When John-Michael Chenette was 15, he sent a letter to Team Penske asking for an autograph from an up-and-coming driver named Ryan Newman. Newman, then 23, began his NASCAR career winning 18 Cup Series races, including the 2008 Daytona 500 and the 2013 Brickyard 400. Schenette became a fan of Newman when he began his full-time Cup Series career in 2002 after Newman moved from the United States Auto Club to NASCAR, winning in the ARCA Menards Series and the NASCAR Xfinity Series. “The driver I looked up to when I was young was (Ryan). “I was a fan of Ryan Newman,” Shenett, now 38, said. “I wrote a letter to (Pence) asking for Ryan Newman’s autograph. … Ryan doesn’t know that.Now, NASCAR has come full circle with Shenette Newman competing with the Eighty-Two Autosport team in the Whelen Modified Tour.
Schenett and Newman will join forces in Saturday’s Racing Lovers 200 at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia, with Newman aiming to defeat Schenett in the 2024 season finale. Eight modified plates sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, USNE Power, Anglers Choice and Eight-Two. Saturday’s event will be Newman’s fourth Modified Tour start of the season and his first behind the wheel of Shenet’s car. “The older you get, the more likely you are to see it as a full circle, or at least half a circle,” Newman, 47, said. “I don’t think that’s one of the possibilities, but I think it’s safe to say he’s a racing fan and a fan of mine. Even though he didn’t know me, it was clear that I had an influence on him. “It’s a little crazy that we get this opportunity by randomly calling other drivers and offering to drive our car, but that’s how it works.”
Until this summer, Newman and Shenette had never met or even spoken. I rewarded veteran biker Tim Connolly for giving me Newman Shenet’s phone number. Newman tried to negotiate a deal to drive Connolly’s car in a non-NASCAR event at Stafford Motor Speedway, but when the plan fell through, Connolly advised Shenett. “I was talking to Tim Connolly about mysterious missile control, something he was working on, and after three or four phone calls, he lost the connection,” Newman said. “So Tim gave me John-Michael’s contact information, I contacted him and we ended up closing the deal.”When Newman called, Shenette thought someone was making fun of her.
“I talked to my wife, my mother-in-law and my daughter,” Shenette said. “When Ryan called and said, ‘I’m Ryan Newman,’ I only half believed him. I didn’t know who was calling. “I didn’t give him time to call me.”After it was confirmed that it was Newman and that the call was not a hoax, Shenett and Newman spoke some more and eventually a deal was reached whereby Newman would handle Shenett’s races in several events through 2024. “I thought about it for 10 or 15 seconds,” Shenette said. “I hung up the phone, looked at my wife and said, ‘Ryan Newman called and wants to drive our car.'”It’s really amazing. Having it in your car means a lot. I have high hopes for him. Things like the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard don’t matter to me. I only appreciate people I know better. He’s a hell of a runner.”
Even after several phone calls, Newman had no idea Shenette was a fan. This aspect made the collaboration interesting for both of us. “We had a few conversations and he told me what I wanted to say as a NASCAR driver and a fan,” Newman said. “I’m sure it was difficult for him to separate those two things and make the right decision, but being a racing fan is very powerful. “I don’t think it would be a bad thing to continue our relationship.”The pair debuted at Stafford last month and the deal was supposed to include a Modified Tour event at North Wilkesboro Speedway last Sunday, but the first Tour event at Martinsville was pushed to Saturday when the event was postponed due to Hurricane Helena.
“I am confident in our car. I trust the driver I introduced. I trust Scott (Maureen’s Crew Chief),” said Shenette. “I think I’m going to go there and win the race and fight for it. (Ryan) has the pedigree to do that.”Martinsville is a track Newman knows well. He won the Cup Series in 2012 and has competed in the Modified Tour each of the past three years. His best result in these three competitions was third place in 2022. Shenetta received this autograph from Newman when he was 15 years old. Shenet still remembers the letter containing a quote from Roger Penske. “Effort equals results,” Shenette said. “I’ll use that as a catchphrase if you want. “If you don’t try, the results won’t be good,” he said.
