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NASCAR America: Ryan Newman on how early Phoenix win impacted his season

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Ryan Newman talks about his strong finish at Michigan and how winning early in the season at Phoenix helped his team the rest of the year.

Ryan Newman’s win at Phoenix Raceway this year was a big deal.

It was Newman’s and Richard Childress Racing’s first wins since 2013. But the victory, made possible by Newman staying out during a late caution, also gave Newman a spot in the upcoming playoffs.

The driver of the No. 31 Chevrolet was a guest of NASCAR America on Wednesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Newman discussed the impact of the win after a long drought of not going to victory lane.

“It changed the year, but it didn’t change the way we fight,” Newman said. “It gave us a lot of hope for the sake that we were maybe locked in. There was no guarantee at that point. That was huge, not just for this year, for the last three years we had been close several times.”

Newman also discussed how his team is looking at the final 13 races.

“We want to be fighting right now,” Newman said. “We don’t want to be riding along thinking ‘it’s going to be easy, it’s going to be a cakewalk.’ We’ve seen some guys do that. I think the guys when they come to pounce come Chicago, Loudon and Dover, might get surprised.”

Watch the video for the full segment.