Newman

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Ryan Newman was fuming at the response time and rescue effort of course workers after he crashed Friday in practice at Watkins Glen International.

He lost control of his Dodge and hit the wall at the end of the backstretch, then waited and waited. It took close to a minute for them to reach his car, lying driver's side down with its roof against the wall.

"They were definitely late," Newman said. "It was pretty ridiculous. When they got there they didn't know what they were doing. It seemed like they were pretty uneducated about what to do."

Course workers righted the car, and Newman emerged unhurt.

"I got loose in Turn 9 and had a couple of wiggles and never recovered," he explained.

Four hours later, he posted the 13th-fastest speed in qualifying for Sunday's Sirius at The Glen despite just three laps of practice in his backup car.

Newman started fifth and finished second here last year, a stunning effort for a rookie.

"That wasn't a bad lap," he said of his qualifying effort Friday. "I lost a lot of time over in turn five, but overall it was a good effort for this team.

"I was happy to be able to put the backup car in that position. I put the team behind with a screwup today."

After a series of crashes and mechanical failures earlier in the season, Newman has been the fastest driver on the circuit. He second-year driver leads the series with five poles and four victories.

He also is among the leaders with eight top-five finishes, but has failed to finish five races -- the second-highest figure on the circuit. That leaves him in ninth place in the standings, a staggering 654 points behind leader Matt Kenseth.

Follow the ringers

	Benson

Johnny Benson has an idea he hopes will result in a good finish Sunday at Watkins Glen International: find a ringer and try to follow him around the twisting, 2.45-mile road course.

There will be six "hired guns" -- who compete exclusively on NASCAR's road courses here and in Sonoma, Calif. -- in Sunday's Sirius at The Glen.

"If you can stay with them, they have an advantage of knowing the racetrack, they have an advantage of knowing road-course racing," said Benson, who qualified 27th Friday. "It would be no different than if their series ever ran ovals and we came over and did that. We'd have an advantage."

Fellow Winston Cup regular Jimmy Spencer, no fan of road courses, was less enthusiastic when asked about facing Ron Fellows, Boris Said and the rest of the invaders.

"I'd invite those guys to pick up their bags and come to Bristol, and we'll see what kind of men they are," said Spencer, who starts 39th Sunday.

Big bonus
Kenseth will have another shot at a record bonus payment Sunday at Watkins Glen International.

Kenseth is the only driver eligible for the $220,000 leader bonus from series sponsor Winston. It's payable to the leader if he wins or to any other driver who moves to the top of the standings with a victory.

With a 286-point lead over Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kenseth cannot be caught in one race. The maximum point spread from first to last is 151 points. Kenseth has been the only bonus eligible since May 25, when he finished second in the Coca-Cola 600 to take a 160-point lead.

It's been 52 races since the bonus -- which increases by $10,000 each time it goes unclaimed -- has been collected. Sterling Marlin won the bonus twice last season, getting a total of $50,000.

Bobby Labonte set the record for a bonus payoff when he got $190,000 three years ago in the Brickyard 400.

Pit stops
Despite the annual influx of road-course aces, second-place finishes by Wally Dallenbach in 1995 and four years ago by Ron Fellows are the only top-fives by non-regulars since 1986, when NASCAR returned to Watkins Glen after an absence of 21 years. ... No one will dispute that starting near the front is the best way to win. That's certainly the case on the Watkins Glen International road course, where 13 of 20 winners -- including defending champion Tony Stewart -- have come from the first three starting spots. ... The polesitter has won seven times, with Mark Martin doing it consecutively from 1993-95. ... Ken Schrader failed to qualify for the second week in a row after making the field for 579 consecutive races.