NASCAR Cup Series

Newman, RCR carry Phoenix momentum to Southern California

Published Mar. 25, 2017 2:04 p.m. ET

Tom Jensen

Here’s the thing about winning: If you’re a NASCAR race team, winning fixes just about everything, at least temporarily.

Consider Ryan Newman and Richard Childress Racing, the winners last weekend at Phoenix Raceway. Newman’s late-race charge to victory broke a 127-race winless streak for the driver and an 112-race winless streak for the team.

And it was big in a lot of ways, not the least of which is the confidence boost that it brings.

“Confidence is kind of key in our sport,” Newman said Friday at Auto Club Speedway, site of Sunday’s Auto Club 400 (FOX, 3 p.m. ET). “And I’ve always said confidence overpowers ability. If you don’t have the confidence then it doesn’t matter your ability. And I think that it definitely is big.”

Winning has re-energized Newman and the RCR squad.

“There’s a time after 127 races where confidence, at least in getting to Victory Lane, is very important,” said Newman. “And it makes a big difference in your ability to win a championship. Ultimately, that’s our long-term goal and hopefully, it was, at the same time, the first of a few that will lead to a championship in Homestead.”

That confidence has carried over to Southern California this weekend for the third and final race of NASCAR’s Western Swing.

Newman qualified fifth for the Auto Club 400, and he was third in Saturday’s first practice.

He should be fast on Sunday, too, but the big thing is, the monkey is off his back and that of team owner Richard Childress.

“I don’t want to say it’s been a long time coming because I think when you say that you kind of expect it,” Newman said of the Phoenix victory. “But, it had been a while since I’d been to Victory Lane in an RCR for Richard for three years of a drought. So, it was something we were fighting very hard for and it was very rewarding.”