#14-Tony Stewart and #39-Ryan Newman wrecked during the final Daytona 500 practice, tearing up Stewart-Haas Racing’s two cars before Sunday’s season-opening race. Newman, the defending Daytona 500 winner, lost his right rear tire Saturday and his car spun out of control. Stewart, his car owner, was trailing tightly around Daytona International Speedway and couldn’t avoid running into him. Both drivers had to go to backup cars, and both were livid with Goodyear. They blamed the tiremaker for providing a poor product that cost them their race cars before NASCAR’s biggest event of the year. “Same stuff that we always talk about every year, failures Goodyear has,” said Stewart, who frequently takes the tiremaker to task. “I think that’s part of their marketing campaign — the more we talk about it, the more press they get. But, I think they forget it’s supposed to be in a good way, not a bad way.” Stewart, a two-time series champion, turned to the car he drove to a third-place finish in last week’s Budweiser Shootout. But by going to a backup, he forfeited his fifth-place starting spot. Newman needed his second backup of Speedweeks: He wrecked two others since arriving in Daytona.(ESPN/AP)
AND Stewart is now driving Chassis No. 14-454, which is the car he drove to a third-place finish in last Saturdays non-point Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. It is a carryover chassis from the former Haas CNC team, as it made its debut at Talladega in October 2007 with driver
Ryan Newman is now driving Chassis No. 39-452. Its history consists of three restrictor-plate track tests in 2007, three Talladega races (fall 2007, spring and fall 2008) and one Daytona attempt. This car was tentatively slated as the backup for the #14 team if its Budweiser Shootout car was damaged in the race, hence the red paint. Once the #14 teams Budweiser Shootout car emerged from the race unscathed, Chassis No. 39-452 was designated as a communal backup racecar for both the #14 and #39 teams should anything happen to either team during the remainder of Daytona Speedweeks. The #39 team was already using its designated backup car during final practice after crashing its primary racecar in the Gatorade Duel. The #39 team was unable to get Chassis No. 39-452 on the track during final practice. It will now be wrapped in U.S. Army colors for the Daytona 500.(True Speed Communication PR)(2-14-2009)
