Black Bear of a Competitor

The 2010 season for the Powerade Open Wheel Modifieds looks like it will be a season of transition, and one of the divisions most seasoned competitors will be looking for his own transition, as he takes aim at mounting a fourth championship trophy on his mantle, from its' current look of three. Division front runner Barry Newman has been competing at Delaware for almost 30 years, and recently sat down to speak about his racing career, and the state of the division that he and his team have given their racing soul to for 15 years.

Newman is a wily veteran of the track and with all the controversy surrounding the Modifieds, believes that the biggest obstacle the group will have to overcome in 2010 is to simply get more competitors out to the track again so the division will thrive again. Newman explained, "I think we have to get more cars out there first and make the class grow again. That will make our show better right off the bat."

While very easy to say, it's the implementation of that plan that is much trickier. "There are quite a few cars out there," continued the Aylmer driver. "I think we just have to get the stock clip cars back out to race with us. I think the track did a good job when they phased in the Late Models at trying to keep everyone competitive no matter what equipment they were running. Maybe let the Modified guys run a Super Stock (or Truck) motor, and give them a weight break. Maybe some guys can only afford a $5,000 motor, which is about what the Super Stock motors are worth, and can't afford a $10,000 motor, which is about what we have in our cars. Maybe we give them the weight break, or a smaller clutch to try and even everything out. That also might be enough to get some of the Varney cars out, or the Mosport cars. It would be trial and error to get everyone on the same playing field, but again, I think the tech staff at the track has been that route before, and when they made those changes to the Late Models they were tweaking the rules all year to try and keep everyone competitive." 

As far as how the class as a whole slid into the situation it's in now, Newman thinks it's pretty simple. "The class might have progressed too far, and too fast. Guys wanted this, and wanted that, and the track went along with it, and now we have cars are very expensive, worth almost as much as a Late Model, and they aren't legal to compete at other tracks."

The class undertook some cost savings measures when they moved to the crate motor program, and Newman is still applauding the decision, "I think the crate helps teams, because we have more time to work on the chassis and the setup. Our motor has four years on it, and has never been freshened."

Newman started racing in 1982 in an Enduro car, and after years of winning in that class all over the Southern end of the province stepped up to the Open Wheel division in 1995, winning Rookie of the Year in his freshman campaign. The next year he backed up the Rookie title with a track championship in the division, and then made it two in a row in 1997. It was after that Jamie Cox went on an incredible streak of championships, and while Newman was a worthy adversary, he couldn't beat Cox on the strength of a full season of points gathering. Newman also skipped a couple of years during that time, but returned a few years ago and has been near the top of the division every year since. "We won the championship in 2006 again for our third title, and we have been very consistent. In the past four seasons, we've never been out of the top-two in the standings."

> Newman's program is supported by a host of long-time sponsors, including Vipond Fire Systems, Aylmer Tirecraft, and Mike Laur Automotive, and a stout crew consisting of Mike Laur, Steve Ronald, Allan Newman, with the main cog of the wheel being a fellow who is not only the crew chief and the car owner, but Barry's father, Rodger Newman.

As for moving up, Newman would relish the opportunity to step up to the Late Model division, explaining, "Sure I would do it, if the opportunity came along, but our sponsors would have to be into it. It's expensive to race in that division, and the competition is really tough, but if we could get the backing, it would be pretty neat to try." As for now, it looks like more circles at Delaware in the Modified, and battling with Jamie Cox, Paul Shipway and others for championship number four. Will number one be number one again in 2010? 

Story by Jamie Maudsley
Photos by Maudsley Motor Sports