Survivor

Newman holds off Earnhardt Jr. to win Winston

Ryan Newman became just the second rookie to win the Winston. AP

CONCORD, N.C. (Ticker) -- Winston Cup rookie Ryan Newman, who made NASCAR's All-Star race after taking the No Bull Sprint, cashed in Saturday night by taking the checkered flag and the $750,000 top prize at The Winston.

Newman started last at Lowe's Motor Speedway but patiently drove his Ford Taurus through the 27-car field to advance from the first 40-lap segment and the second 30-lap segment into the final 20-lap dash.

"Everything that happened tonight won't set in for quite a while, I'm sure, but just a great feeling, a great effort by the whole crew," Newman said. "We had to work hard for everything tonight. Nothing came easy, but it felt like everything we did, we did right. We probably didn't make a few people happy, but that's part of racing."

That was an understatement as Newman fended off Dale Earnhardt Jr. in a five-lap dash to the finish.

"Ryan ran Junior up into the wall one time and we let him go. Then Ryan tried to hook him again and Dale Jr. had to turn loose," said Earnhardt's crew chief, Tony Eury Sr. "I guess he was being a sportsman, but I don't know how to be a sportsman for $750,000."

"That was just good, hard racing," Newman countered. "He had four tires that were fresher than mine, and that makes a big difference at this race track. Just had to do all I could to hold him off. He caught up with me with about two laps to go, cut underneath me a couple of times, he just couldn't complete the pass."

Fans voted online to have the 10 remaining cars start the closing 20-lap segment in reverse order. That moved fellow rookie Jimmie Johnson, the winner of the first two segments, from first to 10th, while Tony Stewart became the leader.

Newman was able to pull away from Stewart and held off Earnhardt in a final sprint.

Newman also picked up $44,326 for winning the 16-lap No Bull Sprint.

Earnhardt finished second in a Chevrolet Monte Carlo and was followed by the Fords of pole-sitter Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch.

Johnson made it back to sixth place, one spot in front of Stewart. Robby Gordon, Kevin Harvick, Ricky Craven and veteran Bill Elliott rounded out the top 10.

Jeremy Mayfield qualified for The Winston by leading the 30-lap Winston Open from start to finish. Mayfield, who also won the Open in 1998, took home $54,326. But he was involved in an accident with Bobby Labonte on the 20th lap of the second segment, ending his night.

The opening 40-lap segment also was captured by Johnson and featured a four-car accident that took out Winston Cup points leader Sterling Marlin, Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and Bobby Hamilton.

The Winston was open only to Winston Cup race winners in the past year, previous winners of this event and the winner of The Winston Open, which was held earlier Saturday.

 

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