Newman leaving RCR, stays mum on 2019 plans

LAS VEGAS — Ryan Newman won’t return to Richard Childress Racing after the 2018 season, ending a five-year run driving the No. 31 car.

Newman, who has driven the RCR No. 31 car the past five seasons, has 18 career victories in a full-time Cup career that started in 2002. However, the 40-year-old Newman has won just once in his five seasons at RCR, though he finished second in the Cup standings in 2014 and made the playoffs in three of the past five seasons.

He is 17th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, having missed the playoffs this year as he went winless in the regular season and finished 58 points behind Alex Bowman for the final playoff spot.

“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 said in a statement.

“We were able to put competitive cars on the racetrack, qualify for the playoffs on multiple occasions and make a strong run at a championship, and I’m very proud of what we were able to accomplish.”

An Indiana native plucked from the USAC sprint-car ranks in the late 1990s by Team Penske, Newman drove seven seasons at Penske, where he won eight races in 2003 in just his second full season. He won two races in 2004, and he has not won more than one race in any season since.

He went to Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009 and then to RCR in 2014. Having driven for some of NASCAR’s most notable owners, Newman could drive for another next year as he is a candidate to replace Trevor Bayne at Roush Fenway Racing.

“I’m not ready to announce my future plans at this time, but it is my full intention to compete in the NASCAR Cup Series full-time in 2019 and beyond,” Newman said. “We are currently working through the options for next season and we will be able to announce those plans in the very near future.”

His departure means that RCR will have a new driver in the No. 31 car next year. Childress said Friday that he had no update on who would drive the No. 31 car.

Daniel Hemric, who drives for the team in the Xfinity Series, is a likely candidate, but Hemric has been talking to other teams outside of RCR.

Ty Dillon, grandson of Childress, has said he is committed to RCR affiliate Germain Racing, where his contract runs through 2020.