Newman Still Sore From Talladega, Wants More Answers November 6, 2009
Posted by admin in : Uncategorized , trackbackRyan Newman reiterated the need to keep racecars on the ground during a press conference at Texas Motor Speedway.
Newman was involved in a wreck last Sunday that left his car upside down. It took safety crews about 15 minutes to extract Newman from the car.
“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,” Newman said.The persisting question is whether the rear wing, when upside down, provides lift that exacerbates the situation of cars going airborne. NASCAR officials insist it doesn’t. Newman, who has a mechanical engineering degree from Purdue, called for more testing to determine the wing’s effect.
“’Do you think’ is not the answer. We have to do testing so that we know,” Newman said. “I think there might be potential for a spoiler to react differently than a wing for sure. I don’t know that it’s the answer.”
Newman said he is still sore from the wreck and likened it to a head-on collision.
“When two cars hit head on, you got the force of both. I had the force of me going up in the car while the car was coming down on me,” he said.
“I was compressed. My spine was compressed. But I never was compressed to the point that it pushed my butt down into the seat. There was an instantaneous load there that hurt,” he added.
Newman, who is sponsored by the US Army, also addressed the shooting at Ft. Hood Thursday. While he said he does not know anyone directly impacted by the incident, but knows others close to the victims.
“This has been an eye-opening experience this year with the U.S. Army, meeting different generals and colonels and soldiers, it’s been special,” Newman said. “What happened, unfortunately to me it’s a part of life. It’s happened before; it will happen again. Whether it’s in the U.S. Army, in a convenience store, it’s a part of life. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families.”
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