Stewart Puts an End to Winless Streak

Tony Stewart was dominant for the third week in a row Sunday, but this time his effort and fast work by his crew carried him to a victory at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pa.

Stewart was in control in each of his last two races. But he had an engine problem two weeks ago at Lowe’s Motor Speedway, then lost at Dover International Speedway after NASCAR imposed a one-lap penalty for stopping slightly out of his stall on pit road.

But the Winston Cup champion got his first victory this season in the Pocono 500. It ended the longest drought in his career at 27 races.

“We finally got the monkey off our back,” Stewart said. “I never thought I’d appreciate my first win of the year so much.”

He ran strong throughout the race, and took the lead on the 156th lap, one lap after coming to pit road in third position. He left with the lead after his crew outworked those of leader Sterling Marlin and Matt Kenseth.

Stewart took the lead for the final time with 11 laps left when Todd Bodine and Jeremy Mayfield pitted, but got a bad break when Kurt Busch blew a tire to bring out a caution flag with eight laps left.

But Stewart’s Chevrolet led Mark Martin’s Ford when the green flag waved for the final three laps, and Stewart beat Martin back to the line by five car lengths after Terry Labonte spun out Jeff Green to end the $4.2-million race under caution.

“We know how to lead, we just haven’t been able to finish them off,” Stewart said. “We’ve been on a great tear.”

Stewart’s 16th victory was his first since he won in August in Watkins Glen, N.Y. It also was his first in Long Pond, where he has eight top-10 finishes in nine starts.

Stewart started fourth and led 37 of 200 laps on the 2 1/2-mile triangular track.

“It’s been a long, hard year for all us,” car owner Joe Gibbs said. “Tony’s had a good car week in and week out. It shows you how hard this sport is.”

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Ricky Carmichael beat fellow Honda rider Kevin Windham to remain unbeaten this season by winning the fourth round of the 12-round Chevy Trucks U.S. Motocross Championship 250cc series at Southwick, Mass.

Carmichael has a record AMA winning streak of 16, dating to the first race in 2002. He also has a record 91 combined AMA Motocross/Supercross victories.

Football

Sherdrick Bonner threw eight touchdown passes to lead the Arizona Rattlers to a 66-49 victory over the top-seeded San Jose SaberCats and a berth in ArenaBowl XVII.

Arizona (13-6), which lost to San Jose in last season’s ArenaBowl, will face Tampa Bay for the championship June 22 at Tampa, Fla.

The Storm advanced to the title game by beating the Orlando Predators, 60-50, Saturday.

The sixth-seeded Rattlers got 12 catches for 227 yards and five touchdowns from Randy Gatewood and outscored the SaberCats, 21-7, to end the game.

Bonner, who completed 21 of 30 for 321 yards, threw a 49-yard touchdown pass to Gatewood late in the third quarter to give Arizona the lead for good.

Miscellany

Belmont Shore won the USA Rugby Super League championship with a 23-15 victory over rival OMBAC of San Diego Saturday in San Francisco.

Passings

Dennis Minishian, a leading sports statistician in Los Angeles for nearly 40 years, has died. He was 61.

Minishian died Wednesday night at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in West Los Angeles after suffering a heart attack. Story in Section B.