LONG POND - Ryan Newman's first win of the season last weekend couldn't have come at a better time. Newman, an Indiana native, had the pole at the Brickyard and led 45 laps en route to his triumph at the historic Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The victory also vaulted Newman from 19th to 16th in the point standings, leaving him only 25 points outside of the top-10 and an automatic berth in NASCAR's Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship. Newman is also one of three drivers between 11th and 20th with a win, giving him a very realistic shot of making the Chase as one of two wild cards.Newman heads to Pocono Raceway, the site of Sunday's GoBowling.com 400 Sprint Cup race, hoping to ride the momentum from Indy to another solid finish at a track where he earned a fifth place finish in June."We feel really good coming here because this was the place we got our second top-five of the year (in the first race) and we felt like we had a car then that was capable of winning, and ironically, it was the same chassis we ran at Indianapolis last week," Newman said. "Coming off the win, and the momentum from that, on top of us having a little bit of history here with this car at this track, we're really looking forward to it."In 23 Sprint Cup starts at Pocono, Newman has finished outside the top-15 just five times. He has two poles, one win, eight top-five finishes and 11 top-10s. He also has an ARCA Series win."It's one of my favorite racetracks just because it is so difficult and it's really fun to drive," said Newman. "I like it because it's challenging. Each corner is different; different radius, different banking, different bumps. Each straightaway is a different length."It just seems like it's a driver's racetrack and a crew chief's racetrack because he has to get the car to the driver's liking in all three corners," Newman continued. "It's all about matching up the combination of how the crew chief sets up the car relative to how the driver drives the racecar to make a happy package and have a shot at victory. It's fun to have unique situations and unique racetracks. We look forward to going to Pocono each and every time."With six races remaining until the Chase begins and a win under his belt, Newman knows Pocono is a perfect place to make a charge in the standings."The win gives us more hope, but we had hope in the first place," Newman said of his chances. "I've said it every time I've talked to you guys that we still have a chance of making the Chase, whether it's mathematically or by winning."Another win would be amazing, just based on the history of what I've seen with wild cards; two is pretty much going to lock you in to a wild card spot. There's still a lot of racing to go. But it hasn't changed my mentality other than the fact that it changed my hope. It doesn't change my drive because my drive is still to do the exact same thing, regardless."A strong showing the rest of this season would also improve Newman's situation as it relates to next year as well. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver is currently without a ride for the 2014 season, as SHR recently announced Kevin Harvick would fill Newman's seat in 2014.Newman knows he can't be sure of anything until a deal is done."I don't know (about next year). You can sit there and talk to somebody, but until the writing's on the paper and the ink's dried, you don't really know," Newman said of his position for next year. "I'm in a situation where I haven't had the phone ring off the hook with respect to sponsors; or car owners; or a manufacturer; or any of that. And I didn't expect it to; I think some people kind of expect it to."I'm working on what I need to work on, I feel, to be in a good, competitive position next year. The win (at Indianapolis) helps, but it's not a light switch. It gives you a vision, but there's more to it than that."As one of only eight drivers with wins in both the Brickyard 400 and the Daytona 500, there's no doubt the prospects for a soon-to-be-unemployed driver are much brighter than they were a week ago.