BRISTOL – Awaiting a final appeal for allegations of tampering with their tires last month at Auto Club (Calif.) Speedway, Newman and the Richard Childress Racing continue to fight through the controversy with solid finishes on the racetrack.
Their efforts continued Sunday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway with a top-five finish in the Food City 500 in Support of Steve Byrnes.
While the finish doesn’t secure Newman or his team a guaranteed spot in the Chase, Newman’s fourth top-five finish of the year does aid him tremendously in his recovery of 50 lost championship points.
“We fought back from a difficult week and a challenging race weekend. We struggled a little bit all weekend and there on the final restart, I spun my tires. I am so proud of this WIX Filters team and what we were able to overcome. It says a lot about us and I look forward to next weekend and what we can accomplish in Richmond.”
Newman’s night wasn’t exactly easy either.
After starting mid-pack in 18th, the driver of the No. 31 struggled early. However, as the race pressed on following a nearly four-hour rain delay, Newman’s car began to throttle forward with adjustments from crew chief Luke Lambert.
A late-race strategy paid off when Newman stayed out on the Lap 344 caution for debris in Turn 1. Joining six other drivers on the same strategy, the gamble paid off, restarting second.
While Newman wasn’t able to contend for the lead, Newman held his own on older tires and was able to dodge a late race accident to earn his fifth top-10 run in the past seven races.
With their first appeal heard this past Thursday and the penalties amended from the loss of 75 championship points to 50 and a fine reduction from $125,000 to $75,000, the team remains in the fight of their life as they await a final decision from final appeals officer, former Gulfstream executive Bryan Moss at a to-be-determined date.
Lambert was able to call the race as the suspensions handed down to the team were deferred depending on the outcome of Moss’s decision.
With the South Bend, Indiana’s native fifth top-10 finish of the season, he gained four positions in the championship standings and now secures the final transfer spot in 16th.
The 17-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race winner now heads to Richmond next Saturday night, where he posted an eighth and ninth place finishes respectively last year.
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01
