#20-Tony Stewart snapped a 27-race losing streak as he won the Pocono 500 under caution on Sunday. What we thought was going to be a three lap shootout turned out to be only a one lap sprint as #1-Jeff Green and #5-Terry Labonte got together on the Long Pond straight and the race back to the caution was led by Stewart over #6-Mark Martin. This was Stewart’s first win since he took the road course event at Watkins Glen last August, and he becomes the 12th different winner of the 14 races this season. His 16th career win gives him sole possesion of 39th [27th if you count ties] on the all-time win list . If #49-Ken Schrader and #88-Dale Jarrett had known this was gonna be a weenie roast, they’d have brought some mustard. Two fiery crashes at the end of the front-straight but both drivers were okay. #6-Mark Martin (2nd) had his best finish since he was 2nd at Rockingham last November. #54-Todd Bodine (11th) had his best finish since he was 11th at Texas in March. #19-Jeremy Mayfield (15th) had his best finish since he was 8th in the Daytona 500. #41-Casey Mears (21st) had his best finish since he was 15th at Las Vegas in March. #14-Larry Foyt led a lap today for the first time in his Winston Cup career. He’s the 34th different driver to lead a lap this season….last year’s number was 46 STREAKIN….Matt Kenseth has 12 Top-10’s in the last 13 races. The Rookie Report: Greg Biffle (20th) was the top-finishing freshman for the 6th time this season (tho he was sitting on pit road at the end). He was followed by Casey Mears (21st), Jack Sprague (22nd), Tony Raines (30th), Jamie McMurray (32nd), and Larry Foyt (41st). This Week’s Elevator….UP: A tie for the Operator of the Week between Matt Kenseth (+22) and Ricky Craven (+22). DOWN: The Big Dropper was Dale Jarrett (-35), followed by Kurt Busch (-26), and Joe Nemechek (-23). This is Op #2 this season for both Kenseth & Craven. #40-Sterling Marlin re-joins the Top-10 this week in 10th. The top nine positions remain unchanged as Matt Kenseth adds 5 points to his lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr. #22-Ward Burton gains the most spots (25th to 20th) while Robby Gordon (10th to 15th) and Joe Nemechek (13th to 18th) fell the commensurate number of spots.( Stock Car Fans Newsletter – all comments from this post, direct to them, thanks)(6-8-2003)
