Newman meets with NASCAR about Dega crash

Ryan Newman said he met with John Darby, Cup series director, and Robin Pemberton, VP of competition, on Wednesday to discuss his accident in Sunday's race at Talladega and the response of the emergency crews.

"From an aerodynamic standpoint, ultimately our biggest thing is to keep the racecars on the ground,'' Newman said. "Crashes have always been a part of racing. There are fans that like that. Sometimes that adds to extra excitement, don't get me wrong. When we can bounce off each other, get the car fixed, go back out and try to win a race, I understand that part of it. Keeping the racecars on the ground is how we keep the drivers and especially the fans safe.  So that's the one thing.

"From an ironic standpoint, that's why I was probably the most frustrated after the race last weekend, was I was in the media center talking about the very same thing on the last lap of the spring race.  To live out what my frustrations were from six months before was difficult, as well.  

"From an engineering standpoint, whatever we can do speed-wise and aerodynamically to keep the cars on the ground, in particular things in the back of the car, when it sees the air first for downforce, keep the lift out of the back of the cars is what we need to focus on.  There has been testing done. I learned some of that stuff on Wednesday morning talking to Mr. Darby and Mr. Pemberton, that they have tested. But I don't know that they have tested everything. I don't know that you can test everything. But obviously more testing needs to be done in order to make it safer for everybody.  

"Speed is a part of it. The faster you go, the more likely you are to take lift. We were talking before, an airplane takes off at 160 miles an hour. We're 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.  We have to take everything into consideration, as drivers, as teams, as a sanctioning body, to control that situation.''

For those who say take the rear wing off the car, Newman noted that Matt Kenseth got airborne in a Nationwide race at Dega in the spring and the Nationwide car has a rear spoiler instead of a wing, so it can happen to any car. Finding solutions, Newman noted, remains key.

# Little Debbie will return as a sponsor of Marcos Ambrose next year.

# Richard Childress Racing announced that John Wes Townley will drive one of its Nationwide cars with Zaxby's as sponsor.

# Raymond Key, younger brother of Nationwide owner Curtis Key, has announced that  he is assembling a Cup team with assistance of Key Motorsports, which has ties to Virginia Beach. The new team will be called Keyed Up Motorsports.

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