Ryan Newman Lucky to Leave Atlanta with a 17th Place Finish

Ryan Newman started the Kobalt 500 at Atlanta in the the rear of the field after qualifying in the seventh spot when his team elected to make an engine change. For a time Sunday, it looked like Newman might also finish in the back of the pack.


Newman's season has been plagued with bad luck. Running well at the Daytona 500, he was involved in a crash. At California he blew an engine. At Las Vegas, he had handling issues with the car. Sunday looked like another disaster in the making until late race crashes worked in Newman's favor .

At one time Newman was three laps down after a series of green flag pit stops including one for a flat tire after contact with Jimmie Johnson. Eventually, the breaks went Newman's way and he was able to get back on the lead lap, gain spots on cars who were involved in late-lap crashes, and claim the 17th spot.

“Man, we could not catch a break until the very end there,” said Newman, whose top-20 result was his best four races into the 2010 Sprint Cup season.

Ryan Newman and Greg Biffle at Atlanta Motor Speedway

Getty Images for NASCAR

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