Ryan Newman Calls Talladega Crash 'Worst Hit I've Ever Had'

For two mornings this week, Ryan Newman struggled just to lift his head off the pillow to get out of bed, his neck muscles still sore from a frightening airborne smash-and-roll wreck at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway last Sunday.

Even as he suited up Friday to practice for Race 8 of NASCAR's 10-race Chase for the Championship at Texas Motor Speedway, he was still aching from the crash, and bristling that it even happened.

Newman had been outspoken about NASCAR's immediate need to keep the race cars from launching into the air during accidents -- only to take that scary ride himself Sunday afternoon.

So instead of accepting the many interview requests to talk about the accident, a still sluggish Newman met with NASCAR officials at the Research and Development Center Wednesday in Charlotte.

"I was a little surprised at all the people wanting to do interviews, but I don't want to be interviewed because of my crashes, I want to be interviewed for winning,'' Newman said.

"I'm not in this for that kind of publicity. I'd rather meet with NASCAR and figure out a way to make the situation better."

"We talked about two different things, the extrication of myself from the accident scene and secondly, the reason why we're in that position in the first place, which is, to me, more important,'' Newman said.

Footage of the accident has been replayed daily -- even by the network morning shows and outlets that don't normally cover the sport. And it has sparked a lively debate on how to make the restrictor plate races at Talladega simultaneously exciting and safe.

Newman doesn't need to watch video of his accident. He has full sensory recall -- including watching and feeling the sparks shooting by his face because his helmet visor popped open before his car slid upside down along the asphalt track.

"I remember having to pull my visor back down in the middle of everything -- I felt like I flipped 10 times, but it was only three,'' Newman told FanHouse Friday as part of our weekly Inside the Chase Series with the Stewart-Haas Racing driver.

"I was all good until the roll cage came down and hit me. I wasn't ready for that one. It's the worst hit I've ever had.''

As his pit crew watched nervously on television monitors, it took track rescue workers nearly 15 minutes to get Newman out of the car after establishing he was conscious. Newman said one responder held his hand while the others worked to flip the car over and cut the roof off to free him from the mangled No. 39 U.S. Army Chevrolet.

He lost radio communication when the car came to rest upside down, disabling the antennae. But after the car was righted, he was able to radio his crew -- including his father, who spots for him -- and his wife Krissie to assure them he was all right.

"The first guy that got there talked to me and knew I was okay, but you can't properly assess the definition of okay until I'm out of the car,'' said Newman.

"I know (rescue process has) been an evolution, but the evolution is behind. I'm not mad at them, but I want it to be known from a driver's standpoint what can be done to make it better.''

Improving the show for the fans and the safety for the drivers remained a hot topic even as the series moved to the relatively calmer 1.5-mile track outside Dallas for Sunday's race.

Newman, a 2003 winner at Texas Motor Speedway, said he's inclined to agree with championship leader Jimmie Johnson, who suggested this week that altering the track's 33-degree banking is the most realistic option at Talladega.

"That's the easiest thing to do because we need to make it so the drivers have to drive the race car,'' Newman said. "We need it so it's not wide open, at some point we need to lift (off the accelerator) and that will make it better.

"We have crashes all year at every track, but only at Talladega do the cars leave the ground.''

Newman said NASCAR officials assured him Wednesday that they have already begun testing some things to help keep the cars from getting airborne.

"But I don't know that they have tested everything, I don't know if you can test everything,'' said Newman, who holds a degree in engineering from Purdue University.

"The faster you go, the more likely you are to take lift. An airplane takes off at 160 miles an hour. We're going 40 miles an hour above that at times. There's plenty of potential for a car to take lift, whether it's going forwards, backwards or sideways.''

"I talked to them a little about the the extrication of me, about the cars and the process of making all this better,'' Newman said.

"It's too little too late for me, but maybe on time for someone else.''