Why Didn't Tony Stewart And Ryan Newman Draft Together At Daytona?

We've gotten more than a few fans in the past week who have asked why Tony Stewart doesn't draft with Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Ryan Newman in restrictor-plate races.

Stewart and Newman didn't work together once again on Saturday night at Daytona International Speedway. The reason?

According to Stewart's radio interview with Atlanta's 790 The Zone, it's because of differing strategies:

Ryan's a little more aggressive in the restrictor-plate races than I am, and I like to just kind of ride around in the back until it's really time to go then make that charge towards the front. But we tried to practice with different cars during Speedweeks, trying to get around different guys and seeing if there were certain guys we were more comfortable with, around each other with.

We definitely like working with each other, but at the same time, if we're out there running and something happens to the guy he's running with, he knows that I'm back there and he can pick me up and vice versa. So it gives us a good backup plan.

But we just have two different approaches on how to run the restrictor plate races, and that doesn't mean that either approach is either right or wrong, it just means we do it two different ways. That's kind of just what we've done over the years.

Stewart also told the radio station he's interested in hiring Danica Patrick, but called the rumors "old news."

You know, those rumblings have been going on for months now. That's old news. Nothing's changed. Obviously everybody that's a car owner in NASCAR right now, if they've got a team available, they'd definitely love to have her. Because she's got a lot of talent, she's got the drive and determination to be good at it, and she can get the job done. So it definitely would be an awesome opportunity for whoever would have the chance to have her drive their car.