Very random thought connecting to Purdue
by purdue9939 on Feb 13, 2012 2:04 PM EST
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I know many, if not most, of you are not NASCAR fans, but this post does pertain to Purdue. When we think of people to come out of Purdue that draws attention to their alma mater, who do we almost always think of? Neil Armstrong and Drew Brees are the two I really hear about. As a passionate NASCAR fan (the only sport that Purdue sports plays second fiddle to in my life) I present to you this... Ryan Newman, driver of the #39 US Army Chevrolet for Stewart Haas Racing and a Purdue Boilermaker.
The following is just one small example... http://www.nascar.com/news/120213/rnewman-tricky-chemistry/index.html This article was posted today.
You don't have to read far before you see "Purdue." Almost anytime a story is written about Newman, at some point, his engineering degree from Purdue is mentioned. Many times during races, Newman is referred to as "The Boilermaker." And maybe most notably, Newman is widely known to be the only college graduate in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which is usually followed with a Purdue mention.
I believe TMill did a Profile in Badassery on Newman a year or two ago. If you are new, maybe TMill could provide a link to that article for you to read about. Love NASCAR or hate it, there is no denying its popularity. With that popularity, Purdue gets quite a bit of air time. I just think that is very cool that in my mind, Ryan Newman brings as much attention to Purdue University as Armstrong and Brees.
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Great....
Now I have a reason to pay attention to NASCAR, which is about the last thing I want/need (no offense).
Must confess....
I’m a closet NASCAR fan. More a racing fan in general really. If it goes fast, I’ll probably watch it. That said, I always cheer for Newman, for the simple reason that he is in fact a Boilermaker, and often in his interviews he’ll give a nod to Purdue. Like many other things related to being a Purdue fan however, it’s often painful to be a fan of his. He seems to have the talent and certainly the team to make a run for the championship, but getting caught up in crashes, mechanical failures, and general bad luck seem to follow him around. At least he hasn’t torn an ACL.
What about Tony
He is an open Purdue fan. And has alot of family in the Lafayette area . Not that it matters but my Step niece is his real niece. She lives with in a stones throw of Davey Byrds house . And Tony goes to her house my brothers to see her when in Indy. Last year he was on ESPN and he picked Purdue in the tourney although he hedged at Kansas , but still picked Purdue in the end . Side note he is very,very good to the little girl she is 13 and I mean very good .
I knew Tony was a Purdue fan
I heard him give an interview in which he said a lot of his family had grown up Boilermaker fans and he had always followed Purdue rather than IU. That said, Newman is the one who draws the attention to Purdue really. Newman is my #2 man in NASCAR. The only thing that keeps him from being #1 is the fact that he drives a Chevrolet. Ford must come first… I’m a big Carl Edwards fan.
Buckeye by birth, but BOILERMAKER by the grace of God!
I have always liked racing
I am proud to be from Indiana where we grow corn, play basketball, and race cars. It is what we are known for. Anytime I tell someone that is where I am from, one of those three things always comes up. I remember a few years ago on campus there were signs outside of the buildings that said: So and so, accomplishment, studied in this building. Always wondered where the Ryan Newman, Daytona 500 Champion, studied here sign was.
I live in Ohio
Born and raised here. I hate change and I can never see myself moving due to that fact alone. However, if I were to ever move, I have always said that I could only handle 1 of 2 places… North Carolina (NASCAR country) or Indiana. Everything about me screams Indiana, from growing up a farm boy, Purdue fan, and racing. Not that anyone cares, but I’m a Purdue fan because of my Dad. He loved Purdue basketball growing up and really got hooked in the Rick Mount days. Anyway, outside of basketball, Dad always said that had he ever wanted to go to college, he would have picked Purdue due to their highly rated agriculture program.
Buckeye by birth, but BOILERMAKER by the grace of God!
Grand Prix
I think he won Grand Prix a few times when I was there. Talk about an advantage over the guys in my frat house…geez.
No way...
His sponsors wouldn’t let him anywhere close to a Grand Prix kart. Not while he was running sprint cars and on the fast track to Nascar.
I sure had a blast on the ’99 and ’00 Shreve Grand Prix crews though.
by 3rdGenBoiler on Feb 14, 2012 9:46 AM EST up reply actions
He wasn't allowed to race in the GP.
You’re not allowed to have professional drivers race and in college he was considered professional. Actually, I think the reason Purdue doesn’t associate with him as much as everyone would assume or want is because there was some tension in the relationship. He wanted the university to give him “athlete status” so he would be allowed to miss class time due to his racing schedule, and they wouldn’t do it. That is why it took him a few extra years to graduate and also why he might mention Purdue, but he has never been nearly as big of a supporter as Drew Brees or a lot of the other ahtletes Purdue has produced.
Don't get me wrong though,
he is very proud of his degree and of Purdue. But his time here wasn’t as smooth as it could’ve been because they wouldn’t make an exception for him.
Nice!
I’ve been looking for someone new to follow after Ward Burton retired!
Cool, I guess.
Just when I thought there was no way at all something could make me care at all for NASCAR…
by Bloomington.Boiler on Feb 13, 2012 9:10 PM EST reply actions
I've heard that Ryan Newman is very proud of his degree
And is never too quick to mention that he is a Boilermaker.
Reaction images? I got 'em
Senior All-American Alto Sax
I first heard of Ryan Newman
when he was running USAC sprint cars as his summer job while still a Purdue student. I looked in on a televised race one evening and had to see who it was that had the Purdue Pete sticker on the back of his helmet that you could clearly see whenever they cut to the in-car camera on top of the roll cage. Been a fan ever since.
by CreakyOldBoiler on Feb 13, 2012 11:40 PM EST reply actions
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