Newman's nemeses

RICHMOND, Va. – Marked man? Target? In someone's sights?

For a guy who probably is going to need some help from fellow competitors in order to make the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Ryan Newman isn't doing himself many favors heading into Saturday's Chevy Rock & Roll 400 at Richmond International Raceway.

Instead of trying to be Mr. Nice Guy, hoping that someone will look upon him with favor and help him finish high enough to qualify for the 10-race Chase, Newman spent a good part of a Friday morning press conference in a semi-bashing mood.

His hit list included teammate Rusty Wallace, and Newman also acknowledged that there's a good likelihood that he himself will be a potential target to be taken out by another driver in Saturday's race.

Among the highlights:

• When asked whether he feels Kurt Busch will be a good teammate when he joins Penske Racing South in 2007, Newman couldn't pass up a dig at the retiring Wallace, with whom he has feuded since last season.

  "I don't think even Kurt knows the situation, how it will unfold, but yes, potentially, way more than I have right now, for sure," Newman said.

• A bit later, when asked if he expects teammates – like those in Roush Racing and Hendrick Motorsports – will help their still Chase-eligible coworkers make the Chase, Newman demurred.

  "Whether they're on the same team or not, it should be every man for himself," Newman said.

  Guess that means Newman won't be expecting any help from Wallace in the race.

• When asked if he's talked with Dale Jarrett yet about their tangle at Bristol two weeks ago – the latest of the run-ins between the two this season – Newman continued to tout a "it wasn't my fault" line.

  "I told him like I told everyone on national television I didn't intentionally hit him but it was obvious he intentionally hit me," Newman said. "He voiced his opinion on the situation, not necessarily in that race but in previous races.

  "I told him that was a hard deal for me to take when someone turns right on a left-hand race track. But we walked out arguing about who was going to open the door for each other. So I think we should be all right."

• Perhaps Newman's most telling response was when he was asked if he worries about being intentionally taken out by another competitor in Saturday night's race. Could Jarrett, who took himself out of the Chase by intentionally ramming Newman at Bristol, come back for Part 2 at Richmond to make sure Newman doesn't make the Chase either?

  "Because of the situation and what we do for living, it's a high possibility," Newman conceded. "You're worried all year that something can take you out. It just so happens that this is the last race, so you have no shot to redeem yourself afterward.

  "If we go through Saturday night without incident and don't make the Chase, we'll go back and look and say, 'Man, what if Bristol didn't happen?' That's coulda, woulda, shoulda, if you get spun or spin somebody."

• But when asked his thoughts about so-called "clean racing" Saturday night, Newman hopes neither he nor other drivers are singled out for retribution and payback.

  "You'd like to expect clean racing, but I know last year [in the final Chase qualifier at Richmond] it wasn't clean racing," Newman said. "There were a couple drivers who intentionally tried to do some things to make their way into the Chase, and you never know what's going to happen.

  "It's a very high-pressure situation, but you expect people to have a lot of respect and race people like they always did. Whether that happens or not is just a situation of time will tell."

It appeared that Newman caved in to some of the pressure of making the Chase when he crashed his primary car in Friday's practice. But his team unrolled the back-up car and still had a strong qualifying effort; he'll start Saturday's race in eighth position.

Newman finds himself in a slightly better position than Jeff Gordon. Newman is just one point behind 10th-place Jamie McMurray, while Gordon is 30 points back.

While Jimmie Johnson, who is securely in the Chase, may do something that would help his teammate in the No. 24 Chevrolet, Newman hesitated when asked if Wallace would do the same for him Saturday night with a Chase berth on the line.

"I don't think it's wrong or unfair," Newman said. "I just think that's part of sport and the advantage of having teammates to do that. Would Rusty Wallace pull over and give me the opportunity to have five points? I don't know. I'm not saying that because of my relationship with Rusty. That's the way the sport is."

Whether or not he'll have a bull's-eye on his car during Saturday's race won't keep Newman from giving it his all. He's patterning his strategy after the way Jeremy Mayfield raced his way into last year's inaugural Chase by winning the final qualifier at Richmond, improving from 14th to a Chase-making ninth place in points.

"We are coming in here to race to win," Newman said. "We definitely have three teams we need to beat [Gordon, 13th-place Elliott Sadler and McMurray] to be in the Chase.

"But if we beat every team, that answers that question. So we are just going to go out and pull out all the stops and see what happens. If we win the race, everything takes care of itself – so we're trying to pull off a Jeremy Mayfield."

And Newman, the Purdue University engineering graduate, has Saturday night's race quantified in terms of what he has to do on the race track..

"I've already got the numbers in my head – I know what I've got to do," Newman said. "If I win the race, that answers all the questions, so that's our main goal, as it is every week. We're one point out, so if we finish ahead of McMurray by one spot, provided he doesn't lead a lap, we're in. Gordon, I think, it's four spots and I think Sadler is 12 spots."

Of course, Newman also needs to avoid anyone trying to hit the bull's-eye on the back of his car first.