<table> </table> A couple of hours before Saturday&#8217;s NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Chicagoland Speedway, Ryan Newman said that a lack of performance by his team had pushed him to the brink of looking for a new job.</p><p>On Monday, it became apparent the brink had been crossed as Newman and Penske Racing officials said they will part ways at the end of the current season.</p><p>The move could pave the way for Newman to join Tony Stewart on the newly formed Stewart Haas Racing team, the birth of which was also announced last week at Chicagoland.</p><p>Newman broke into the Sprint Cup series in 2000 and has been driving for Penske since. He has won 13 races for the team and 43 poles. He also has finished in the top 10 in 105 of his 243 races.</p><p>In recent years, though, his career has stalled. Still, he did win this season&#8217;s Daytona 500.</p><p>Newman voiced his displeasure at Chicagoland, saying: &#8220;The most important thing to me is performance, winning a championship and achieving the goals outside of what I&#8217;ve done &#8212; a lot of poles, wins and winning the Daytona 500. There are still a lot of things out there for me to achieve.&#8221;</p><p>The most important thing Newman said he would like to accomplish is winning a Sprint Cup points championship. And he thinks he can get that faster with a team other than Penske.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m just doing what I have to do to put myself in the best position to move forward,&#8221; Newman said.</p><p>The hot rumor in the garages at Chicagoland involved Newman going to work for Stewart. Asked if he had talked with Stewart, Newman said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve had a lot of discussion with a lot of people.&#8221;</p><p>Stewart, who announced that he was ending his nine-year Sprint Cup relationship with Joe Gibbs Racing to become owner of 50 percent of Haas CNC Racing, said Thursday that his team will field two cars next year.</p><p>Stewart will drive one of those cars. The other, he said, would be driven by a driver yet to be determined.</p><p>&#8220;Driving for Tony&#8217;s team is an option. He&#8217;s got an open seat,&#8221; Newman said. &#8220;Obviously, you guys (the media) marked me as a lead candidate to get in there, so it is an option.&#8221;</p><p>Asked if he could work for Stewart, Newman said,</p><p>&#8220;Tony&#8217;s a great competitor in many ways. He&#8217;s tough, but respectful. He&#8217;s been a good friend on and off the race track.&#8221;</p><p>In a statement issued Monday, Roger Penske said: &#8220;We want to thank Ryan for his hard work and contributions to Penske Racing over the past nine years. We wish Ryan all the best for the future.&#8221;