That's life ... and Ryan Newman can't deny it.

As Frank Sinatra used to sing, "You're riding high in April, shot down in May."

Oh, how Newman can identify with that line. He entered the month of April fresh off a win at Texas, had climbed to eighth in the standings after leaving the season-opening race at Daytona in 43rd place, and was looking forward to taking a run at the No. 1 position currently held by Matt Kenseth.

Then the bottom fell out. By early May, Newman had dipped to the lowest point in the standings he's been since becoming a full-time Winston Cup driver.

But June could definitely be when Newman changes his tune and vaults back into the Winston Cup championship race. It may take him longer than just this month to get back on top, as Sinatra sung about, but don't count the driver of the No. 12 Dodge out by any stretch. Sure, 13 races are in the record books, but there are still 23 races and plenty of time to make noise this season.

To say Newman's ride has been wild the past two years is putting it mildly; this season is the mirror opposite of last year's.

The 2002 season was one in which the South Bend, Ind., native could do little wrong. He was at the head of the class of the vaunted "young guns," winning his first career Cup race, and recording 13 other top-five and eight additional top-10 finishes, a total of 22 top-10 showings in 36 starts.

Not bad for a rookie, eh? Oh yeah, speaking of which, the prodigal Vehicle Structural Engineering graduate of Purdue University capped off his dream season by earning Rookie of the Year honors.

But the baby-faced Newman has not enjoyed similar success in his sophomore season. He's emerged unscathed from incredible end-over-end crashes in the season opener at Daytona, as well as at Talladega (just three laps into the race, no less), crashed for a third time at California, lost his brakes and was forced to drop out at Martinsville (Va.), and battled all kinds of problems at Richmond (Va.).

And even though he was able to near-miraculously pull out a win at Texas, things still ultimately got worse for Newman. After finishing last, he emerged from Daytona 43rd in the Winston Cup standings. Several weeks later, he began a four-race stretch that saw him finish 39th, 38th, 42nd and 39th again in as many consecutive starts. And to top things off, he slipped -- correction, make that plummeted -- to the lowest point he's ever been in the standings in his young Cup career, 27th after his struggles at Richmond.

Yet, through it all, Newman was a conundrum of the highest order. While he tanked at the end in several races and went on a freefall in the standings, he's qualified in the top-five (plus another top-eight start) in 10 of the last 11 starts.

Such a fickle animal momentum is.

	Newman is hoping to have reason to celebrate at Pocono on Sunday.

But now, suddenly, Newman has gone from struggling mightily to possibly the hottest driver on the circuit. He's earned the pole at the last two races, finished fifth two races ago at Charlotte and returned to Victory Lane this past Sunday at Dover (Del.).

In the process, he's jumped nine places in the rankings, from 27th to 18th, and rolls into the Pennsylvania hills for Sunday's Pocono 500 searching for win No. 3 and potentially making a run at closing in on the top-10 leaders (only 69 points separate Newman from No. 12 Ricky Craven, while Newman is 97 points shy of No. 10 Robby Gordon).

Newman heads to Pocono with two previous Cup starts there under his belt. Although he led 19 laps in last spring's race at Pocono, he fell victim to a broken fuel pump. After his crew repaired that, Newman came back with a vengeance, only to see his day finish prematurely and in 32nd-place after being involved in a crash with fellow young gun Kurt Busch.

"It was this race last year that I thought we were going to have a decent finish, but things went haywire," Newman said. "A $20 fuel pump piece failed. The car was just as good after I got back on the track, but a win was obviously out of the question. I was just racing my own race at that point. Kurt Busch and I went into the corner and got tangled up and that's what ended the day early for us."

Newman returned to the uniquely shaped 2½-mile tri-oval, considered by many to be a hybrid between a superspeedway and a road course, several weeks later in late July and shined with a fifth-place finish.

"We had a great car the last time we raced at Pocono," Newman said. "I don't even think I left the top-10 all day. The car was just a little tight. We finished fifth and left with good notes, but we have a different car this year, so we're starting over in terms of aero-balancing."

He's even won there once, taking the checkered flag in only his second start in the ARCA series in 2001.

"We look forward to going to Pocono," Newman said. "We led quite a few laps in the spring race and finished in the top five in the fall race last year. I think we've learned a lot since then and can go back and be fast and competitive again. I look forward to that, and Michigan (the next race on the schedule following Pocono) is pretty much home for me as far as race tracks go. I look forward to the next few weeks, and going to the road courses is going to be interesting, too."

In light of Newman's last two races, it would be safe to say that Team Penske is rubbing its hands greedily for this weekend, knowing that its ultra high-performance and durable motors should feel right at home at Pocono. From Newman and teammate Rusty Wallace, down to shock specialist Patrick Stufflet, Team Penske is pointing directly toward Victory Lane this Sunday.

"We definitely had some bad luck for a while, but Charlotte and Dover have really boosted the guys' morale," Stufflet said. "I have a feeling we'll have a great car this weekend at Pocono. I was skeptical about last week when Ryan lost the power steering at Dover, but he proved he can drive the wheels off that car.

"Pocono is our track to continue climbing in the points and stay in the game. Penske cars have always run well at Pocono, so there's no reason for us not to continue that this weekend. Another Penske front row might very well happen again, too, and that would be awesome."

Jerry Bonkowski covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at Motorsportwriter@Yahoo.com.