If there was ever a walking, talking endorsement for the need to have a full-time traveling safety crew in Winston Cup, it's Ryan Newman.

Newman, who is looking for a much better finish in this Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400 than what he came away with in his last visit to Michigan International Speedway in June, has endured more spectacular -- and downright scary -- mishaps this year than many drivers go through in an entire career.

It started off with his wild barrel roll in the season-opening Daytona 500, a ride he would repeat two months later at Talladega.

There also was the race at Martinsville when he lost his brakes, another crash at California and a rear-end gear broke while he was leading at Richmond.

But perhaps the scariest episode for Newman was two months ago at MIS, when he suffered minor burns in a flash fire in his No. 12 Dodge Intrepid race car.

He was tooling around the 2-mile superspeedway, just 36 laps into the race, when the engine blew, starting a fast-moving fire that quickly engulfed his cockpit.

Newman recalls the sensation as if it happened a couple minutes ago.

"Michigan was definitely a scary deal and not something I'm looking forward to (have) happen again," he said. "I was going into turn three when all of a sudden something flamed up. I heard something pop in the motor and it just instantly caught on fire. I thought it was just an oil fire, but it was bigger than that. I tried to walk the car down the banking of the racetrack, and then I tried bailing out. I had to pull the fire extinguisher, but after I did that, I couldn't breathe. It choked me up pretty bad and I got some burns on my cheek and neck.

"We all see cars when they erupt into flames, but when you're the person inside, you want out as fast as you can. Dale Jarrett, Ken Schrader and Bobby Labonte all have had worse fires than I did and thanks to the safety crews, were able to race today. The crews are doing their best and we know and appreciate that, but there is always room for improvement and knowledge is the best thing in safety."

With all of his first-hand knowledge of safety and rescue procedures thus far this season, it's not a surprise that Newman has become one of the most vocal drivers on the Winston Cup circuit bellowing for what other circuits have had for years: a full-time safety and medical crew that would travel from race to race.

"I think there should be a traveling safety team, for sure," Newman said. "It should be a team that is able to communicate to the drivers and crew and know what is going on. They should be trained on all the tracks and know how our race cars are put together and how they come apart.

"Some of these people don't do that. Some of them are volunteers. Some of them get paid. Some of them it may be the first time they've ever seen a race car. It might be their free pass to the racetrack to be part of the safety crew. You never know. If we can create a little relationship with the team, I think it would be great for the sport and the drivers."

One of the main arguments that NASCAR officials have used in not forming a full-time safety team like those seen in CART, IRL and Formula One, is the cost factor involved. NASCAR also likes to maintain good relationships with safety crews and local hospitals and doctors at each of the venues the series visits, and doesn't feel safety is compromised as a result.

"The financial issue shouldn't even be a factor or an excuse when it comes to safety," Newman said. "But my point is, it's all about communication. If we could have a safety team at the racetrack every week and get to know ever single person on that team, it would make a difference.

"By no means am I trying to shoot down the safety crews we've got now. I just want the communication to be better and that everyone -- safety crews and drivers -- understand what's going on. When drivers are involved in even minor wrecks on the racetrack, our adrenaline is higher than normal. You add fire or flips into the equation and our blood pressure is off the charts.

"I feel everyone involved on teams deserves to know that things will be handled by the best in the business. NASCAR is the best sport, so why shouldn't they have the best of the best in safety working for them?"

It's no secret that young Newman's comments on safety, particularly his most recent terse statement about the situation last weekend at Watkins Glen -- when he flipped his car on its side during practice and had to endure what seemed to be an extraordinary slow response by the local safety team -- have likely rankled some of NASCAR's top brass.

"I know there are some higher-ups that don't appreciate my speaking out on safety the way I do, but we all know the saying 'the truth hurts,' " Newman said. "The crash (at Watkins Glen) itself was very minor, but still your heart beats fast because you don't know what's going on outside the car. You can't tell when you're strapped in if the fuel is running out and if it's going to catch on fire. If you try to get out will the car decide to turn back over and you end up hurt?

"I'll be vocal about it because it's my butt that's sitting in that race car when it's upside down or flipping in the air. Every driver on the racetrack has a reason to be concerned with the people coming to help them.

"One of the guys on my team had a stopwatch because he was doing split times. By the time I got out of that car (last weekend), he had timed them getting me out at a minute and forty seconds and that's neglecting some time before that when he had already started somebody else's split times. I didn't feel like the safety crew was educated on what to do or how to actually get me out of the car. They were asking me if the power was off and I'm trying to tell them they needed to hold the car so I could get out."

Yet despite all the mishaps and maladies he's endured this season, the 25-year-old native of South Bend, Ind., has done a tremendous job in rallying from misfortune. It was after losing the brakes at Richmond in early May that Newman dropped to 27th-place in the Winston Cup standings. It appeared his season was all but through at that point.

But in the last three months, Newman has mounted an incredible comeback. It took him just nine races to go from 27th to ninth place, where he has remained for the last three weeks. While he still has a long way to go to potentially catch series leader Matt Kenseth in the remaining 14 races, last year's Rookie of the Year isn't giving up on his hopes to win the Winston Cup championship trophy.

"Our last two finishes haven't really moved us anywhere in the points, what with an 11th and a ninth, but we're knocking on the door as far as closing the gap," Newman said. "We're about 150 points out of the top-five right now. If we can just keep that going, do our own deal and let the points take care of themselves, I think we can move into the top-five by the end of the year. That'd be a huge feat."

Newman has already taken the checkered flag once previously at MIS, winning from the outside pole in a Busch Series race in 2001. His best finish to date in four Winston Cup starts has been third (June 2002), as compared to his worst finish there, this past June, when the fire left him with a disappointing 41st-place showing.

But if Newman has anything to say about it, he definitely won't be 41st on Sunday.

"Me and my team are heading to Michigan looking to have a good run and maybe get us our fifth win of the season," said Newman, who leads all drivers in wins thus far this season. "I need to show them boys that say I'm in the Infield Care Center more than I am in Victory Lane, that their facts are wrong."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@Yahoo.com.