“Shut the fu** up!” - Ryan Newman gets in a post-race altercation, pushes Tony Baldwin Jr.

Ryan Newman recently got into a spat with Tony Baldwin Jr. After the SMART Modified Tour Kenny Minter Classic at Franklin County Speedway in Virginia, the former NASCAR driver and Baldwin started a shouting match which almost turned into a big fight.

During the race, with eight to go, Baldwin's son Luke used up Newman, who got upset about it. At one point in the race, both Baldwin and Newman looked like contenders to win the race, but after the incident between the two, none of them ended up claiming the victory.

As an upset Ryan Newman tried confronting Luke Baldwin, his father, Tony Baldwin Jr., intervened after which the former NASCAR driver expressed his displeasure to the elder Baldwin.

"He drove me into the f*****g fence! Are you driving the car? Shut the fu** up. Shut the fu** up," Newman said.

This led to Baldwin shouting expletives as well, after which Newman pushed him backward. But before things could escalate, the two were separated and what could've turned into an ugly feud was limited to a verbal spat.

It was earlier in 2024 that Newman announced he'd be running in the SMART Modified Tour.

However, after he came back to NASCAR, at least in a part-time capacity in 2023, the driver has simply failed to make the waves and gain enough attention to attract a full-time contract.

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Ryan Newman running in NASCAR last year was a matter of chance

In 2021, it was announced that Brad Keselowski was replacing Ryan Newman in the #6 Roush car. Since then, Newman hasn't been able to find a full-time Cup ride.

However, he ran a part-time schedule between Cup and Xfinity in 2023. But even that wasn't something he planned on doing.

When Fronstretch asked Newman about what led him to come back to race in NASCAR last year, Newman summed it up in one word - "circumstantial."

"[MBM Motorsports' owner] approached me to do the Xfinity car; it was a former [Team] Penske car he was confident in. Roush Yates [Engines] put together an engine for me to come down here. The Rick Ware Racing deal fell onto my plate because of what happened with Cody [Ware].

It gave me the opportunity to pick some races, to come and race. I wanted to do a short track because they made some safety gains with it, and Homestead is an awesome track. I don’t think anyone that’s here hates coming," Newman described the situation.

Last year in the Cup Series, Ryan Newman entered 8 races. But he failed to impress in any of those with all of his finishes failing to crack even the top 20.

Interestingly, in a 2022 interview with Union Leader, Newman revealed that while there are parts of NASCAR he missed a lot, he was happy about some parts that he was avoiding now that he's no longer running full time.