Newman to drive RFR’s No. 6 car next season

RICHMOND, Va. — Roush Fenway Racing has introduced veteran Ryan Newman as the driver of its No. 6 car for 2019.

Newman will drive the car currently being shared by Matt Kenseth and Trevor Bayne. Bayne is looking for a full-time ride for next season. What’s certain about Kenseth is that he doesn’t want to run full time and any future role with Roush Fenway is to be determined.

Both sides are hoping a new driver and new home makes a difference. Newman, who has just one win in five years at Richard Childress Racing, missed the playoffs and is riding a 59-race winless streak. The Roush Fenway No. 6 car is 25th in the team owner standings.

“They’re willing to listen and make the right decisions collectively [to get better],” Newman said. “Everybody puts that effort forward, it’s just a matter of how well you do it. … Jack Roush and Roush Fenway Racing has proven to be a staple from a car and engine standpoint and I don’t see any of that changing. That’s why it was an easy decision.”

The team did not announce any sponsorship. Team owner Jack Roush said he hopes the relationship will last several years but would not be specific on the number of years on the deal.

“Ryan Newman has been one of the most fierce drivers that we’ve faced on the race track,” Roush said.

Newman had just one win in five seasons at Richard Childress Racing but nearly won the title in 2014 when he advanced to being one of the four championship finalists and finished second among them at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

The 40-year-old Newman has 18 career wins over a 17-year Cup career.

“We were approached from a number of drivers, but for us the clear-cut favorite was Ryan,” team president Steve Newmark said. “We are really good that when he looked at his options, he decided this was the right match.

“At this point where we look at where we are … we just felt like Ryan was the right person to come in and perform immediately.”

Bayne had started the year as a full-time driver for Roush Fenway but with only partial-season sponsorship from AdvoCare and amid his struggles, Roush Fenway signed Wyndham Resorts and moved some other sponsorship to put Kenseth in the car for the majority of races for the second half of the season.

As far as Kenseth, Newmark said Kenseth told the team earlier this month.

“He’s been invaluable and he’s helped us move the needle and do what we need to do [to improve our cars],” Newmark said. “We always kind of left the arrangement with Matt that we would come back and he would sit down in late August, early September and have a dialogue on what the future looks like.

“That’s the way it played out. He said when he was looking at everything, talking to his family, he has four young girls, he’s been on the road for almost 20 years, kind of sacrificing a lot of family time, that he just wasn’t prepared to run full time.”