DODGE RIDING ON TWO WHEELS.

Byline: TIM HADDOCK Motor Sports

It hasn't exactly been a banner year for Dodge in NASCAR. It's been a struggle that really started last season when Sterling Marlin, driving a Dodge for owner Chip Ganassi, lost the Winston Cup championship after leading the points chase for 25 consecutive weeks only to have to sit out with a neck injury and watch Tony Stewart pass him by.

If not for Penske Racing South driver Ryan Newman and Craftsman Truck Series driver Brendan Gaughan, Dodge would have little to hang its head gasket on.

Newman won Sunday's Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway, his fourth victory of the year and the only four for Dodge in Winston Cup this year. His four victories and five poles are the most of any Winston Cup driver.

Gaughan, perhaps the hottest and certainly the fastest driver in NASCAR at the moment, won the Sears 200 at Michigan International Speedway last week. It was the fastest race in Trucks Series history, eclipsing the previous record set by Kurt Busch at California Speedway in 2000 by more than 10 mph. In addition, Gaughan, a two-time NASCAR Winston West champion, moved into the Truck Series points lead.

Newman and Gaughan certainly have carried the torch for Dodge. Disappointingly, the rest of the Dodge drivers, mainly Marlin and Casey Mears from Ganassi and Ray Evernham drivers Bill Elliott and Jeremy Mayfield, have been stuck, at best spinning their wheels and scratching their heads wondering what it will take to match the success of Newman and Gaughan.

``Certainly we would like everybody to be winning races,'' said John Fernandez, director of Dodge Motorsports Operations. ``Ryan has done an outstanding job this year with his car, and quite frankly in the beginning of the year he was running into a lot of bad luck as you well know. That's turned around now, and he's really on a roll. Conversely, in the Ganassi camp and also in the Evernham camp, we've had some great drives. We just haven't been able to get up front and win a race yet.''

Newman's victory at Pocono is certainly a highlight to his season. But the low points have been downright scary. He started the season flipping his way through the infield at the Daytona 500. Since then, he's been fried, frayed and frazzled at times in races.

``The driver has to do his job,'' Newman said. ``He has to finish the best the car is capable of, regardless of that position, whether it's a top-five car or truck or a top-three car or truck, he's got to be able to put it in that position.

``We struggled at the beginning of the season with a couple of crashes here and there, a blown tire, a failed rear gear at Richmond while we were leading. Part of that is racing luck. Part of it is lack of preparation. The bottom line is you don't change your luck. You create your luck. People use luck as an excuse or reason sometimes.''

Speaking of luck, Gaughan would like to see Newman win more races. The son of a Las Vegas casino owner, Gaughan knows a little bit about oddsmaking. He also can spot a trend, one of which has Gaughan winning races when Newman wins as well.

``Every time it seems like Ryan wins I win either that weekend or very close, so I need Ryan to win more because that seems like a good omen for me,'' Gaughan said.

Though the challenges have mounted for many of the Dodge drivers, Gaughan and Newman have found a way to rise to the top. Gaughan is chasing his first Truck Series championship, and Newman has the daunting task of chasing down Matt Kenseth from ninth place in the standings. The odds of that happening, despite Newman's recent success, aren't encouraging.

``Ryan's hot,'' Gaughan said. ``If he keeps winning like that, if I was a good, old-fashioned oddsmaker, I'd keep it at about 13-1 right now just because of how hot he is.''

No matter what the odds are, Newman isn't one to be counted out.

``Matt (crew chief Borland) and I don't build those race cars, so we're just a part of the team,'' Newman said. ``People work on the engines. People do everything on those cars, whether it's put the decals on or sweep the floors or whatever. It's a combination of everything, and on top of that you have mechanical parts that are built outside the company that do fail, also, so there's a whole list of things.

``That's what makes it so difficult, and that's what makes it so gratifying when you pull into victory lane, knowing you conquered all the odds against you.''

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- Tim Haddock