Roush ‘newbie’ Ryan Newman says team will have much better potential second time around

BRISTOL, TN - APRIL 05: Ryan Newman, driver of the #6 Wyndham Rewards Ford, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway on April 5, 2019 in Bristol, Tennessee. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Seven races into his first season at Roush Fenway Racing and veteran driver Ryan Newman sits 20th in points. He is coming off his best finish of the season, an 11th-place run last weekend at Texas, since taking over the driving duties of the No. 6 Ford Mustang.

“I’ve spent four times as much time at the shop per week (this year) than I did in the last five years,” Newman said.

“I think we have some really great meetings when we have our sit-downs, and layers of meetings – not just a meeting but layers of meetings that make us perform better and learn where we’re at.

“I think that we have much better potential of showing what we’re made of as we hit some of these race tracks the second time than we did the first time just looking at our experiences so far this year.”

SHORT STROKES

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers Erik Jones and Joey Logano led Saturday’s two practice sessions for the series, posting times of 14.771 and 14.894 seconds, respectively … Pole winner Chase Elliott clocked in 16th quickest in the final session while defending race winner Kyle Busch was fifth overall.

Greg Engle