Ryan Newman was eliminated from the 2017 NASCAR Playoffs at Dover, and he may have taken the blame from a racing legend for who eventually won it as well.
It was already a tough Sunday for Ryan Newman at the end of the Apache Warrior 400 at Dover International Speedway. Though he was fighting to avoid being lapped late in the race, Newman was also running hard in the nearly futile hope of advancing to the Round of 12 in this year’s NASCAR playoffs.
With that in mind, it wasn’t surprising that when race leader Chase Elliott caught Newman with just a few laps left, the 31 didn’t just move over and let him go by. As Elliott tried to get by Newman, hard-charging Kyle Busch caught up too.
Eventually, both Elliott and Busch got by Newman, who finished as the first car one lap down and was indeed eliminated from playoff contention. But Elliott couldn’t hold onto his lead and saw his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory slip away late.
After the race, Newman bumped into Jeff Gordon, who still has a stake in how the 24 performs — literally, as he’s part owner of the car. Then this happened:
In case you can’t hear exactly what’s being said, here’s a transcription courtesy of SB Nation:
"Newman: “What’s that?”Gordon: “Thanks for the help.”Newman: “For what?”Gordon: “What was happening with the leaders, man.”Newman: “You don’t think I was racing for my own position?”Gordon: “I didn’t say you weren’t.”Newman: “Just watch what you say, man.”Gordon: “I said, ‘Thanks for the help.”’Newman: “You said it as a smart-ass.”Gordon: “No, I didn’t. You took it that way.”"
In Newman’s defense, it does seem like Gordon might be sarcastic for thanking him for help right after his car finishes second in heartbreaking fashion. Then again, Gordon is smiling from the get go and might just have been teasing him.
Next: NASCAR Playoffs standings after Dover
Yet Newman was probably in no mood for that considering he was just eliminated from the playoffs. So maybe what we have here is an innocent comment made at an inopportune time. Yeah, let’s go with that.