Auto racing glance

[March 21, 2018]  MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: STP 500 (500 laps, 263 miles around a .526-mile paperclip oval), Martinsville Speedway; Martinsville, Va.

TV: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 2:13 p.m. ET) -- Fox (Radio: Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: In the sixth of 36 races on the season, Martin Truex Jr. finally broke Kevin Harvick's hold on the series, winning at Auto Club Speedway to snap Harvick's three-race winning streak. ... This will be the 139th Cup race at Martinsville, the most of any track in the history of the series when excluding qualifying races at Daytona. ... Martinsville hosted its first race in 1949. ... Brad Keselowski won this race last year, with Kyle Busch winning at Martinsville in the fall. ... Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers with nine wins at Martinsville, and that means nine of the grandfather clock trophies in his house. ... Denny Hamlin has won five times at what the Chesterfield, Va., native considers to be a home track. ... Hall of Famer Richard Petty won 14 times at Martinsville, the most in history. ... Truex led 125 of the 200 laps at Auto Club and collected all seven of the playoff points available by winning both stages and the race itself. ... *Truex leads the Cup standings with 216 points, followed by Busch (207), Joey Logano (197), Keselowski (183), Ryan Blaney (181), Hamlin (176), Kyle Larson (174), *Harvick (170), Clint Bowyer (155) and Aric Almirola (148). ... Daytona 500 winner *Austin Dillon is in 12th.

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

THIS WEEK: The series is taking the first of two weeks off after running five straight to open the season. ... The series returns April 7 at Texas Motor Speedway for the My Bariatric Solutions 300. ... Elliott Sadler leads the Xfinity standings with 199 points, followed by *Tyler Reddick (195), Justin Allgaier (194), Christopher Bell (172), Daniel Hemric (169), Cole Custer (144), Spencer Gallagher (143), Ryan Truex (140), Brandon Jones (139) and Matt Tifft (132).

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: ALPHA ENERGY SOLUTIONS 250 (250 laps, 131.5 miles around a .526-mile paperclip oval), Martinsville Speedway; Martinsville, Va.

TV: Saturday, 2 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 2:13 p.m. ET) -- FS1 (Radio: Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: The Trucks are back in action after a two-week layoff, and after Saturday's race, they will be off for the following five weeks. ... This will be the 39th Truck Series race at Martinsville, the first being in the series' inaugural season in 1995. ... Cup Series regular Chase Elliott won this race last year, with rookie Noah Gragson winning the fall race at age 19 for his first career victory. ... Among series regulars, Matt Crafton has won at Martinsville twice while Johnny Sauter has won three times. ... *Sauter leads the Truck standings (148 points), followed by *Brett Moffitt (109), Grant Enfinger (108), Gragson (107), Ben Rhodes (103), Stewart Friesen (101), Spencer Davis (94), Dalton Sargeant (92), Crafton (84) and Matt Snider (84).

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth

 

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES

THIS WEEK: The American open-wheel series is still taking a break until April 8, when it gets back on track at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Ariz. ... Sebastien Bourdais leads the standings (51 points), followed by Graham Rahal (40), Alexander Rossi (36), James Hinchcliffe (32), Ryan Hunter-Reay (31), Scott Dixon (28), Josef Newgarden (26), Ed Jones (24), Marco Andretti (22) and Will Power (20).

FORMULA ONE: AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX (58 laps, 191.118 miles around a 3.295-mile temporary street circuit), Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit; Melbourne, Australia.

TV: Sunday, 1 a.m. ET (Green flag approx. 1:10 a.m. ET) -- ESPN2 (Radio: SiriusXM Radio Channel 132).

THIS WEEK: This is the season opener, the first of 21 races. ... Germany's Sebastian Vettel won the race last year in a Ferrari but ultimately finished second in the championship to the United Kingdom's Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes. ... Both Vettel and Hamilton are four-time world champions, and with both being top contenders again, they look to join the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, who held the record of five for 45 years before Michael Schumacher came along and ultimately won seven. ... This will be the 83rd Australian Grand Prix, the first having been contested in 1928.

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION:

THIS WEEK: It's time for a two-week break after the just concluded Gatornationals. ... Winners in Gainesville, Fla., were Richie Crampton in Top Fuel, Jack Beckman in Funny Car, Tanner Gray in Pro Stock and Eddie Krawiec in the season debut of Pro Stock Motorcycle. ... The NHRA is back in action April 6-8 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. ... Steve Torrence leads the Top Fuel standings (217 points), with Antron Brown (210), Clay Millican (204), Tony Schumacher (198) and Doug Kalitta (182) rounding out the top five. ... Matt Hagan leads Funny Car (268), followed by Jack Beckman (247), Courtney Force (219), Ron Capps (218) and Robert Hight (185). ... Bo Butner is on top in Pro Stock (245), followed by Jason Line (232), Chris McGaha (213), Deric Kramer (190) and Drew Skillman (190). ... Krawiec leads Pro Stock Motorcycle (123), followed by Andrew Hines (107), Scotty Pollacheck (76), Hector Arana Sr. (71) and Steve Johnson (53).

--Field Level Media

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