Auto Races This Week
Mar 27, 2008
A quick look at the upcoming auto races this week.
NASCAR SPRINT CUP
Goody’s Cool Orange 500
Site: Martinsville, Va
Schedule: Friday, qualifying (3:30 p.m.); Sunday, race (1:30 p.m.)
Track: Martinsville Speedway (oval, 0.526 miles, 12 degrees banking in turns)
Race distance: 263 miles, 500 laps.
Last race: Jeff Burton raced past Denny Hamlin on a two-lap sprint to the finish to give Richard Childress Racing a 1-2-3 sweep at Bristol Motor Speedway on March 16 and deny Joe Gibbs Racing a victory after its three drivers dominated the race. Burton scored his first win at Bristol, the first win of the season for Chevrolet, and led teammates Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer across the finish line in the first podium sweep in RCR history.
Last year: Jimmie Johnson withstood teammate Jeff Gordon’s bumping and banging for much of the last 53 laps and held him off by a front bumper to win for the third time in six Cup races.
Fast facts: Johnson has won the last three events at Martinsville and has combined with Gordon to take eight of the last 10 races at the track. Both are winless this season and sit 13th and 14th in the standings, respectively. ... Dale Earnhardt Jr. has seven top-five finishes in 16 career starts at Martinsville, but no victories. He is fifth in the standings, 96 points behind leader Kyle Busch. ... Tony Stewart led a race-high 267 laps at Bristol, but finished 14th after making contact with Kevin Harvick with less than five laps remaining. ... Dale Jarrett finished 37th at Bristol in the final start in a points race of his 24-year career. The former series champion is retiring this season, and will race one last time in the All-Star race in May. Michael McDowell will take his place on the Michael Waltrip Racing team. ... With the season’s first five races complete, the top 35 teams in the current car owner point standings are now guaranteed starting spots.
Next race: Samsung 500, April 6, Fort Worth, Texas
On the Net: www.nascar.com
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS
Kroger 250
Site: Martinsville, Va.
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (10 a.m.), race (3 p.m.).
Track: Martinsville Speedway (oval, 0.526 miles, 12 degrees banking in turns)
Race distance: 131.5 miles, 250 laps.
Last race: Kyle Busch grabbed his second truck victory in three tries this year, winning the American Commercial Lines 200 at Hampton, Ga., on March 7. Busch, who will only run a part-time schedule in trucks the rest of the year, remained the points leader over former series champion Todd Bodine, who struggled all night before finishing ninth.
Last year: Mike Skinner started on the pole and stayed out front nearly all day at Martinsville, leading all but seven of 253 laps to win his third consecutive race. Coming off victories at California and Atlanta, Skinner set a series record by leading 246 laps and won for the 22nd time in his career. He became the second driver in the series to win twice on the small, tight oval.
Fast facts: Busch has recorded five straight finishes of first or second in a Billy Ballew truck. ... Skinner will be seeking his third straight victory at Martinsville and become the first driver to win three straight short-track races on the same venue. Skinner had a pair of wins at Indianapolis in 1995 and 1996 before a broken oil line ended his run. Dennis Setzer (Martinsville), Rick Crawford (Martinsville) and Ron Hornaday Jr. (Bristol and Louisville) have failed in their attempts. ... Chrissy Wallace, the 19-year-old daughter of Mike Wallace, will try to qualify for her first NASCAR national event this weekend. In his Nationwide debut, Mike Wallace finished second at Martinsville on Oct. 28, 1990. The truck series has had eight female competitors in its history.
Next race: O’Reilly Auto Parts 250, April 26, Kansas City, Kan.
On the Net: www.nascar.com
INDY RACING LEAGUE
GAINSCO Auto Insurance 300
Site: Homestead, Fla.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, race ( 8 p.m.).
Track: Homestead-Miami Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 18-degree banking at bottom, 19-degree banking in middle, 20-degree banking at top).
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.
Last year: Dan Wheldon fought off an early challenge from Sam Hornish Jr. and easily overcame a bad pit stop to drive away with his third straight win at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It was the first time in the 12-year history of the IndyCar Series that a driver won three straight races at the same track.
Fast facts: The IRL begins a new era this weekend with the long-awaited merger of the IndyCar and now-defunct Champ Car series. The season-opener will feature 16 cars that competed in IndyCar last season and five former Champ Car teams that own a combined 10 cars. ... Scott Dixon has qualified in the top 10 in 24 straight races and has top-10 finishes in each of his last 10 starts. ... If Helio Castroneves wins in 2008 he will have the record for most consecutive seasons with at least one victory. He and Scott Sharp share the current mark of seven. ... Danica Patrick heads into the opener winless in 47 career starts. ... Justin Wilson finished second in the Champ Car standings last year, 83 points behind champion Sebastien Bourdais, who made the jump to Formula One.
Next race: Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Fla., April 6
On the Net: www.indycar.com
NHRA
O’Reilly Spring Nationals
Site: Baytown, Texas
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 3 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 12:15 p.m.); Sunday, eliminations, Noon.
Track: Houston Raceway.
Last event: Defending Funny Car champion Tony Pedregon raced to his first victory of the season and 37th of his career, beating Gary Densham in the ACDelco Gatornationals. Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Matt Guidera (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won their divisions.
Last year: J.R. Todd won the Top Fuel division at Houston Raceway on March 16, beating Joe Hartley with a quarter-mile run at 4.603 seconds and 313.80 mph. Ron Capps powered his Dodge Charger R/T to his 24th career victory, beating Cruz Pedregon in the final. Jason Line topped the Pro Stock field, and Angelle Sampey won the Pro Stock Motorcycle competition.
Fast facts: Schumacher’s 43rd career victory moved him within nine of Joe Amato for career wins. ... Densham’s previous trip to the final round came at Indianapolis in 2004. ... Larry Dixon recorded the first-ever sub-4.5 Top Fuel run during the 1999 event. ... Al Hofmann, a 15-time Funny Car winner who finished second to John Force in 1995, died of a heart attack on March 20. He was 60.
Next event: SummitRacing.com Nationals, April 13, Las Vegas
On the Net: www.nhra.com
NASCAR NATIONWIDE
Last race: Scott Wimmer passed Richard Childress Racing teammate Clint Bowyer with 21 laps to go and held on to win the Pepsi 300 at Nashville Superspeedway. The Childress cars took the top two spots, six days after the team swept the top three positions in the Sprint Cup series race at Bristol.
Next race: O’Reilly 300, April 5, Fort Worth, Texas
On the Net: www.nascar.com
FORMULA ONE
Last race: Kimi Raikkonen comfortably won the Malaysian Grand Prix, immediately injecting Ferrari back into the title race after the disappointment of the previous week’s flop in Australia where neither car finished. Raikkonen won by 20 seconds over BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica, with McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen another 19 seconds back in third.
Next race: Bahrain Grand Prix, April 6, Sakhir
On the Net: www.formula1.com
OTHER RACES
NASCAR Developmental Series
CAMPING WORLD SERIES WEST: Toyota NAPA AutoCare Center 150, Saturday, All American Speedway, Roseville, Calif.
WHELEN SOUTHERN MODIFIED: Night of Modifieds 150, Saturday, Southern National Raceway Park, Kenly, N.C.
MEXICO: Sunday, New Queretaro Autodrome, Queretaro, Mexico
On the Net: www.nascarhometracks.com
