They may both be more than 200 points behind Tony Stewart with just three races left, but rookie Ryan Newman and veteran Rusty Wallace aren't giving up their hopes for a championship this season without a fight.

In other words, if Stewart is to win the title, you can bet your bottom dollar that guys like Newman and Wallace are going to make him earn each and every point between now and the season finale at Homestead, Fla.

"I'm only 70 points out of second place right now, so that looks real positive and real good," Wallace said. "If Stewart has an engine problem or something like that, then we're right on his tail again. This championship is going to go right to the last race, I really feel confident that it will."

Heading into Sunday's Pop Secret 400 at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham, Stewart holds a 203-point edge over Newman and a 227-point advantage over Wallace, who is still seeking his first win of the year, hoping to extend a streak of at least one win in each of the last 16 seasons.

"We still have a shot at the championship and we definitely want to keep our winning streak alive and there are three races left to get the job done," Wallace said. "So I guess you could say that we have the safety off on the guns and the pins pulled out of the grenades going into these final races. I'm treating every race like it's the very last race."

Newman not driving like a rookie

	Newman

Despite his rookie status, Newman has been the most consistent driver on the circuit this season, with 21 top-10 finishes in the first 33 races, and is second to only Stewart (15) in top-five showings with 14. He is only 53 points out of third (Jimmie Johnson) and 57 out of second (Mark Martin).

Three things remain in Newman's sites for the remainder of the season: to earn another win or two (he already has one, plus a triumph in the The Winston all-star event), to win the Rookie of the Year Award (he currently leads Johnson by 20 points), and last but not least, the Winston Cup championship.

That's a heady menu for anyone, but Newman's success this season has proven if anyone can still get all three of those things done, he can. That's why the driver of the No. 12 Ford and the rest of his team aren't conceding any of the three remaining goals to anyone.

"We'll stick to our plan of being the best we can be and getting poles and wins if we can," said team engineer Michael Nelson. Newman is tied for most poles this season with Johnson and Bill Elliott, each with four. "You won't see us gambling too much, though. We won't be stepping outside the box too far with only three races remaining."

Newman has raced three times at Rockingham in his career, twice in Busch competition -- he earned both a pole and outside pole in two races there last season, finishing seventh and ninth, respectively. Earlier this year in his first Winston Cup start there, Newman qualified 23rd but finished 14th.

"We had a pretty good run going in the spring," Newman said. "We had a lug let loose and had to come back in. We lost two laps and made them both up. That was a pretty respectable run, I thought, team-wise for one of out first Winston Cup races. Like I've said all year, it only takes one little thing to knock you out and knock you down to not be able to redeem yourself. Hopefully, we can go back and have a little bit better performance and keep ourselves in this points race.

"We're looking forward to going back to Rockingham. Our first Cup race was only a small stumble in a pretty good season for a rookie team. Rockingham is the kind of track I like to race on, a real drivable track with many grooves. I'm pretty sure we've got our game together this time."

Wallace hoping to break winless streak

	Wallace

While he's had similar chances at other tracks where he's been successful in the past -- places like Martinsville, Va., and Bristol, Tenn. -- Wallace continues to be frustrated that he hasn't yet grabbed his first checkered flag of 2002. But on the flipside, Rockingham is a place where he's won five times. Improving that record to an even half-dozen would sure be nice, Wallace said.

"We've been so close this year and it's hard to believe that we still haven't gotten that win yet coming into Rockingham," said Wallace, who still has had a good year nonetheless, with six top-fives and 16 top-10s this season. "I never thought I'd go this long without a win, but we've had a great car all year long, we've been real consistent, we've run real fast.

"When you look back on the record and see those wins that got away -- like the second-place at Bristol, at the Brickyard 400 and down at Daytona for the (Pepsi) 400 back in July -- you just shake your head about all the 'woulda-shoulda-couldas.'"

All told, Wallace's career record at Rockingham is stout: besides his five wins (the last coming in spring 1994), he also has 12 top-fives and 20 top-10s, along with two poles, in 37 starts. In his last outing there in February, he started and finished eighth.

"(Rockingham) has been very good for us through the years and we're focused on getting the job done this weekend," Wallace said.

If Wallace leaves Rockingham still winless Sunday, he at least can take some consolation that he's also had some success at the next stop on the circuit -- Phoenix International Raceway.

"With three races left, I mean, I haven't gone this long in a long time without winning," Wallace said. "I think it was three or four years ago I went the whole entire year and finally at Phoenix we scored there and kept the streak alive. I'm concerned a little bit. I want to get the win knocked out real quick. I'd (also) love to win a championship, there's no doubt about that.

"Everybody knows I'm kind of a flat-track guy, so Homestead and Phoenix should fall into our hands a little bit. We should have a better opportunity at those racetracks than maybe some others. But Rockingham, I've won a lot there and, hopefully, that would be one of them because I'd sure like to get it done this week instead of having to wait."

One title already claimed
Although Newman and Wallace, along with Martin and Johnson, continue to chase Stewart, one championship has already been sealed, that of the manufacturer's championship. Ford sealed the deal for the 15th time in company history when Kurt Busch won his second straight race last Sunday in a rain-shortened event at Atlanta.

Ford leads all manufacturers with 12 wins in the first 33 events, and is the only manufacturer to have placed at least one of its cars in the top-5 of every race this season.

Wallace and Newman will be leaving Ford and will be driving Dodge Intrepids when 2003 rolls around.

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com.