Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Ryan Newman blasts Tony Stewart for wreck: ‘Should be retired the way he drives’

RICHMOND, Va. – Ryan Newman ridiculed Tony Stewart after the former teammates crashed Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway, ending Newman’s hopes of qualifying for the playoffs.

Newman blamed the wreck on Stewart, whose No. 14 Chevrolet appeared to cut down on Newman entering the third turn.

“I guess he thought he was in a sprint car again,” Newman said. “Didn’t want to control his anger. (The team) will keep fighting like we always do. It’s unfortunate. Not the end we wanted.

“Just disappointing that you have somebody old like that that should be retired the way he drives. It’s just ridiculous.”

Told that Newman called the contact intentional, Stewart’s responded by saying: “He’s right. That was the third time he had driven into me during the night. How many times does a guy get a free pass until you’ve had enough of it?

“I go into (Turn) 1 there and he dive bombs in there and I’m already coming down. It’s not like I was trying to squeeze him into the infield or something. Ryan and I have been good friends. I don’t do that to him. He gets me in (Turn) 1 and he gets me off (Turn) 2 and it’s the third time by that time. There was once early in the race that nobody saw. Three times, that’s two more times than I normally let somebody run into me.’'

The Indiana natives were teammates at Stewart-Haas Racing from 2009-13.

Newman entered the Richmond race trailing Jamie McMurray by 22 points for the final playoff spot. He will miss the Chase for the Sprint Cup for the first time since joining Richard Childress Racing driver in 2014.

“I don’t think there was any reason other than him just being bipolar and having anger issues,” Newman said. “Google ‘Tony Stewart,’ you’ll see all kinds of things he’s done. Look it up on YouTube (and) everything else.”

Stewart will retire after the 2016 season. He qualified for the playoffs by virtue of his victory at Sonoma Raceway after missing the first eight races with a fractured back. He missed three races in 2014 after a sprint car he was driving stuck and killed Kevin Ward Jr.