LDN - Sports

Auto Racing Glance

[August 17, 2016] The Sports Xchange

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: BASS PRO SHOPS NRA NIGHT RACE (500 laps, 266.5 miles), Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.

TV: Saturday, Aug. 20, 8 p.m. EDT -- NBCSN (Radio: Performance Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: This will be the 112th Sprint Cup race held at Bristol Motor Speedway. Joey Logano won the last two summer night races there. Carl Edwards won in this year's spring race at Bristol. ... The Sprint Cup Series was off last weekend, the last off-weekend of the season. There are now 14 consecutive races coming up until season's end and the crowning of the 2016 champion. ... Denny Hamlin won the most recent Sprint Cup race, two weeks ago at Watkins Glen International. It was Hamlin's first career road-course win. ... There is no new update on the condition of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who missed the past four races and remains sidelined due to concussion-like symptoms. ... A total of 12 drivers have won at least one race thus far in the first 22 races this season: Brad Keselowski (four wins), Kyle Busch (four), Edwards (two), Jimmie Johnson (two), Matt Kenseth (two), Hamlin (two) and one win each by Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Logano, Martin Truex Jr., Tony Stewart and Chris Buescher. Only four races remain for drivers to qualify for the Chase. ... Keselowski (727 points) took over the Sprint Cup points lead after Watkins Glen. Harvick (718 points) is second, followed by Kurt Busch (689), Kyle Busch (670), Edwards (653), Logano (652), Hamlin (620), Truex (612), Kenseth (600) and Johnson (578).

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: FOOD CITY 300 (300 laps, 159.9 miles), Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.

TV: Friday, Aug. 19, 7:30 p.m. EDT -- USA Network (Radio: Performance Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: Saturday will mark the 69th time the Xfinity Series has raced at Bristol. Kyle Busch won a record eighth time in this race last year, while Erik Jones won this year's spring race. ... Justin Marks won last Saturday's Mid-Ohio Challenge at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. It was Marks' first career Xfinity Series win. The race was a rarity: much of it was run in the rain, and drivers were able to use wet weather tires and windshield wipers. ... Winners of the first 20 Xfinity Series races this season have been Chase Elliott (Daytona), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Texas, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Indianapolis), Austin Dillon (Fontana), Jones (Bristol, Dover and Iowa), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Richmond), Elliott Sadler (Talladega), Denny Hamlin (Charlotte), Kyle Larson (Pocono), Daniel Suarez (Michigan), Sam Hornish Jr. (Iowa), Aric Almirola (Daytona), Joey Logano (Watkins Glen) and Marks (Mid-Ohio). ... Sadler (700 points) remains No. 1 in the Xfinity Series point standings. Suarez (675) is second, followed by Ty Dillon (667), Jones (648), Justin Allgaier (646), Brendan Gaughan (631), Brennan Poole (618), Brandon Jones (595), Darrell Wallace Jr. (539) and Ryan Reed (526).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: UNOH 200 (200 laps, 106.6 miles), Bristol Motor Speedway, Bristol, Tenn.

TV: Wednesday, Aug. 17, 8:30 p.m. EDT -- USA Network (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: This will be the 19th Truck Series race held at Bristol. ... Ryan Blaney won this race last season. Kyle Busch won the event a record four times, the last coming in 2013. ... William Byron won the most recent Truck Series race, more than two weeks ago at Pocono Raceway. It was Byron's fifth Truck win in 2016. ... There have been seven winners thus far this season: Johnny Sauter (Daytona), John Hunter Nemechek (Atlanta), Busch (Martinsville), William Byron (Kansas, Michigan, Iowa, Kentucky and Pocono), Matt Crafton (Dover, Charlotte), Christopher Bell (Gateway) and Kyle Larson (Eldora). ... Byron remains in the Truck Series points lead (319 points), followed by former champion Crafton (294), Daniel Hemric (282), Timothy Peters (282) and Sauter (278).

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: ABC SUPPLY 500 (250 laps, 500 miles), Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, Pa.

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TV: Sunday, Aug. 21, 3 p.m. EDT -- NBCSN (Radio: IndyCar Radio Network).

THEN AND NOW: Points leader Simon Pagenaud won his fourth race of the season in the most recent race on July 31 in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. Will Power finished second, followed by Carlos Munoz in third. ... Even though Pagenaud won at Mid-Ohio, Power remains the hottest driver in the series. Power has won three of the past five races, and he finished runner-up in the other two events. ... There are four more races remaining on the 16-race schedule (Pocono, Texas, Watkins Glen and Sonoma). ... This season's race winners thus far are: Juan Pablo Montoya (St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Phoenix), Pagenaud (Long Beach, Birmingham, Grand Prix of Indianapolis and Mid-Ohio), Alexander Rossi (Indianapolis 500), Sebastien Bourdais (Belle Isle 1), Power (Belle Isle 2, Road America, Toronto) and Josef Newgarden (Iowa). ... Pagenaud (484 points) continues to lead the point standings, followed by Power (426), Helio Castroneves (373), Newgarden (364) and defending series champ Dixon and Tony Kanaan, tied for fifth with 357 points each.

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION, MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: LUCAS OIL NHRA NATIONALS, Brainerd International Raceway, Brainerd, Minn.

TV: Sunday, Aug. 21, 2-5 p.m. EDT -- Fox Sports 1.

THEN AND NOW: Rain prevented the final round of eliminations to determine the race winners in Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock at the most recent race two weeks ago in Seattle. As a result, the final round for both Top Fuel (Antron Brown vs. Steve Torrence) and Funny Car (Del Worsham vs. Ron Capps) will be contested Friday at Brainerd. Pro Stock, meanwhile, will have its final round held to start the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day weekend (Vincent Nobile vs. Aaron Strong, appearing in just the ninth race of his career). ... The races in Brainerd and Indianapolis are the last two before the start of the Countdown to the Championship. ... Courtney Force, who crashed at Seattle, is expected to return this weekend. Force was bruised and battered but did not sustain any significant injuries. Fellow Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria, who crashed and sustained a fractured left pelvis one week earlier in Sonoma, Calif., is expected to return this weekend, as well. DeJoria is fighting to make the Countdown to the Championship playoff. ... Brown remains No. 1 in Top Fuel (1,301 points), followed by Doug Kalitta (1,201), Torrence (1,177), Brittany Force (1,044), Tony Schumacher (1,036) and J.R. Todd (960). All six drivers have clinched berths in the Countdown. ... In Funny Car, Capps (1,313 points) remains No. 1, followed by Courtney Force (1,124), Jack Beckman (1,088 points), Worsham (1,070), Matt Hagan (1,011), Robert Hight (988) and John Force (970). All have clinched berths in the Countdown ... In Pro Stock, Jason Line (1,659) regained the points lead at Seattle. He is followed by teammates Greg Anderson (1,629 points) and Bo Butner (1,149), then Allen Johnson (993) and Nobile (918). Anderson, Line, Butner and Johnson have all clinched berths in the Countdown. Defending two-time series champ Erica Enders (670 points) climbed back into 10th place, nine points ahead of 11th-ranked Alex Laughlin (661 points). ... In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Eddie Krawiec is No. 1 in the standings (824 points), followed by teammate and 2015 series champ Andrew Hines (735), Angelle Sampey (595), Jerry Savoie (556) and LE Tonglet (484). Krawiec, Hines and Sampey have clinched positions in the Countdown.

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