Ryan Newman to leave Richard Childress Racing at the end of 2018 season

September 15, 2018 Greg Engle 2018 Playoffs, Main Page, NASCAR News Top Story, Top Stories 0

NASCAR veteran Ryan Newman will not be returning to Richard Childress Racing in 2019.

Newman made the announcement via Twitter Saturday afternoon.

“I want to take a moment to let everyone know that I will not return to Richard Childress Racing in 2019,” Newman wrote. “I have very much enjoyed driving the No. 31 car and I want to personally thank Richard Childress and everyone at RCR for the support over the past five seasons.”

Newman has been with RCR for five seasons winning his first race with the team last March at Phoenix. His best season finish came with his first year with the team, a second place, in 2014. He  missed the playoffs this year for just the second time with Childress.

Overall, he has 18 wins dating back to 2002, his first full season in NASCAR’s Cup series. He has raced for Team Penske and Stewart-Haas Racing.

In his message Saturday, Newman indicated that he wants to continue racing full time in the Cup series in 2019, is currently working through his options, and plans to announce his plans in the near future.

Team owner Richard Childress told NASCAR.com, “We knew we were going to change. It’s just when we were going to announce it.”

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About Greg Engle 7421 Articles
Greg is a published award winning sportswriter who spent 23 years combined active and active reserve military service, much of that in and around the Special Operations community. Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.