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Associated Press 21y

Newman pleased with consistency

LONG POND, Pa. -- Ryan Newman doesn't always use victory as
a barometer for success, so he wasn't upset when he finished fifth
Sunday at Pocono Raceway.

Fresh off a victory at Dover International Speedway, the
second-year driver was hoping to win for the fourth time in just 58
Winston Cup starts. He has two victories this season to share the
lead in the series with Kurt Busch.

"I'd rather be where Tony is right now,'' Newman said after
Tony Stewart won the Pocono 500. "But I'm not discouraged.''

It was Newman's third straight top-five finish as he continues
his turnaround from a horrible start this season after being rookie
of the year in 2002.

"It looks like we've got our consistency back now,'' he said.
"We're finishing races now, and that's the big difference.''

Newman has gained 11 spots in the Winston Cup standings over the
last three weeks. He finished sixth in the points race last year.

Jarrett feals the heat
The best move of race by Dale Jarrett certainly wasn't a pass. It was an exit -- from his fiery Ford.

It hit the wall in the first turn on the 54th lap, and the rear
end of the car burst into flames. Jarrett escaped uninjured.

"It's always hard to get out, especially when you're trying to
get out in a hurry, but everything is fine,'' Jarrett said.

The driver was fine, but there wasn't much left of the rear end
of the Robert Yates Racing Taurus after the fuel cell ruptured.

The crash, preceded by a vibration and perhaps a cut tire,
ruined Jarrett's bid for a fourth Pocono victory.

"It's unfortunate,'' Jarrett said. "I had a really good car,
and that's just kind of the way the season has gone.''

The 1999 Winston Cup champion has one victory, but is 27th in
the series standings.

Biffle: Skinner a wreck
It's been a tough season for Mike Skinner, who
hasn't finished on the lead lap in any of the 14 Winston Cup races.

He almost made it Sunday at Pocono Raceway, but wrecked on the
final green-flag lap and wound up 34th, three laps down. He is now
winless in 217 career starts.

Skinner didn't comment after his latest failure, but Greg Biffle
had something to say about it.

"It's just Mike Skinner, as usual,'' Biffle said. "He causes
about half the wrecks in Winston Cup, and he pushed the 9 (Bill
Elliott) up into the wall through the tunnel in front of us and
wrecked a bunch of people.''

Massive brake failure?
Jarrett's crash came almost in the same spot with almost the identical result that Ken Schrader experienced 47
laps earlier.

His Dodge flipped and hit the wall before also bursting into
flames. Like Jarrett, Schrader was unhurt after what he called a
"massive brake failure.''

Schrader said the brake pedal went all the way to the floorboard
as he tried to negotiate the tight turn. He said he had time to
turn the car just before it flipped, enabling him to avoid a
frontal impact with the wall.

"It kind of jerked around and hit backwards,'' Schrader said.
"The back end of this thing is awful soft. NASCAR has done so much
with the safety stuff that it felt like a puppy hit.''

Kenseth has bonus incentive
Matt Kenseth will collect a $150,000 bonus
from the series sponsor should he win next Sunday at Michigan
Speedway.

It's been 45 races since a NASCAR Winston Cup points leader won
a race and took home the bonus -- which increases by $10,000 each
time it goes unclaimed. It's payable to the leader or any other
driver who wins to move to the top of the standings.

After 14 races this season, Kenseth is the only driver eligible
because Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 176 points behind and cannot make up
the spread in Michigan.

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