Inside 'The Chase' With Ryan Newman: Helping the Animals

FanHouse has partnered with Ryan Newman for a behind-the-scenes look at NASCAR's Chase for the Championship. Sunday's Tums Fast Relief 500 at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway is the sixth of 10 races that will decide the Sprint Cup Series championship.

Newman, driver of the No. 39 U.S. Army-sponsored Chevrolet, is ranked ninth of the 12 Chase drivers vying for the season title, 288 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, but only 111 points behind fifth-place Kurt Busch. Newman is coming off an 11th-place finish Saturday at Lowe's Motor Speedway -- his third finish of 11th or better in the five Chase races so far.

In this week's installment of Inside the Chase with Ryan Newman, FanHouse gets the back-story of the Ryan Newman Foundation, which raises money for animal shelters and pet adoption education.

In only a five-year existence, the Ryan Newman Foundation has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, helped thousands of animals and benefited hundreds of animal shelters around the world.

And it all started with a single chance meeting between Newman's wife Krissie and a teenage fan outside Martinsville Speedway, the site of this weekend's race. It turned out to be a life-changing moment, an experience Krissie Newman vividly remembers.

After dropping off lunch for Ryan, Krissie was leaving the pit area in the infield headed toward the couple's
motor home when a young woman flagged her down and gave her a handwritten letter. Getting a note from a fan wasn't unusual. Getting this particular note turned out to be, however.

"She said, 'Please read this letter,' " Krissie Newman recalled of the fan's pleas. "I thought that was a little strange so when I got to the coach, I did, and it brought me to tears.''

The note essentially told the story of how the teenager's family had been adopting strays in their hometown because the local animal shelter didn't have the resources to properly care for the animals and too often resorted to euthanizing them.

The family had 15 dogs and were themselves in dire straits, but committed to saving the animals. The note wasn't asking for any handouts for the family, but just letting the Newmans -- well-known in their love for animal causes -- know about a bad situation in this community.

"I went back out and found that fan. ... She was wearing a Tony Stewart t-shirt and said she was a Dale Jr. fan,'' Krissie Newman said, recalling the details with a laugh.

"She was shaking and crying and could hardly remember her own phone number or directions to her house because she couldn't believe we'd come back.''

The next morning Krissie Newman and a friend went to the local Wal-Mart, spent almost a $1,000 on dog food and dog toys, packed it into the Newman's own SUV and delivered it to the family's house.

A few months later the Ryan Newman Foundation was born. And the inspiration has continued.

"In that case, we wanted to take care of the immediate problem, and that was take care of them,'' Krissie Newman said. "But it sparked my mind. This isn't just going on in Martinsville, Va., it's going on in our own backyard, it's going on nationally.

"The biggest thing we can do is educate people so we can all make things better for animals in all our communities. Until we change the situation, it won't change.''

While Krissie's reaction to one fan in Martinsville might seem extreme, it wasn't one bit surprising to her husband. Both of them have been lifelong pet-lovers and currently have a half-dozen dogs and a pair of bulls they're raising on their North Carolina farm, where they will host a fundraising gala in December.

The Newmans make it a point to visit pet shelters on every vacation no matter how remote the locale, and typically leave a large donation to make a difference in that community too.

"That's my wife with her big heart,'' Ryan Newman said, adding with a laugh. "She's a sucker for an animal story.

"I knew Krissie was doing it for all the right reasons; they couldn't help themselves,'' Newman said. "You don't not do that.''

"I can remember being on our way to the airport in California one time and we saw a chihuahua on the side of the road. She wanted us to turn around and get it.

"The foundation is our efforts and also our sponsors and our fans just trying to make a difference. Krissie brought (it) up to me that we have to find a cause.

"So many of the drivers are already doing things for kids and to help out with cancer and those important causes. We're trying to do our part for the animals that love unconditionally, too.''

For more information or to make a donation to the Ryan Newman Foundation, visit RyanNewmanFoundation.org.