Emerson Newton-John

Emerson Newton-John
NationalityUnited States American
Born (1974-09-26) September 26, 1974 (age 50)
Los Angeles, California
Related toOlivia Newton-John
(aunt)
Brett Goldsmith
(half-brother)
Tottie Goldsmith
(half-sister) Jeff Conaway
(step-father)
Debut season2001
Current teamCarter 2 Motorsports
Car number97
Starts2
Wins0
Poles0
Best finish140th in 2001
Previous series
2012
2002
2000–2001
1998
Firestone Indy Lights
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
Formula Holden
Renault Megane Cup
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish94th (2002)
First race2002 New England 200 (Loudon)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of August 24, 2014.

Emerson Newton-John (born September 26, 1974) is an American professional racing driver. The nephew of Olivia Newton-John, he has competed in numerous forms of motorsports, most notably in NASCAR, the ARCA Racing Series, and the Indy Lights Series.

Racing career

Newton-John competed in the Formula Holden Tasman Cup in 2000–2001, nearly winning his inaugural event in the series, and the Formula Holden Australian Drivers' Championship in 2001, finishing fifth, with a best result of 2nd; he also competed in the French Renault Megane Cup, and tested a Formula Three car.[1] His final Formula Holden race was on September 10, 2001; the September 11 attacks resulted in financial backing for his open-wheel career drying up, and Newton-John switched to stock cars.[1]

Newton-John made his debut in stock car racing in November 2001, competing in the ARCA Re/MAX Series at Atlanta Motor Speedway where he ran as high as 12th after starting from the back of the field. he ended up 15th.[1] In 2002, he competed in his first NASCAR event, a Craftsman Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway; he finished 31st in the event,[2] following a weekend that Newton-John described as "disastrous".[citation needed]

In 2012, Newton-John returned to professional racing, driving an open-wheel formula car for the first time in almost eleven years in a test at Iowa Speedway. Passing a refresher test, he went on to compete in the Freedom 100 Firestone Indy Lights race, driving for Tyce Carlson's Fan Force United team.[1] He was 6th fastest in practice and qualified in 8th position. He was involved in a multi-car incident on the fifth lap of the event,[3] and was credited with a 17th-place finish.[4] He ran again in Indy Lights later in the year at the Grand Prix of Baltimore; he crashed twice due to faulty rear suspension, first in qualifying for the event,[5] and then in the race, finishing 12th of 13 cars.[6]

In 2014, Newton-John returned to the ARCA Racing Series, driving for Carter 2 Motorsports at Madison International Speedway;[7] running as a start-and-park, he finished 23rd.[8]

Personal life

A native of Los Angeles, California, Newton-John is the son of Graham Hall and Rona Newton-John (1941–2013), stepson of Jeff Conaway, half-brother of Fiona Goldsmith, Brett Goldsmith and Tottie Goldsmith, and the nephew of Olivia Newton-John.[9] He is named after two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi.[1] He is married, and has two children.[citation needed]

Newton-John is the founder of the charitable organization Pink and Blue for Two, focused on breast and prostate cancer awareness.[10]

Motorsports career results

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
2012 Fan Force United STP BBR LBH INDY
17
DET MLW IOW TOR EDM TRV BAL
12
CAL 22nd 31

NASCAR

(key) (Bold − Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics − Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Craftsman Truck Series

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 NCTSC Pts Ref
2002 Team Racing 23 Chevy DAY DAR MAR GTY PPR DOV TEX MEM MLW KAN KEN NHA
31
MCH IRP NSH RCH TEX SBO LVS CAL PHO HOM 94th 70 [11]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

ARCA Racing Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Racing Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 ARSC Pts Ref
2001 35 Chevy DAY NSH WIN SLM GTY KEN CLT KAN MCH POC MEM GLN KEN MCH POC NSH ISF CHI DSF SLM TOL BLN CLT TAL ATL
17
142nd 145 [12]
2014 Carter 2 Motorsports 97 Dodge DAY MOB SLM TAL TOL NJE POC MCH ELK WIN CHI IRP POC BLN ISF MAD
23
DSF SLM KEN KAN 121st 115 [13]
2015 95 DAY MOB NSH SLM TAL TOL NJE
24
POC MCH CHI WIN IOW IRP POC BLN ISF DSF SLM KEN KAN 122nd 110 [14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e DiZinno, Tony (May 14, 2012). "Emerson Newton-John's surreal road back to racing". Racer. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  2. ^ "Truck Series Notes", The Daytona Beach News-Journal, July 25, 2002, page 6B.
  3. ^ Brudenell, Mike (May 25, 2012). "Olivia Newton-John follows racing nephew at Indy". Detroit Free Press. Detroit, MI. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  4. ^ Stearns, Amber (May 26, 2012). "Olivia Newton-John Ready for 500 Festival Parade". WIBC 93.1FM. Indianapolis, IN. Retrieved 2012-06-03.
  5. ^ McKee, Sandra (September 1, 2012). "Crashes highlight the early action Saturday at Grand Prix of Baltimore". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, MD. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  6. ^ "2012 Grand Prix of Baltimore". Racing-Reference. USA Today Sports Media Group. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  7. ^ "Carter 2 Motorsports signs Emerson Newton-John for Madison". Automobile Racing Club of America. August 21, 2014. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  8. ^ Caldwell, Clayton (August 24, 2014). "Justin Boston Wins Herr's Live Life with Flavor 200 at Madison International Speedway". Motorsports 101. Sports Media 101. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved 2014-08-25.
  9. ^ Gates, Anita (May 27, 2011). "Jeff Conaway, Actor In 'Taxi,' Is Dead at 60". The New York Times.
  10. ^ DiZinno, Tony (May 19, 2014). "Emerson Newton-John returns to Indy Lights with TMR, Pink and Blue for Two". NBC Sports. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  11. ^ "Emerson Newton-John – 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  12. ^ "Emerson Newton-John – 2001 ARCA Re/Max Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  13. ^ "Emerson Newton-John – 2014 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  14. ^ "Emerson Newton-John – 2015 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved April 11, 2020.