|
 TV: Sunday, April 3, 1 p.m. ET -- Fox Sports 1 (Radio: Motor
Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).
THEN AND NOW: The Sprint Cup resumes after having the Easter weekend
off. ... Martinsville Speedway is the oldest and longest-serving
racetrack in NASCAR, holding its first race there back in 1948. ...
This will be the 135th Sprint Cup race at the half-mile bullring.
... Denny Hamlin is the defending champion of this race, while the
now-retired Jeff Gordon won last fall's Chase for the Sprint Cup
race there. Until he retired, Gordon had been the winningest active
driver there with nine wins. Richard Petty holds the all-time record
with 15 wins at Martinsville. ... Jimmie Johnson won the most recent
Cup race, two weeks ago, the Auto Club 400 at Auto Club Speedway in
Fontana, Calif. It was Johnson's sixth Sprint Cup win there (tops
among all Cup drivers), along with 13 top-five and 19 top-10
finishes in 22 starts. ... It was also Johnson's 77th career Sprint
Cup victory, moving him past Dale Earnhardt Sr. into sole possession
of seventh place on NASCAR's all-time Sprint Cup wins list. Johnson
is now six wins behind sixth-ranked Cale Yarborough and seven wins
behind fourth-ranked (tie) Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip. ...
Winners thus far this season have been Denny Hamlin (Daytona),
Jimmie Johnson (Atlanta and Fontana), Brad Keselowski (Las Vegas),
Kevin Harvick (Phoenix) and Johnson (Fontana). ... The Sprint Cup
standings remain tight after the first five races of the 36-race
season. Kevin Harvick is back in sole possession of first place with
195 points. Jimmie Johnson moved up to second and is 11 points
behind Harvick. Carl Edwards is third (-24). Kyle Busch fell from
being tied for first prior to Fontana to a tie for fourth with Denny
Hamlin (-25 each). Sixth through 10th are Joey Logano (-30), Kurt
Busch (-47), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (-50), Brad Keselowski (-53) and
Austin Dillon (-56).
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: The Xfinity Series is off for a second
consecutive weekend. The series resumes racing Friday night, April
8, under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway.
THEN AND NOW: Austin Dillon led just one lap in the Xfinity Series'
most recent race, two weeks ago at Fontana, Calif., but it was the
most important lap -- the final one -- as he captured the
TreatMyClot.com 300 at Auto Club Speedway. It was one of the most
exciting and also oddest race finishes in recent memory. Erik Jones
ran out of fuel with three laps to go. Then, Daniel Suarez ran out
of fuel with one lap to go, missing his bid to win his first career
Xfinity Series race. Then, Kyle Busch blew a tire on the final lap,
yet managed to keep racing. It appeared Busch might be able to win
on three tires, but Dillon got past him in the final turn and went
on to victory. Dillon's win also snapped Kyle Busch's three-race
winning streak. ... Winners of the first four Xfinity Series races
this season have been Chase Elliott (Daytona) and Kyle Busch
(Atlanta, Las Vegas and Phoenix) and Dillon (Fontana). ... Daniel
Suarez remains in the lead in the Xfinity Series point standings
after Fontana, with 182 points. Elliott Sadler is in second place,
10 points behind Suarez. Justin Allgaier moved up to third place
(-19 points), followed by Brandon Jones (-21), Ty Dillon (-23),
Brendan Gaughan (-28), Erik Jones (-30), Darrell Wallace Jr. (-48),
Ryan Reed (-49) and Brennan Poole (-52).
NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: Alpha Energy Solutions 250 (250
laps, 131.5 miles), Martinsville Speedway; Martinsville, Va.
TV: Saturday, April 2, 2:30 p.m. ET -- Fox Sports 1 (Radio: Motor
Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).
THEN AND NOW: 18-year-old John Hunter Nemechek won the most recent
Truck Series race, nearly a month ago at Atlanta. ... Parker
Kligerman is the surprising leader in the Truck series points
standings. He leads Daniel Hemric by one point, followed by Nemechek
(-3), Timothy Peters (-6), Tyler Young (-8), Ryan Truex (-10),
Brandon Brown (-12), Ben Rhodes (-12), Grant Enfinger (-13) and
Daytona winner Johnny Sauter in 10th place (-14).
VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand
Prix (250 laps, 255.5 miles), Phoenix International Raceway;
Avondale, Ariz.
TV: Saturday, April 2, 8:30 p.m. ET -- NBCSN (Radio: IndyCar Radio
Network/Sirius Radio Channel 212/XM Radio Channel 209).
[to top of second column] |
THEN AND NOW: The Verizon IndyCar Series returns to the Valley of
the Sun and Phoenix International Raceway for the first time since
2005. The last winner of an IndyCar race at PIR was Sam Hornish Jr.
... Prior to its hiatus, IndyCar or some form of open-wheel racing
had been a mainstay at PIR, dating back to 1964 when the legendary
A.J. Foyt won the first open-wheel race there (under USAC
sanctioning). ... Juan Pablo Montoya won the season-opening race at
St. Petersburg, Fla., two weeks ago. It was the second consecutive
year that Montoya has won the Firestone Grand Prix of St.
Petersburg. ... Montoya comes into Phoenix as the points leader in
the IndyCar Series. Montoya led the series standings through the
first 15 races of last season, only to lose the championship to
Scott Dixon in the season finale at Sonoma, Calif. ... Following
Montoya (51 points) in the standings is teammate Simon Pagenaud (43
points), Ryan Hunter-Reay (36), Helio Castroneves (32), Mikhail
Aleshin (30), Takuma Sato (28), defending series champion Scott
Dixon (26), Carlos Munoz (24), Tony Kanaan (22) and Charlie Kimball
(20).
NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: DENSO
Iridium U Spark Plus NHRA Nationals, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor
Speedway; Las Vegas, Nev.
TV: Qualifying, Friday, April 1, 11 p.m.-12 a.m. ET; Qualifying,
Saturday, April 2, 9-10 p.m. ET; Final eliminations, Sunday, April
3, 5-8 p.m. ET. All telecasts on Fox Sports 1.
THEN AND NOW: In the most recent race two weeks ago, the Amalie
Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., Brittany Force
captured her first career Top Fuel win, defeating Terry McMillen,
who made his first final-round appearance of his career. It was
Force's first win in eight career final round appearances. ...
Brittany Force is the daughter of 16-time NHRA Funny Car champion
John Force. ... Other Gainesville winners were Force's teammate,
Robert Hight, in Funny Car; Greg Anderson won his second Pro Stock
race of the season, and Eddie Krawiec won the first Pro Stock
Motorcycle race of the season. ... With her win at Gainesville,
Brittany Force took over the lead in the Top Fuel points standings
for the first time in her career. Force has 251 points, followed by
Millican (210 points), followed by former points leader Doug Kalitta
(205), Steve Torrence (199), Terry McMillan (178), Leah Pritchett
(166), J.R. Todd (157), Tony Schumacher (155), Richie Crampton (153)
and defending series champion Antron Brown (149). ... With his win
at Gainesville, Robert Hight took over the top spot in the Funny Car
standings (280 points), followed by former points leader Ron Capps
(279), John Force (221), Jack Beckman (205), Courtney Force (201),
defending series champ Del Worsham (189), Tim Wilkerson (183), Chad
Head (162), Alexis De Joria (119) and Matt Hagan (118). ... Jason
Line remains atop the Pro Stock point standings (337 points),
followed closely by Greg Anderson (331), and then Bo Butner (233),
Drew Skillman (205), Chris McGaha (161), Jeg Coughlin (160), Allen
Johnson (160), Vincent Nobile (138), Alex Laughlin (121) and
defending series champ Erica Enders finally cracked the top 10,
moving into 10th place (97 points). ... Lastly, by winning Sunday,
Krawiec leads the Pro Stock Motorcycle ranks (129 points), followed
by Hector Arana (99), defending series champ Andrew Hines (79), LE
Tonglet IV (74), Chip Ellis (62), Michael Ray Jr. (52), Gerald
Savoie (52), James Underdahl (52), Angelle Sampey (35) and Scott
Pollacheck (33).
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