LDN - Sports

Auto Racing Glance

[July 28, 2016] The Sports Xchange

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: PENNSYLVANIA 400 (160 laps, 400 miles), Pocono Raceway; Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

TV: Sunday, July 31, 1:30 p.m. ET - NBCSN (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: This will be the 78th Sprint Cup race held at the track known as "The Tricky Triangle." Matt Kenseth is the defending winner of this race, while Kurt Busch won last month's late spring race at the 2.5-mile tri-oval. ... Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won both races at Pocono in 2014, will miss his third consecutive race due to concussion-like symptoms. For the second consecutive race, Jeff Gordon will race in Earnhardt's place in the No. 88 Chevrolet. Earnhardt's status for next weekend's race at Watkins Glen International remains questionable. Gordon could potentially fill in again, or the team could go with another driver. ... Brad Keselowski was uninjured in a brutal wreck Tuesday while taking part in a NASCAR test at Watkins Glen International. ... Kyle Busch swept last weekend's racing action at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, capturing both the Xfinity Series race and the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 (aka Brickyard 400). Busch became the first NASCAR driver to sweep both weekend races at Indianapolis. ... There have been 11 different drivers to win a race thus far in the first 20 races this season. Only six races remain for drivers to qualify for the 16-driver Chase for the Sprint Cup Championship field ... Kevin Harvick (671 points) continues to lead the Sprint Cup point standings. Brad Keselowski (647) is second, followed by Kurt Busch (627), Joey Logano (606), Kyle Busch (601), Carl Edwards (593), Martin Truex Jr. (573), Jimmie Johnson (552), Matt Kenseth (545) and Denny Hamlin (542).

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: U.S. CELLULAR 250 (250 laps, 218.75 miles), Iowa Speedway; Newton, Iowa.

TV: Saturday, July 30, 8 p.m. ET - NBCSN (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: Saturday will mark the 14th time the Xfinity Series has raced at the .875-mile Iowa Speedway. Ryan Blaney won this race last year, while Sam Hornish Jr. won this season's first of two races at Iowa on June 19. It was Hornish's second win at Iowa in the last five races. Hornish was filling in for the injured Matt Tifft. ... Kyle Busch has won the last two Xfinity Series races (New England two weeks ago and Indianapolis last weekend). He continues to extend his own Xfinity Series wins record, which is now 83. ... Winners of the first 18 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), Erik Jones (Bristol and Dover), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Richmond), Elliott Sadler (Talladega), Denny Hamlin (Charlotte), Kyle Larson (Pocono), Daniel Suarez (Michigan), Sam Hornish Jr. (Iowa) and Aric Almirola (Daytona). ... Daniel Suarez (608 points) remains in the lead in the Xfinity Series point standings. Elliott Sadler (594) remains in second, followed by Ty Dillon (558), Justin Allgaier (542), Erik Jones (539), Brendan Gaughan (535), Brandon Jones (520), Brennan Poole (519), Darrell Wallace Jr. (486) and Ryan Reed (433).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: POCONO MOUNTAINS 150 (60 laps, 150 miles), Pocono Raceway; Long Pond, Pa.

TV: Saturday, July 30, 1 p.m. ET - Fox Sports 1 (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: This is the seventh time the Camping World Truck Series has raced at Pocono. ... Kyle Busch is the defending winner of this race from last season. Other drivers that have won there are Elliott Sadler (2010), Kevin Harvick (2011), Joey Coulter (2012), Ryan Blaney (2013) and Austin Dillon (2014). ... Kyle Larson may still be looking for his firs career Sprint Cup win, but he had no problem winning last Wednesday's Truck race at Eldora Speedway in Ohio. ... There have been seven winners thus far this season: Johnny Sauter (Daytona), John Hunter Nemechek (Atlanta), Kyle Busch (Martinsville), William Byron (Kansas, Michigan, Iowa and Kentucky), Matt Crafton (Dover, Charlotte), Christopher Bell (Gateway) and Kyle Larson (Eldora). ... William Byron remains in the Truck Series points lead (282 points), followed by former champion Matt Crafton (273), Daniel Hemric (271), Johnny Sauter (253) and Timothy Peters (252).

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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: HONDA INDY 200 AT MID-OHIO (90 laps, 205.65 miles), Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course; Lexington, Ohio.

TV: Sunday, July 31, 2:45 p.m. ET - CNBC.

THEN AND NOW: The series resumes after having last weekend off. This is the 10th time the series has visited Mid-Ohio, located about 50 miles north of the state capital of Columbus. ... Graham Rahal, who grew up in the Buckeye State, won on his home track for the first time in his career in last year's race. ... Will Power comes into this race as the hottest driver in the series. With his win two weeks ago at Toronto, Power has now won three of the last four races (and was runner-up in the fourth race). ... There are five more races remaining on the 16-race schedule (Mid-Ohio, Pocono, Texas, Watkins Glen and Sonoma). ... This season's race winners thus far are: Juan Pablo Montoya (St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Phoenix), Simon Pagenaud (Long Beach, Birmingham and Grand Prix of Indianapolis), Alexander Rossi (Indianapolis 500), Sebastien Bourdais (Belle Isle 1), Will Power (Belle Isle 2, Road America, Toronto) and Newgarden (Iowa). ... Simon Pagenaud (432 points) continues to lead the point standings, but Power (385) has really closed the gap. Helio Castroneves (358) is third, followed by defending series champ Scott Dixon (349) and Josef Newgarden (344), who dropped from second to fifth after finishing last at Toronto due to a crash.

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: TOYOTA NHRA SONOMA NATIONALS, Sonoma Raceway; Sonoma California.

TV: Sunday, July 31, 7-10 p.m. ET, FOX TV. This will be the second time in NHRA's 65-year history (the first time was this past weekend's race at Denver) that a race will be televised live on national network TV. FOX will televise both the semifinal and final rounds of Sunday's race.

THEN AND NOW: The NHRA moves into the middle round of its "Western Swing" (Denver, Sonoma and Seattle) this weekend. Four races remain until the start of the Chase to the Countdown (other two races are Brainerd, Minnesota, and the biggest race of the year, the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Labor Day Weekend. ... Eight-time Top Fuel champ Tony Schumacher and 16-time Funny Car champ John Force emerged as winners at Denver last weekend, each driver earning his first respective win in over a year. In Pro Stock, Allen Johnson became the first driver to break the stranglehold of teammates Jason Line and Greg Anderson, who had combined to win each of the first 13 races of the season. Lastly, five-time and defending series champion Andrew Hines won the Pro Stock Motorcycle competition at Denver. ... In the NHRA point standings, Antron Brown remains No. 1 in Top Fuel (1,145 points), followed by Doug Kalitta (1,088), Steve Torrence (982), Brittany Force (953) and Tony Schumacher (916). ... In Funny Car, Ron Capps (1,120 points) remains No. 1, followed by Courtney Force (998), Jack Beckman (976 points), Matt Hagan (881) and a tie for fifth between defending Funny Car series champ Del Worsham and Robert Hight (each with 877 points). Meanwhile, by virtue of his win at Denver, John Force (821 points) moved up one spot in the standings to eighth place. ... In Pro Stock, teammates Jason Line (1,548 points) and Greg Anderson (1,466 points) remain 1-2 and continue to dominate the standings. Line and Anderson are the only drivers/riders in the four NHRA professional classes to have already clinched positions in the upcoming Countdown to the Championship. Bo Butner is third in the standings (955), followed by Allen Johnson (885) and Vincent Nobile (758). ... Defending two-time series champ Erica Enders (586 points) continues to struggle, ranked in 11th place (now 962 points behind Line). If the Countdown were to start today, Enders would not qualify. But Enders is close: she's only nine points behind 10th ranked Alex Laughlin. ... In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Eddie Krawiec leads the standings with 742 points, followed by teammate and 2015 series champ Andrew Hines (633), Angelle Sampey (534), Jerry Savoie (500) and Chip Ellis (386).

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