Stewart-Newman pairing adds up

All the NASCAR signs seemed to point to driver Ryan Newman joining Tony Stewart's new Stewart-Haas Racing during the weekend at Indianapolis, the home track to the pair of Hoosiers. But the numbers all finally began to add up earlier this month at Michigan.

And this whole situation between the pair of Indiana natives is about numbers -- some that work, some that don't.

-- 39, Not 4: Stewart had been lobbying hard for the No. 4 for his second team, but Larry McClure has owned it for years. From its beginning in 1982, Morgan-McClure Motorsports became one of the most feared teams, particularly at Daytona and Talladega, where the team posted nine of its 14 career wins.

Stewart, who will drive the No. 14 Chevrolet next year, wanted the 4 on the other car because McClure closed shop on his operation in 2007, but the Abingdon, Va.-based team may run some races next year. So the two-time champ had a surprise for Newman on his Sirius radio show Monday night: The No. 39.

"That'll work," replied a surprised Newman. "That number was my first Silver Crown number, my first USAC midget win at IRP and the night before the (Daytona) 500 was under the No. 39, so that's a very special number to me and that's definitely cool."

-- 34, not 36. As the Sprint Cup series prepares for a trip to California this weekend, Scott Riggs and the Haas CNC Racing No. 66 find themselves in 34th in owners points, up one spot in the standings. A season-best 15th-place finish at Michigan on Aug. 17 was followed by Saturday night's 27th-place disappointment at Bristol.

And remember, it's the top 35 in owners points, not drivers points, that determines which drivers are locked in to each race.

-- 43 out of 248. That's the number of poles Newman has in his career starts. If the 66 and Riggs slip up over the remaining 12 races, dropping outside the top 35 in owners points at the season's end, the pressure will be on Newman and the No. 39 team at Daytona next February.

Newman's a fantastic qualifier, but Daytona 500 time trials are a different animal. The one-lap wonder times turned in by the "Rocketman'' over the years is because of his talent to get the most out of his car in a lap or two; that's not the case at Daytona, where it's mostly car and very little driver that earns the pole.

That could put the Rocketman, the defending Daytona 500 winner, in a bind, forcing him to race his way into NASCAR's most prestigious race in a twin qualifier. But his chances would be great over the following races.

For Stewart and Newman, the latest hot tandem in NASCAR and likely the most watched teammates when Speedweeks 2009 rolls around, the numbers don't lie.

(Bill Whitehead covers NASCAR for Scripps Treasure Coast (Fla.) Newspapers, The Stuart News, Fort Pierce Tribune and Vero Beach Press Journal. E-mail wwhitehe@ircc.net.)