Ryan Newman will be in a Ford in 2019, particularly the #6 Ford of Roush Fenway Racing. Dustin Albino of Frontstretch.com broke the news on Friday, reporting it to be a three-year contract.
The 2008 Daytona 500 winner and the #6’s 2019 plans fell into place over the past ten days. Last Wednesday, RFR owner Jack Roush stated #6 driver Trevor Bayne would not be returning to the car. On Saturday, Newman tweeted he would be departing Richard Childress Racing after four seasons in the #31 car.
Besides Newman, other drivers like Matt Kenseth, who returned to Roush to split the #6 with Bayne for 2018, were also suggested. However, Adam Stern tweeted Kenseth had no interest in contesting a full-time Monster Energy Cup Series schedule; although RFR did not rule out the possibility of a part-time car for the 2003 champion, they would prefer one full timer. Regardless, Kenseth’s 2019 plans have yet to be revealed.
“Who we’re talking to and how close we are in those negotiations, I’m not inclined to say, but based on the fact that we are negotiating,” Roush commented in his SiriusXM interview that confirmed Bayne’s fate. “I want a driver who can be fast. Be fast and win.”
Newman joined RCR in 2014, winning one race (the 2017 Camping World 500 at Phoenix Raceway, now known as ISM Raceway), recording 62 top tens, 19 top fives, and a best points finish of second in 2014. In 2018, Newman missed the playoffs as he currently sits seventeenth in the standings with eight top tens and a best finish of sixth at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July.
Bayne took over the #6 car in 2015, but scaled back to a part-time schedule in May 2018 when Kenseth joined the team. After seventeen starts in 2018, he is currently thirty-first in the standings with a best finish of eleventh at Bristol Motor Speedway in August.
According to the Frontstretch report, RFR, RCR, and Newman have not made formal announcements. A successor in the #31 has not been unveiled, though potential names have included Matt DiBenedetto and RCR’s Xfinity Series driver Daniel Hemric.
