NASCAR Texas 2014: Ryan Newman focused on consistency, not winning

Ryan Newman knows he doesn’t need to win a race to win the championship.

Although winless, don't tell Ryan Newman he can't prevail in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He doesn't care nor does it matter.

"A championship is still a championship, and the trophy doesn't have the number of wins underneath it," Newman said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. "If we win the championship that would be great in any form or fashion."

When the Chase began Newman was expected to be among those eliminated in one of the first two rounds. Instead, Newman has been one of the consistent drivers with five straight finishes of eighth or better. That run has him second in the standings, three points behind Jeff Gordon in the third of four playoff rounds.

Of the eight Chasers remaining, only Newman and Matt Kenseth are without a victory. Four drivers will advance to the championship finale Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, with at least two spots assured of being claimed by points scored in Round 3.

"As long as you have four seeds and three winners, there's that potential, said Newman of a winless champion. "We know that at the max there will be two at this point going into this last round. But we're here to win races as well, and there would be nothing better than to win the next three. There's no guarantee in any of that."

In his first year with Richard Childress Racing, Newman has improved in the second half of the season. Though he's led all of 47 laps -- the lowest of any Chase driver -- only Joey Logano has collected more points than Newman through seven playoff races.

Whether that consistency will carry him to his first championship, Newman isn't sure. However, he doesn't waver on if his team is capable.

"It takes us continuing to perform and outperform where we have performed," Newman said. "We've gotten stronger as the year has gone. Without a doubt we wouldn't be here if we weren't a contender for the championship."

Despite being in a position few expected, Newman will not change his approach. The goal in remaining two races of Round 3 is not to worry about winning, but to finish as well as possible and avoid doing anything that could be detrimental to advancing.

"I do know it's important to finish," Newman said. "I'd rather finish seventh than 27t without risking too much. At the end, you still don't have to win a race to win the championship.

"Mathematically, you can finish 39th or 40th at Homestead. That's not something anyone wants to see, but that's the math of it. It's not likely to happen, but I just go out there and do the best job I possibly can and that's made me a consistent driver this year."

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