Cool runnings

Rookies Johnson, Newman share bond on, off track

The point was made last weekend -- perhaps the night some of us wrestled with mammoth portions of Kansas City beef -- that Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson should share Winston Cup rookie-of-the-year honors.

Some agreement followed, as well as opinion that it probably couldn't or wouldn't happen because of this, that or the other.

This much is not debatable: Johnson and Newman are as nice a pair of future bookends as NASCAR could have conjured, and both could cap their freshman seasons with a trophy -- Johnson the points title and Newman the rookie title.

Don't ask me how, though. Johnson, a three-time winner this year, left Kansas City as the first rookie ever to lead the overall points race. Newman, a one-time winner who has more top-five finishes (14) than anybody in the Cup garage, finished second behind K.C. winner (and Johnson's part-team owner) Jeff Gordon.

That's not a poke at either driver. They're so maddeningly one-two in accomplishments that you wonder why the heck they're not within decimal points of each other in the rookie race.

Well, they're not.

Newman, who's seventh in the points race, leads the rookie race by 25 points.

Someone asked the rhetorical why on Friday. We were rewarded with copies of the rules as ordained by the award's title sponsor, Raybestos. I know those people mean well, but after I saw the staple in the upper left corner, I decided deciphering could wait a few weeks. (I'll do my homework, I promise).

Newman and Johnson are very different, of course. Newman's a Midwesterner, Johnson a California kid. They're not really kids; Johnson's 27, Newman a few months from 25. The latter is an open-wheel-bred Purdue engineer while the former matriculated in off-road vehicles, motorcycles, dirt-whatevers, and finally stock cars. Their similarities, however, are more striking than their differences.

Both dads drive their sons' motor homes. Gary Johnson, Greg Newman and the two drivers' moms also were apparently as active in their kids' lives as their careers. The offspring have said so. The parents' investment is obvious because Johnson and Newman are delightful new pros.

They've mastered clichés, sponsor-speak, all the things everyone must, but they consider what they're asked. They aren't prickly. Friday's tag-team, rookie-news-conference performance was an exhibition in maturity. They juggled general questions via glances -- You? Me? I'll get this one. They poked fun at themselves and didn't shirk championship talk.

"Right now, all I can say is that it would be cool," Johnson said.

Neither did they shrink from cataloging errors.

"I punched a hole in the radiator at Martinsville being impatient with a slower car," Newman said. "There are times when I've slid through my pits and we've had our share of crashes, like crashing in qualifying at Dover in the spring race. You try to put those things behind you and try to forget about them, but those are mistakes you've made."

Johnson's rookie gaffes include sliding through his pit stall while leading the Coca-Cola 600. He lost a similar opportunity at Richmond while over-racing Jimmy Spencer. Crashes in Friday practices have been a recurring theme.

"But the stats we have at the shop say that Jeff Gordon went through 17 clips in his rookie season," Johnson said. "I've only been through eight or nine. So, I think I'm doing good."

"He's got a long way to go to catch me on that one," said the driver formally known as The Kid. "He needs to be keeping track of how many wins he has compared to how many wins I had in my rookie year."

That's a big Z-E-R-O.

Newman and Johnson like each other, by the way. Never mind the fact they'll tear each other's heart out on the track, like any of their elders. Earlier this season, they carpooled to a Martinsville test -- Newman drove -- and used the trip as an icebreaker.

"But he went back with his crew chief," Newman said of Johnson. "So maybe I did something wrong."

They also know when to ask for help. Both are debuting with powerhouse teams -- Johnson with Hendrick Motorsports, Newman with Penske Racing -- and powerhouse teammates. Most of Gordon's mentoring of Johnson has taken place away from the garage.

"There have been a lot of things off the race track where Jeff has been able to keep me out of trouble," Johnson said, admitting he'd never dreamed that media, sponsor and publicity obligations would outrank his track time two-to-one. "He's never really sat down and taken out a notebook for Racing 101."

That's when Rusty Wallace has been invaluable, according to Newman, who had no idea what to expect on his first dive into Turn 1 at Bristol.

"That's what keeps you out of trouble in rookie seasons," Newman said of Wallace's counsel.

Both Johnson and Newman's fairy tales will end, of course, perhaps as early as 2003. Kevin Harvick, whose out-of-nowhere 2001 performance in relief of the late Dale Earnhardt saw him finish ninth in the points race and win top rookie honors, has struggled with many things in 2002.

"The first year, you just go out and race the car," Harvick said. "Then over the winter they put the clamps on you."

That's a figurative "they," as in demands, obligations and expectations. It's all a reality check, according to Harvick, who nonetheless is enjoying the current rookie race.

"It's hard to pick one at this point," he said.

Denise N. Maloof covers NASCAR for CNNSI.com.

 

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