Ryan Newman Without His Crew Chief
|
Posted by Jeremy Dunn Nov 9, 2006 |
Discuss this blog on the discussion board
Ryan Newman made his NASCAR Nextel Cup (then Winston) debut at Phoenix in 2000 with crew chief Matt Borland by his side. So it's ironic that for the first time in his career, Newman will have another crew chief, MIke Nelson, atop the pit box at Phoenix this weekend, six years later.
Newman and Borland, both engineers, became masterminds almost immediately, and played the fuel mileage game better than anyone else in the garage. And you could almost count on that 12 car winning the pole about every other week, as Newman has 37 career poles just five years into his career. From 2002 to 2005, Newman and Borland won 12 races together, 8 coming in 2003.
They have finished in the top ten in the Cup standings every season since 2002, until now.
The duo was considered by some as possibly the best driver/crew chief combo since Jeff Gordon/Ray Evernham.
So what happened? Newman and the 12 team's struggles, especially on the intermediate tracks, have been one of season's biggest mysteries. How do you go from being one of NASCAR's top five teams, to barely clinging on to 18th in the Nextel Cup standings?
You can point out this here and this there, but when a team struggles as badly as the 12 team has in 2006, there are serious problems, and it's deeper than just the Dodge Chager's instability.
It's been rumored for a while that Matt Borland would no longer be the crew chief for Newman and the 12 team in 2007, but recently, it was revealed that he would 'take personal time off' and relinquish the pit box for the two remaining races.
I know that it has not been made official...but it seems highly unlikely that Borland would take time off with only two races to go in the season if he was going to remain with the team next year.
Reports have him going Red Bull Racing, or maybe stay with Penske Racing in another capacity, but I think it's a foregone conclusion that the Newman/Borland combo has not been near as effective as it once was, and a fresh start is imminent.
Mike Nelson is the interim crew chief, and like Borland, Nelson has an engineering background. Rumors also have Roy McCauley moving over to the 12 team in 2007.
But a change of leadership could be what breathes new life into one of NASCAR's biggest stars.
