#31- Ryan Newman ended Saturday’s first practice with the 12th-fastest time, but the RCR team faced a bit of adversity during the 50-minute session. When #33-Brian Scott lost a motor, Newman hit a piece of debris from the engine failure. The incident broke the right front bead blower and damaged the front splitter of the car. The team quickly repaired the bead blower and got Newman back on track to complete the session. After the practice, neither Newman nor crew chief Luke Lambert were concerned about the potential setback. ‘We hit a piece of debris,’ said Newman. When asked about replacing the splitter he simply said, ‘No big deal.’
‘That debris from the engine that blew up, a chunk of it went underneath the car, messed the splitter up and knocked the bead blower hose off,’ Lambert told FOXSports.com. Lambert said replacing the splitter would not set the team back any, as they had plenty of time before the 50-minute Happy Hour practice session. ‘We’ve got enough time to change it,’ he said. ‘Honestly, it was something we were probably going to do anyway based on the splitter wear. It’s not really a big deal.’ Despite being the slowest of the four contenders, Lambert showed little concern about the speed charts. ‘The car was pretty good,’ he said. ‘We tried some adjustments to shift the balance a little bit for what it was doing on entry and on exit. We got it close, but need just a little bit more, so it was a pretty positive learning experience. We’re fine. If we get the balance right we’ll be OK. Really, right now he’s been searching trying to find the line he’s at, get the car to run where he wants to. It’s going to be such a different race than this right here. You can go out there and fool yourself trying to run lap times. It’s all about getting the car like it needs to in the race.’(FoxSports)(11-15-2014)
