Ryan Newman adds a Late Model Stock to his resume, whatever that is

Ryan Newman doesn’t even know what it means to be in a Late Model Stock Car but he just thinks it was cool that Dale Earnhardt Jr. asked him.

Consider this exchange on Friday prior to CARS Tour practice at Orange County Speedway in Roguemont, North Carolina:

‘Did you ever race a Denny Hamlin Showdown?’
‘Nope. The only Late Model I ever drove was like 1999 or 2000 at Berlin and I can’t tell you what kind it was.’
‘So first time in a Late Model Stock?’
‘Like the closest I’ve been in one is a SRX car.’
‘I think those are straight rails, right?’
‘I really have no idea what a Super is or a Late Model Stock.’

Read More: What is the difference between a Late Model and a Super

All of this was said with laughter, because Newman literally got a text from Earnhardt and was like ‘hey, man, do you want to run a CARS Tour race’ and Newman was like, ‘why not.’

With Tristan McKee running a Trans-Am car at Sonona Raceway, Matt Piercy Racing had an opening and Earnhardt facilitated the start — even if he has no idea what he’s getting into.

“To me, a Modified is a Modified, the Stock Car is a Stock Car,” Newman said. “I mean, the irony part of it is this tire is the same tire that my daughter is on in the Crate 602 car.

“So now I get to learn a little bit about what tire she is on so that’s cool. But outside of that, I mean, it’s just four tires and a motor and trying to find the right balance. Obviously, there’s good competition here in the CARS Tour and I wouldn’t be here without Dale Jr so super appreciative for the opportunity to race in this really special thing they’ve started to build here.”

Predicably, Newman says he hasn’t even tested this car prior to practice nor has he asked Earnhardt or anyone else in his social circle how to drive this car.

“It’s s just a race car, like I said,” Newman said. “I mean, it’s like getting off of one tractor and onto another. You go from cutting grass to plowing dirt. It’s not hard. You just gotta know how to do it.”

Newman has figuratively cut a lot of grass and plowed a lot of dirt so he’s expecting to be fine.

Lastly, Newman also just finds it cool to add this car to his resume that currently includes running a Tour Type Modified in the SMART Tour but also all the other cars he runs when given the chance from a part-time NASCAR schedule, USAC style cars and lord knows what else.

It’s on brand for his career.

“I’ve always said I have admired racers like Tony Stewart, Kyle Larson, AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, the guys who drove everything,” Newman said. “I’m not saying I am as good as a race car driver as those guys but that’s still the goal to drive everything as well as I can like they did so now we get to drive one of these.”