I'm sorry, I don't think the problem is Tony G's

.. or at least all of.

First my bona fides to comment: Huge long time fan of Ryan. Watch every race, every week with RaceView dialed into the 39 radio channel. Listen to all chatter between Ryan and Tony G.

My first conclusion; I need to get a real life.

After that:

I don't think the problem is not (primarily) poor set up. My opinion is that Ryan gets nervous when things get slippery. Where the very best drivers manage to do well or even thrive when a car is a little loose, Ryan gets skittish.

Where Tony's (14) season heats up when the tracks get slick, Ryan's seems to fade. To me it doesn't look like a skill thing, I know Ryan has that, it looks like a confidence thing. I've listened to Tony and Ryan complain about their carss being loose in the same way at the same time while Tony is going forward and Ryan is falling back. In watching the telemetry it looks like the difference is that Tony is a hair less afraid to ride the razors edge than Ryan is. A hair is this sport seems to be all the difference. My bet is Ryan will surge again in the fall when things cool off like he did last season.

After the end of today's race at Kansas, but before the radio feed was cut, Ryan commented that "this" was getting old, in effect saying the problem was all on Tony G's. I just don't think that's totally fair.

The fix might be a shot of Vodka in Ryan water bottle. A looser Ryan might help him deal with a loose car.

great post, 2nd line was classic, whatever the problem i hope someone can pin point it soon.

Glad to see a new poster. Welcome. Hope you post more often. You made some interesting comments. Never thougth about Ryan on hot pavement before. Seems like most of the drivers "claim" to like the hot pavement. I don't listen in on the scanners anymore but maybe the "This is getting old," wasn't just directed at the CC but at just plain Losing or some other issue that is not getting better? I haven't heard him publically blame Tony though I guess a driver wouldn't do that in public. Anyway... thanks for the post.

Good to see a new poster in the Ryan Newman section. Been trying to build this up but you can't please everyone!

Everybody who writes on here is total speculation about what is wrong with Team #39!

I really don't have any idea other than what I see.

I thought about the problem could be Ryan requires perfection in his car balance and will baby his cars out of fear of wrecking? Drivers like Stewart,Busch may be able to handle a "not so perfect" car balance with out so much fear?

All I know is time is running out. All it takes is a few more accidental DNF'S and this season is over for the Chase!

Good post bscunningham. You are right, Tony's season does seem to heat up during the hot days of summer. It very well could be that Ryan just doesn't like racing a slick race track. Either way, he better learn or his chance of ever getting a championship won't happen. I'm still not sure just how much can be done, or isn't being done, to the car to help give Ryan a little more grip to get him comfortable. Unfortunately, I have no confidence in Tony G. to know how to set this car up either. I hope the, "This is getting Old" statement was the fact he's tired of being a field filler.

If Ryan doesn't make the chase, then my hope is they go ahead and make crew changes and use the last 10 races to get aquainted. Something has to give. Running with the go or go homers is getting old to me.

Will be interesting to see how Matt Borland handles things now, i hope his past success with Ryan will add up to something we all can be excited about!

i think if matt was going to have any affect on ryan it could have happened already, they still need to look at the CC's........

I am gonna disagree. When you see Ryan racing well it is on Drivers Race tracks. When he is struggling it is on aero race tracks. I think Tony has a better team than Ryan, & even though I hear lot of Tony fans bashing Darrien Grubb, he is head & shoulders better than Tony Gibson. Gibson is literally clueless with what Nascar gives him to work with. I also listen to Ryans radio every week. There are times he is out of breath pushing a bad race car. I dont think he is afraid to run it on the edge at all. In fact I think that is all he does. Ryan & Tony can both be loose, but that doesnt mean they have the same problems with their cars, or that their cars are even remotely close to the same loose. Usually the smarter CC has the faster cars in Nascar. I dont think the driver is the issue at all. Unless you want to say the Driver/CC combo doesnt have chemistry. Either way the change that needs to happen is obvious.

Thats my humble opinion.

^^^^^^ BRAVO, i agree 100%

I thought about the problem could be Ryan requires perfection in his car balance and will baby his cars out of fear of wrecking? Drivers like Stewart, Busch may be able to handle a "not so perfect" car balance with out so much fear?

This sounds about right to me. Bush also seems to wreck more often which would fit if your out on the edge.

I am gonna disagree. When you see Ryan racing well it is on Drivers Race tracks. When he is struggling it is on aero race tracks. I think Tony has a better team than Ryan, & even though I hear lot of Tony fans bashing Darrien Grubb, he is head & shoulders better than Tony Gibson. Gibson is literally clueless with what Nascar gives him to work with. I also listen to Ryans radio every week. There are times he is out of breath pushing a bad race car. I dont think he is afraid to run it on the edge at all. In fact I think that is all he does. Ryan & Tony can both be loose, but that doesnt mean they have the same problems with their cars, or that their cars are even remotely close to the same loose. Usually the smarter CC has the faster cars in Nascar. I dont think the driver is the issue at all. Unless you want to say the Driver/CC combo doesnt have chemistry. Either way the change that needs to happen is obvious.

Thats my humble opinion.

100% agree Schmoopy!!