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Auto Racing Glance

[July 19, 2017] The Sports Xchange

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: BIG MACHINE BRICKYARD 400 (160 laps, 400 miles on a 2.5-mile oval), Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

TV: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. ET -- NBC. Radio: IMS Radio/Performance Racing Network/SiriusXM NASCAR radio.

THIS WEEK: This will be the 24th edition of the Brickyard 400. The first race was in 1994 and was won by Jeff Gordon. ... Kyle Busch has won the last two editions of the Brickyard. His win at Indy last year was also his most recent NASCAR Cup victory. He hopes to snap his 35-race winless streak with a third consecutive win there Sunday. ... Denny Hamlin rallied to win this past Sunday's Overton's 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. ... Martin Truex Jr. regained the lead in the NASCAR Cup standings after New Hampshire (758 points). Kyle Larson is second (720), followed by Kyle Busch (650), Kevin Harvick (639), Hamlin (589), Chase Elliott (587), Jamie McMurray (572), Brad Keselowski (564), Jimmie Johnson (552) and Clint Bowyer (526).

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: LILLY DIABETES 250 (100 laps, 250 miles on a 2.5-mile oval), Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

TV: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET -- NBCSN. Radio: IMS/Performance Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90.

THIS WEEK: This will be the sixth Xfinity Series race at IMS. ... Just as he has done in the past two NASCAR Cup races at IMS, Kyle Busch has also won the past two Xfinity races there. ... The younger Busch brother has also won the past two Xfinity Series races this season, two weeks ago at Kentucky as well as last Saturday's Overton's 200 at New Hampshire. ... Busch said last weekend that he likely will cut back dramatically on racing in the Xfinity Series once he reaches 100 wins. He currently is at 89 wins in 334 starts in NASCAR's junior series. ... Elliott Sadler (620 points) remains No. 1 in the Xfinity driver rankings. William Byron remains second (575), followed by Justin Allgaier (530), Brennan Poole (428), Daniel Hemric (421), Cole Custer (396), Matt Tifft (387), Ryan Reed (377), Michael Annett (355) and Dakoda Armstrong (351).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: ELDORA DIRT DERBY (150 laps, 75 miles on a half-mile clay dirt oval), Eldora Speedway, Rossburg, Ohio.

TV: Wednesday 9:30 p.m. ET -- Fox Business Network. Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90.

THIS WEEK: This will be the fifth Truck Series race to be held at Eldora. Previous winners have been: Austin Dillon (2013), Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. (2014), Christopher Bell (2015) and Kyle Larson (2016). ... Rico Abreu, who lost his sponsorship after last season, is competing in a one-off start in the Dirt Derby, hoping a strong run may lead to another ride or potential sponsorship for the rest of this season or for a full-time ride in 2018. ... Bell won the most recent Truck race nearly two weeks ago at Kentucky Speedway. It was Bell's series-leading third win of the season. ... Johnny Sauter (464) remains No. 1 in the point standings, followed by Bell (436), Chase Briscoe (390), Matt Crafton (375), Ben Rhodes (330), Grant Enfinger (316), Ryan Truex (315), John Hunter Nemechek (308), Noah Gragson (299) and Kaz Grala (266).

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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: The series is off this weekend. It resumes action on July 30 in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.

THIS WEEK: Josef Newgarden won Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto, his second race this season and his second win for Team Penske. 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi finished second at Toronto, and Canadian native James Hinchcliffe came in third. ... Winners of the first 12 races have been Sebastien Bourdais (St. Petersburg), Hinchcliffe (Long Beach), Newgarden (Alabama, Toronto) Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix), Will Power (IndyCar Grand Prix), Takuma Sato (Indy 500), Graham Rahal (both Belle Isle races), Power (Texas), Scott Dixon (Road America) and Helio Castroneves (Iowa). ... Dixon (423 points) remains No. 1 in the IndyCar standings, followed by Castroneves (420 points), Pagenaud (404), Newgarden (400), Power (359), Rahal (359), Sato (351), Rossi (330), Tony Kanaan (306) and Hinchcliffe (297).

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION, MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: MOPAR MILE-HIGH NATIONALS, Bandimere Speedway, Denver.

TV: Sunday, Fox Sports 1, live from 3-6 p.m. ET.

THIS WEEK: The NHRA returns to action after having last weekend off. The week before that, the second half of the 24-race season kicked off at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill. Winners were Steve Torrence (Top Fuel), Ron Capps (Funny Car), Drew Skillman (Pro Stock) and L.E. Tonglet (Pro Stock Motorcycle. Capps now has six wins this season, Torrence five, Tonglet four and Skillman earned his first win of 2017, becoming the ninth different driver to win in Pro Stock. ... Points leaders: Top Fuel -- Torrence (1,188), Leah Pritchett (1,087), Antron Brown (1,085), Tony Schumacher (894) and Doug Kalitta (813); Funny Car -- Capps (1,208), Matt Hagan (1,022), Jack Beckman (914), Robert Hight (853) and Tommy Johnson Jr. (833); Pro Stock -- Bo Butner (1,148), Greg Anderson (1,009), Tanner Gray (944), Jeg Coughlin (856) and Jason Line (856); Pro Stock Motorcycle -- Tonglet (601), Eddie Krawiec (460), Hector Arana Jr. (419), Scotty Pollacheck (381) and Jerry Savoie (379).

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