URL: http://www.gazetteextra.com/20150820/auto_racing_for_aug_21_23_2015
URL: http://www.gazetteextra.com/20150820/auto_racing_for_aug_21_23_2015
IRWIN TOOLS NIGHT RACE
Site: Bristol, Tennessee.
Schedule: Friday, practice (NBC Sports Channel, 10:30 a.m.-noon, 12:30-1:30 p.m.), qualifying (NBC Sports Channel, 4:30-6 p.m.); Saturday, race, 6:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Channel, 6-10:30 p.m.).
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, 0.533 miles).
Race distance: 500 laps, 266.5 miles.
Last year: Joey Logano raced to the third of his five 2014 victories, holding off Penske Racing teammate Brad Keselowski.
Last week: Matt Kenseth won at Michigan for his third victory of the season.
Fast facts: Kyle Busch has won four of the last eight races. He’s 29th in the standings in 12 races since returning from a broken right leg and left foot. Busch must be in the top 30 after the regular-season finale at Richmond to qualify for the 16-driver Chase. He raced to the last of his five Bristol victories in 2011. ... Jimmie Johnson is tied with Busch for the series victory lead with four. ... Defending series champion Kevin Harvick leads the standings, 48 points ahead of Logano. ... Jeff Gordon is retiring at the end of the season. The five-time Bristol winner is winless this year. ... Kenseth won at the track in April to end a 51-event victory drought. ... Darrell Waltrip won a record 12 times at Bristol.
Next race: Southern 500, Sept. 6, Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina.
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FOOD CITY 300
Site: Bristol, Tennessee.
Schedule: Friday, practice (NBC Sports Channel, 8:30-10:30 a.m.), qualifying (NBC Sports Channel, 2:30-4 p.m.), race, 6:30 p.m. (NBC Sports Channel, 6-9 p.m.).
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, 0.533 miles).
Race distance: 300 laps, 159.9 miles.
Last year: Ryan Blaney won after bolting past Kyle Busch on a late restart.
Last week: Regan Smith won on the road course at Mid-Ohio, bumping past Alex Tagliani on the final lap.
Fast facts: Busch is making his sixth series start of the season. He has two victories this year to push his series-record total to 72. Busch has a Bristol-record seven series victories. ... Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are racing. They each have two victories in eight starts this season. ... Chris Buescher leads the standings, 24 points ahead of Ty Dillon and 25 in front of Chase Elliott. ... Joey Logano won the April race at the track, leading all 300 laps.
Next race: VFW Sport Clips Help A Hero 200, Sept. 5, Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina.
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Next race: Chevrolet Silverado 250, Aug. 30, Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario.
Last race: The series raced at Bristol, Tennessee, on Wednesday night.
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ABC SUPPLY 500
Site: Long Pond, Pennsylvania.
Schedule: Saturday, practice, qualifying (NBC Sports Channel, 1-2:30 p.m.); Sunday, race, 1:45 p.m. (NBC Sports Channel, 1-5 p.m.).
Track: Pocono Raceway (triangle, 2.5 miles).
Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps.
Last year: Team Penske’s Juan Pablo Montoya raced to his first victory in his return to open-wheel racing after seven years in NASCAR. Teammate Helio Castroneves was second.
Last race: Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal won on the road course at Mid-Ohio on Aug. 2, holding off Andretti Autosport’s Justin Wilson on the final restart.
Fast facts: Montoya leads the standings, nine points ahead of Rahal with two races left. Montoya won the Indianapolis 500 and the opener at St. Petersburg, Florida. Rahal won the oval race at Fontana, California, in June. ... Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon won in 2013 in the first IndyCar race at the track since 1989.
Next race: Grand Prix of Sonoma, Aug. 30, Sonoma Raceway, Sonoma, California.
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BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Site: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
Schedule: Friday, practice (NBC Sports Channel, 7-8:30 a.m.); Saturday, practice, qualifying (CNBC, 7-8:30 a.m.; NBC Sports Channel, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.); Sunday, race, 7 a.m. (NBC Sports Channel, 6:30-9:30 a.m.).
Track: Spa-Francorchamps (road course, 4.35 miles).
Race distance: 191.415 miles, 44 laps.
Last year: Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo raced to the last of his three 2014 victories. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg was second.
Last race: Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel won the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 26 for his second victory of the year.
Fast facts: Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton leads the standings, 21 points ahead of Rosberg and 42 in front of Vettel. Hamilton has five victories in the first 10 races of the season. Rosberg has won three times. ... The course is the longest in F1.
Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Sept 6, Autodromo di Monza, Monza, Italy.
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LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS
Site: Brainerd, Minnesota.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying; Saturday, qualifying (ESPN2, 10 p.m.-midnight); Sunday, final eliminations (ESPN2, 8-11 p.m.).
Track: Brainerd International Raceway.
Last year: Morgan Lucas won the Top Fuel final, beating Doug Kalitta. In rain-delayed finals run in Indiana, Ron Capps won in Funny Car, and Jason Line topped the Pro Stock field.
Last event: Tommy Johnson Jr. won the Funny Car division in the Northwest Nationals on Aug. 9 in Kent, Washington. J.R. Todd won in Top Fuel, and Chris McGaha topped the Pro Stock field.
Fast facts: Matt Hagan leads the Funny Car standings, five points ahead of Jack Beckman with two events left in the regular season. Beckman has five victories this year, and Hagan has four. Tony Schumacher has the Top Fuel lead. Antron Brown is second, 87 points back. In Pro Stock, Greg Anderson had a 51-point lead over Erica Enders. The top 10 in each category will compete for season titles in the six-event Countdown to the Championship.
Next race: U.S. Nationals, Sept. 2-7, Lucas Oil Raceway, Brownsburg, Indiana.
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TUDOR UNITED SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP: Oak Tree Grand Prix, Sunday (Fox Sports 1, noon-3 p.m.), Virginia International Raceway, Danville, Virginia.
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ARCA RACING SERIES: Allen Crowe 100, Sunday (CBS Sports Network, 1:30-3:30 p.m.), Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois.
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U.S. AUTO RACING CLUB: Silver Crown: Tony Bettenhausen 100, Illinois State Fairgrounds, Springfield, Illinois.
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WORLD OF OUTLAWS: Sprint Car: Friday, River Cities Speedway, Grand Forks, North Dakota; Sunday, Nodak Speedway, Minot, North Dakota. Late Model: Friday-Saturday, Atomic Speedway, Chillicothe, Ohio; Sunday, Eriez Speedway, Erie, Pennsylvania. Super DirtCar: Sunday, Cornwall Motor Speedway, Cornwall, Ontario.