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Auto Racing Glance

[August 31, 2017] The Sports Xchange

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: BOJANGLES' SOUTHERN 500 (367 laps, 501.3 miles around a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval), Darlington Raceway; Darlington, S.C.

TV: Sunday, 6 p.m. ET -- NBCSN (Radio: Motor Racing Network /SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: This will be the 114th Cup race at Darlington, which is one of the hardest tracks on the NASCAR circuit, which lends to its nicknames of the Track Too Tough To Tame and the Lady In Black. ... This will also be the third straight "Throwback Race Weekend" at Darlington, where NASCAR Cup and NASCAR Xfinity Series cars carry paint schemes of past NASCAR eras (primarily 1980s and 1990s). ... Two races (Darlington and Richmond) remain in the 26-race regular season, followed by the 10-race NASCAR Cup playoffs. ... Martin Truex Jr. won this race last year. There have been 11 different winners in the last 11 races at Darlington. ... Truex Jr. (951 points) continues to lead the NASCAR Cup standings. Kyle Busch is second (850), followed by Kyle Larson (845), Kevin Harvick (824), Denny Hamlin (753), Brad Keselowski (728), Chase Elliott (711), Matt Kenseth (703), Jamie McMurray (700) and Clint Bowyer (642). ... As far as the playoff standings, 13 drivers have qualified for the 16-driver NASCAR Cup playoffs with three drivers above the current qualifying cut-off line: Elliott (69 points above), Kenseth (61) and Jamie McMurray (58). Below the cut-off line, Clint Bowyer took a big hit, dropping from 31 points back to 58 back. Joey Logano dropped to 117 points below the line, while Erik Jones is -126.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: SPORTS CLIPS HAIRCUTS VFW 200 (147 laps, 200.8 miles around a 1.366-mile egg-shaped oval), Darlington Raceway; Darlington, S.C.

TV: Saturday 3:30 p.m. ET -- NBCSN (Radio: Motor Racing Network /SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: This will be the 57th Xfinity race at Darlington. Elliott Sadler is the defending winner of last year's race. ... After 256 starts, Jeremy Clements won his first career Xfinity race last Sunday at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. ... Elliott Sadler (838 points) remains No. 1 in the Xfinity standings, followed by William Byron (731), Justin Allgaier (710), Brennan Poole (634), Daniel Hemric (633), Cole Custer (562), Matt Tifft (557), Blake Koch (485), Michael Annett (470) and Ryan Reed (465).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: CHEVROLET SILVERADO 250 (64 laps, 157.37 miles around a 1.37-mile, 20 turn road course), Canadian Tire Motorsport Park; Bowmanville, Ontario.

TV: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1 (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: The Truck Series makes its annual visit north of the border this weekend, the only major NASCAR series that races in Canada. This will be the fifth race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. John Hunter Nemechek is the defending winner. Other winners there have been Elliott (2013), Ryan Blaney (2014) and Jones (2015). ... Kyle Busch won the most recent Truck race, at Bristol Motor Speedway, on Aug. 17. He would go on to sweep the entire three races at BMS, including Xfinity and NASCAR Cup. ... Christopher Bell leads the point standings (615 points), followed by Johnny Sauter (573), Matt Crafton (562), Chase Briscoe (534), Ben Rhodes (469), Ryan Truex (452), Grant Enfinger (443), Nemechek (439), Noah Gragson (418) and Austin Cindric (397).

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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: INDYCAR GRAND PRIX AT THE GLEN (60 laps, 204.2 miles on a 3.403-mile road course), Watkins Glen International; Watkins Glen, N.Y.

TV: Sunday, 1:30 p.m. ET -- NBCSN (Radio: IndyCar Radio Network).

THIS WEEK: This is the second straight year the IndyCar Series will race at Watkins Glen. The series returned there last year after a six-year absence. The race was moved to WGI after the inaugural 2016 race in Boston was cancelled less than two months before the event. ... Scott Dixon won this race last year. ... Josef Newgarden won last Saturday's Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at Gateway Motorsports Park in suburban St. Louis. Newgarden has now won four races in his first season with Team Penske. It was IndyCar's return to Gateway in more than a decade, having previously raced there from 2001-2003. ... Only two races remain on the schedule: Watkins Glen (Sunday) and the likely championship-deciding event at Sonoma (Sept. 17). ... Winners of the first 15 races have been Sebastien Bourdais (St. Petersburg), James Hinchcliffe (Long Beach), Newgarden (Alabama, Toronto, Mid-Ohio, Gateway) Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix), Will Power (IndyCar Grand Prix), Takuma Sato (Indy 500), Graham Rahal (both Belle Isle races), Power (Texas, Pocono), Dixon (Road America) and Helio Castroneves (Iowa). ... Newgarden (547 points) is No. 1 in the point standings, followed by Dixon (516), Castroneves (505 points), Pagenaud (504), Power (464), Graham Rahal (436), Alexander Rossi (422), Sato (410), Tony Kanaan (365) and Hinchcliffe (351).

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION, MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: CHEVROLET PERFORMANCE U.S. NATIONALS, Sept. 1-4, Lucas Oil Raceway, Brownsburg, Ind.

TV: Monday, 11 a.m. -- 1 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1, then 1 p.m. -- 4 p.m. ET on FOX (no radio).

THIS WEEK: There was no race last weekend. ... This weekend is the biggest race of the season. ... Winners of the most recent race two weeks ago, the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd (Minnesota) International Raceway, were Leah Pritchett (fourth Top Fuel win of the year), Alexis DeJoria (first Funny Car win of the year), Tanner Gray (fourth Pro Stock win of 2017) and Jerry Savoie (first Pro Stock Motorcycle triumph of 2017). ... Points leaders after Brainerd: Top Fuel -- Antron Brown (1,513), Steve Torrence (1,482), Pritchett (1,453), Tony Schumacher (1,121) and Brittany Force (1,052); Funny Car -- Ron Capps (1,383), Robert Hight (1,247), Matt Hagan (1,214), Tommy Johnson Jr. (1,180) and Jack Beckman (1,160); Pro Stock -- Bo Butner (1,526), Gray (1,300), Greg Anderson (1,263), Jason Line (1,123) and Drew Skillman (1,089); Pro Stock Motorcycle -- L.E. Tonglet (874), Eddie Krawiec (690), Jerry Savoie (655), Hector Arana Jr. (632) and Matt Smith (581).

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