Newman Crashes Late at Indy, Finishes 31st

What a depressing Sunday. Newman qualifying fifth last Friday and right away in the beginning of the race he looked good. That is, until he hit a checked-up Tony Stewart on pit road and damaged his nose of the car, and things went to junk after that.

Newman did a great job driving that loose car, holding his own in the Top 15, looking to gain some ground in the points (since Jimmie Johnson blew an engine). Then with six laps to go in the race, rookie Brian Vickers takes out Newman for good, spinning with around and slamming in the into the wall. Vickers, who last week took out Bobby Labonte at Pocono, could continue the race. Newman finished 31st, dropping him down 2 spots to 10th in the standings, just 31 points ahead of 11th place Kasey Kahne.

Lucky for Ryan, they're going to the road course at Watkins Glen next week, where Ryan always seems to run well. On the other hand, Kahne is still learning. He struggled at Infinieon so hopefully his road course abilities will continue to hamper him.