RICHMOND, Va. - Troubled NASCAR star Tony Stewart refuted a woman's claim that he assaulted her after a race in Tennessee, saying Saturday he is “shocked and truly at a loss as to why she made the claim.”

        Stewart, already on probation with NASCAR and his sponsor for punching a photographer

        Aug.4 in Indianapolis, is being investigated by the Sullivan County Sheriff's Department in Tennessee after a fan accused him of shoving her up against a trailer after a race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Aug.24.

        Authorities in Tennessee say an officer witnessed the assault, and detectives from Sullivan County came to Richmond International Raceway on Friday to conduct several interviews with people who may have been there.

        Stewart's boss, car owner Joe Gibbs, also defended his driver, saying people assigned to be with Stewart at every moment on the night of the Sharpie 500 said they saw nothing out of the ordinary after the race.

        After learning of the woman's allegation, Gibbs said: “I went to talk to everyone that was with Tony from the time he was at the car after the race until he got to the hauler and got out of the hauler.

        “We did have somebody assigned to be with him, and I went and talked to those people, and basically what they all told me was they saw nothing out of the ordinary,” Gibbs said at Richmond International Raceway, just more than an hour before Stewart was to drive in the Monte Carlo 400.

        ROOKIE BATTLE: Without much fanfare, Ryan Newman has caught and passed Jimmie Johnson in the race for NASCAR Winston Cup rookie of the year.

        Johnson held the upper hand in the first half of the season, winning two races and moving as high as second in the standings. Newman has yet to win after 33 career starts, but he leads the entire series with 11 top-five finishes in the first 25 races - six in his last eight starts - and has also been as high as second in the standings.

        Going into Saturday night's Monte Carlo 400 in Richmond, Johnson is fifth and Newman is 11th, trailing Johnson by 250 championship points but five ahead in the rookie standings.

        COOL NIGHTS: The Winston Cup schedule includes only five night races on its 36-race schedule. Jimmy Spencer, for one, wishes there were more.

        “It's very cool,” Spencer said. “I don't know about other drivers, but I can see better under the lights.

        “You can't necessarily see the track better, but you can see the other cars better. The cars look so neat under the lights that it gives a whole new perspective on racing.”

        Spencer says the night races are also a way of giving new fans something different.

        “Everybody talks about how it throws us back to Friday night short- track racing when we were trying to make a living in this sport,” Spencer said. “That's true, but you've got to remember that with this TV package, we've gotten a lot of new fans. A lot of them are young people who are cutting their teeth by watching us.

        “So, most of the time, they are seeing us race in the afternoons. When we race under the lights, the fans get to see how unique it is. It's got to be exciting.”

        NASCAR will add another night race in 2003 when the fall race at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., is run under the lights.

        STAT OF THE WEEK: Forty of the 83 Cup races run at Richmond since 1961 have been won from the top-three starting positions. However, only 10 of the 28 races since the track was reconfigured from a half mile to three-quarters of a mile have been won from third or better.

Sports Stories

Daugherty: The little team that almost could Heartbreaker in Oxford MLB Jones might miss game at LSU Buckeyes pummel Flashes Cardinals rebound from UK loss Kentucky 77, UTEP 17 Northeastern 31, Ohio 0 Wilmington cruises past Mount St. Joe 45-20 Hurricanes blow through Florida Luck O' the Irish beats Purdue Utah 40, Indiana 13 College Football Today How the Top 25 fared Top 25 roundup Daugherty: A tradition unlike any other? Gilder in position for Kroger win Lancaster leads Chalmers Largest first-round crowd on hand since 1991 McEnroe, Becker relive old times Serena beats Venus to win U.S. Open Serena Williams: The best ever? Old-Timers Day: Agassi faces Sampras in final Blount wins ARCA event at Chicagoland Gibbs: Witnesses saw nothing out of the ordinary Hornish wins pole for Delphi 300 Streak in jeopardy, Wallace fumes Jones retains undisputed title with win over Woods Lido Palace wins 2nd straight Woodward Next stop, hopefully Olympics NKU soccer has come a long way Spain 81, United States 75 Team USA missing that team part Yugoslavia 89, New Zealand 78 Coming up this week Enquirer Page Two power rankings

Expect another big-time slugfest
Once again, Bengals fail to sell out season opener
Jones: Life as a Rookie
Keys to the game
The Edge
By the numbers
Isolation booth: Frerotte vs. McNeil
NFL notebook
Curnutte picks the NFL
Curnutte's NFL power ratings
Brewers 9, Reds 6
Reds Box, Runs
When is a start not a start?
Fay: Reds Q&A
Reds chatter
Reds notebook
Cinergy Moments
Astros 6, Dodgers 1
Cardinals 6, Cubs 5, 13 innings
Pirates 4, Marlins 1
Yankees' Wells attacked by man at New York diner
Baseball insider
Baseball power rankings
Soft-spoken QB earns teammates' trust
Dixie Heights 28, CovCath 0
Meadowdale 47, Taft 0
NewCath 35, Scott 14
Purcell Marian 28, Amelia 0
Groeschen: Taft-Goshen cancellation regrettable
Schmidt: New alignment to affect local rivalries
Off the Court with Grace Kammerer
Down a player, Milford holds on for 1-1 tie
Boys cross country results
Boys golf results
Boys soccer results
Field hockey results
Girls cross country results
Girls soccer results
Girls tennis results
Volleyball results