Ryan Newman and car owner Richard Childress both offered little on Newman’s future with Richard Childress Racing on Wednesday. Newman signed a three-year contact to drive for the team beginning with the 2014 season. This is Newman’s third year with the organization. No extension on Newman’s contract has been announced. With RCR at three cars and Ty Dillon, Childress’ grandson, on the path to move to Cup, the question is what RCR’s driver lineup will be next year if it doesn’t find sponsorship to expand to four cars. ‘I’ll keep doing this as long as somebody wants me to do it and it’s fun doing it,’ Newman said of his future. Asked about next year’s driver lineup, Childress said: ‘We’re not looking at anything right now. We’ve got to focus and focus hard on trying to go out and win races. That’s our No. 1 focus right now.’ Although Newman has yet to win at RCR, he finished second in the points in 2014 and was 11th last year. He enters this weekend’s race at Dover International Speedway 17th in the points. Will winning change if he is back at RCR? ‘I have no idea,’ Newman said.(NBC Sports)(5-12-2016)
UPDATE: Certainly, RCR’s future inexorably linked to Chidress’ grandsons – Austin and Ty Dillon. #3-Austin is currently leading the charge in the Sprint Cup Series. The 26-year-old racer won titles in both the truck and Xfinity Series prior to graduating to Cup, where he is currently eight in the standings. Veterans #31-Ryan Newman (17th) and #27-Paul Menard (24th) have flirted with the Chase zone throughout the first 11 races but both have been plagued with bad luck along the way. Newman, 38, is in the final season of a three-year contract. Galida confirmed Newman’s acknowledgement that his sponsor Caterpillar is ‘a long-term contract.’ Menard, who turns 36 in August and controls his own sponsorship, structures his deal on a year-to-year basis. Galida told motorsport.com that RCR has ‘a timeline that we’re working towards,’ when it comes to finalizing driver lineups for 2017. ‘We’ll start moving on that fairly quickly,’ Galida said. ‘I just can’t discuss the details. Our goal is to put Ty in a fourth car. That’s what we’re working on. We have a good relationship with all of our car partners.’(Motorsport)
