“Made Me Play Defense Instead of Offense” – Ryan Newman Shuts Down the Haters Amidst Uncertain NASCAR Future

Ryan Newman recently sat down for an interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio and laid it all out on the table. The 44-year-old driver who will be out of a seat in NASCAR talked about his former team, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, his unplanned retirement, and his future in racing.

The 2008 Daytona 500 winner spoke about the criticism he received for his poor performances in the last few years of his career. Newman had finished 28th in 2021, his worst season finish while his last win came in 2017.

And for that, Newman had an interesting reply to all those who doubt him.

He said, “I wasn’t tough to pass until later in my career when I had cars that made me play defense instead of offense. Nobody talked about how tough I was to pass for the first 10 years when I was leading a bunch of laps & passing people.”

Ryan Newman will race in 2022, but not where fans expect him to

Despite admitting to an uncertain future in racing last year, Newman insisted that there were no plans for him to retire post-2021, that he is “definitely interested in continuing to race.” “That’s why there was no retirement party. There was no retirement plan. There was no Ryan’s last ride or anything like that because that wasn’t the intention,” Newman added.

Speaking about his future, Newman said he has “some plans.” “I’m doing some short-track grassroots racing this year, but there’s nothing else planned right now. I know what I would want to do,” he described.

But it’s not wrong to assume that Newman, who will turn 45 this year, might not manage a full-time seat in NASCAR again. But it doesn’t matter to him because he is open to part-time. He insists that whatever he does next, it would be “for fun.” 

And as for his age, he said something which his fans will undoubtedly agree on, “I’m getting older, but I’m far from dead.”

Also Read: Who Was the Most Incident-Free NASCAR Cup Series Driver in 2021?