1.   Another driver poised to win a major stock-car championship comes from the New York suburbs.

2.   Shaq and Kobe, the very heart of a Lakers team poised to win its third consecutive NBA title with a sweep tonight of the New Jersey Nets.

3.   So much for the belief, held inside and outside of France, that French athletes seldom have the confidence or poise to win the big game.

4.   With MCI WorldCom poised to win Sprint, some analysts and advisors have argued that BellSouth would drop irrevocably into the realm of also-rans.

5.   Another tight finish loomed, with six of the top seven players in the world all poised to win the Masters.

6.   Ex-communisits poised to win power from Solidarity.

7.   Fighting half centuries by Mike Atherton and Nasser Hussain on Monday have England tantalizingly poised to win the fourth cricket test against South Africa.

8.   In other Sicilian races, the Olive Tree appeared poised to win in Caltanissetta but was losing to the Freedom Alliance rival in Agrigento.

9.   The second round of Senate elections began Friday, with the Czech opposition poised to win most of the seats in the upper house of parliament.

10.   He is a member of the National Transition Council, a parliament set up after the cancellation of elections three years which Islamic fundamentalists were poised to win.