 Brickyard 400 with Stewart-Haas Racing.
The driver joined RCR before the 2014 season after parting ways with SHR. Newman made it to the final round of the Chase that season despite not winning a race and finished second in the points standings after coming in second to Kevin Harvick in the season’s final race at Homestead. Harvick, along with Kurt Busch, joined Stewart-Haas in 2014.
Newman was 11th in the standings after making the Chase in 2015 despite a massive points penalty assessed to the team for tire manipulation. Lambert and two other crew members were suspended for six races while the team was ultimately docked 50 points after originally being penalized 75.
Points penalties helped lead to Newman missing the Chase in 2016. The No. 31 team was penalized at the second race of the season and after the 25th race of the season at Darlington for failing post-race inspection. The combined 30 points in penalties meant Newman entered the final race of the regular season trailing Jamie McMurray for the final spot in the Chase. After crashing out with Tony Stewart at Richmond, Newman was officially out of the Chase.
Newman has 40 top-10 finishes in 92 career races at RCR and his agreement to stay in the No. 31 still means that Ty Dillon’s 2017 ride is publicly unknown. Dillon, the younger brother of Austin Dillon, has driven for RCR full-time in the Xfinity Series for the past three seasons. If he moves to the Sprint Cup Series in 2017, it would have to be in a fourth Richard Childress Racing car or perhaps a team that has a technical alliance with RCR.
Todd Parrott was recently named the full-time crew chief for the No. 95 car of Circle SportLevine Family Racing. The No. 95, which has an RCR alliance, has been driven by Dillon and Michael McDowell in 2016. Before he was named the full-time crew chief last week, Parrott had only been atop the pit box for the six races Dillon drove the car.
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
