Full Throttle

Tony Stewart made it official Friday at MIS, Ryan Newman is his second driver proving even “un-named” sources and “people close to the negotiations” can’t be wrong all the time.

Just most of the time.

The day before Stewart placed Newman in the Stewart-Haas “game pouch” Newman was out shooting for a charity benefit. Ryan Newman has had a strong connection to the outdoors since his days as a boy in South Bend, Ind.

Several years and 13 career NASCAR Sprint Cup series victories later, Newman is trying to preserve nature areas with Racing For Wildlife, a project that appeals to racing fans interested in conservation.

Newman held a charity trap shoot Thursday in Chelsea (Mi.) to promote and raise money for the group’s first project, restoration of the Mill Lake Youth Camp in the Waterloo Recreation Area in northeastern Jackson County.

The camp, built in the 1930s as part of the national Works Progress Administration, has been vacant for nearly a decade because of building disrepair and a lack of money to fix it up.

Racing For Wildlife is selecting nature areas near NASCAR tracks that are in need of repair and helping with funding. With Newman in town for this weekend’s race at Michigan International Speedway, the group has started with the Mill Lake Youth Camp project and another site near Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

“For myself, it’s geographically one of the closest tracks to my home in South Bend, Ind., and with Michigan International Speedway we have a great interest in Michigan,” said Newman, who is in his seventh season as a full-time driver in NASCAR’s top series.

“This place here is so green and full of lakes and ponds and great places to hunt, fish, hike, camp and be outdoors,” he said. “It just worked out.”

Joining Newman for the charity trap shoot was legendary driver Bobby Allison, a 1983 NASCAR champion. “I’m a supporter of wildlife and protecting wildlife and habitat,” Allison said.

Related articles:

• Stewart confirms his team will include Newman
• Newman to drive second car on Stewart’s team
• Newman to drive for Stewart-Haas next season

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