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Auto Racing Glance

[June 02, 2016] The Sports Xchange

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: AXALTA 'WE PAINT WINNERS' 400 (160 laps/400 miles), Pocono Raceway; Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

TV: Sunday, June 5, 1 pm ET - Fox Sports 1 (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: This will be the 77th Sprint Cup race to be held at the so-called "Tricky Triangle," a 2.5-mile tri-oval. Martin Truex Jr., who won Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, is the defending winner of Sunday's race at Pocono. Matt Kenseth won last summer's race there, as well. ... Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has yet to reach Victory Lane this season, has high hopes for Pocono. He won both races there in 2014. ... Kevin Harvick continues to lead the Sprint Cup point standings with 457 points. Kurt Busch is second (421), followed by Jimmie Johnson (409), Kyle Busch (405), Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski (both with 404 points each), Martin Truex Jr. (381), Chase Elliott (374), Joey Logano (373) and Matt Kenseth (347).

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: POCONO GREEN 250 (100 laps, 250 miles), Pocono Raceway; Long Pond, Pennsylvania.

TV: Saturday, June 4, 1 pm ET - Fox (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: Saturday will mark the first time the Xfinity Series has ever raced on the "Tricky Triangle" at Pocono. ... News on Wednesday broke that Richard Petty Motorsports has suspended its Xfinity Series program, effective immediately, due to sponsorship payment issues. However the team said it will attempt to find additional funding to eventually bring the car back on-track. In the meantime, driver Jeb Burton, son of former NASCAR driver Ward Burton, will compete in Sunday's Sprint Cup race for GoFas Racing, in partnership with RPM. In 11 Xfinity starts this season, Burton had just one top-10 finish, a 10th place showing at Atlanta. He also was 11th this past weekend at Charlotte, his second-best finish. All told, Burton had one top-10 and eight other top-20 finishes. ... Denny Hamlin roared from behind to win last weekend's Hisense 4K TV 300 at Charlotte. ... Winners of the first 11 Xfinity Series races this season have been Chase Elliott (Daytona), Kyle Busch (Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix and Texas), Austin Dillon (Fontana), Erik Jones (Bristol and Dover), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Richmond), Elliott Sadler (Talladega) and Hamlin (Charlotte). ... Daniel Suarez (376 points) regained the standings lead in the Xfinity Series at Charlotte. Elliott Sadler (362) dropped from first to second, followed by Justin Allgaier (353), Ty Dillon (352), Brendan Gaughan (336), Brandon Jones (324), Erik Jones (320), Brennan Poole (314), Darrell Wallace Jr. (283) and Ryan Reed (266).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: The series is off until Friday, June 10 (Rattlesnake 400 at Texas Motor Speedway).

THEN AND NOW: Two-time Truck Series champion Matt Crafton won his second race in a row, following up his win at Dover three weeks ago with another triumph in the most recent Truck race, nearly two weeks ago, at Charlotte. ... Winners thus far this season have been Johnny Sauter (Daytona), John Hunter Nemechek (Atlanta), Kyle Busch (Martinsville), William Byron (Kansas) and Crafton (Dover, Charlotte). ... With the Charlotte win, Crafton moved into sole possession of first place in the Camping World Truck Series. He has gained six places in the last two races, both wins for the veteran driver. Crafton has 161 points, followed by Timothy Peters (149), Daniel Hemric (144), Spencer Gallagher (139), William Byron (135), Ryan Truex (129), John Hunter Nemechek (127), Tyler Reddick (125), Christopher Bell (124) and Johnny Sauter (120).

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: CHEVROLET DUAL IN DETROIT, The Raceway at Belle Isle; Detroit, Michigan.

TV: Chevrolet Dual Race 1 -- Saturday, June 4, 3:30 pm ET, ABC; Chevrolet Dual Race 2 - Sunday, June 5, 3:30 pm ET, ABC.

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THEN AND NOW: This weekend marks the 20th and 21st time Belle Isle has hosted open-wheel racing, first with the former CART/Champ Car Series, and more recently, the last nine races in the Verizon IndyCar Series. ... Carlos Munoz earned his first career IndyCar victory in last year's first Dual at Belle Isle. The following day, Sebastien Bourdais won the second Dual race. ... Alexander Rossi was a surprise winner in Sunday's milestone 100th running of the Indianapolis 500. It not only was Rossi's first career IndyCar win, it was also just the sixth start for the rookie in the series. ... Simon Pagenaud saw his three-race win streak end at Indianapolis, finishing 19th. It was Pagenaud's worst finish of the season after finishing first (three races) or second (two other races) in the first five races of the season. ... This year's winners thus far are: Juan Pablo Montoya (St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Phoenix), Pagenaud (Long Beach, Birmingham and Grand Prix of Indianapolis) and Rossi (Indy 500). ... Montoya became only the third driver in Indy 500 history to win the previous year and then finished last in the subsequent race. Montoya crashed about one-third of the way through Sunday's race and plummeted in the standings from third to 10th place. ... Even with his finish at Indy, Pagenaud (292 points) remains in the lead in the Verizon IndyCar Series points standings. Defending series champion Scott Dixon is second (235), followed by Helio Castroneves (224), Josef Newgarden (211), Indy 500 pole sitter James Hinchcliffe (205), Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi (203), Carlos Munoz (199), Tony Kanaan (192), Charlie Kimball (189) and Montoya (187).

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS, New England Dragway; Epping, New Hampshire.

TV: Live qualifying, Saturday, June 4, 2:30-3:30 pm ET, Fox Sports 1; Final eliminations, Sunday, June 5, 4-7 pm ET, Fox Sports 1.

THEN AND NOW: After having last weekend off, the NHRA national event tour resumes this weekend in New Hampshire. ... Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) are the defending race winners at New England. ... After it was feared she had Stage 2 lung cancer that would require removal of her right lung, legendary three-time Top Fuel champion Shirley Muldowney underwent surgery last Wednesday only to find that she had just an infected tumor on her lung, but not cancer. As a result, surgeons only removed the tumor and not the entire lung. Muldowney is back home recovering and hopes to make her first public appearance at the NHRA national event in Denver in July (22-24). ... In the NHRA point standings, Doug Kalitta leads Top Fuel (710 points), followed by defending series champ Antron Brown (615), Brittany Force (580), Steve Torrence (557) and Clay Millican (440). ... In Funny Car, Courtney Force remains No. 1 (601 points), followed by Jack Beckman (589), Tim Wilkerson (554), Matt Hagan (511) and Robert Hight (510). Defending Funny Car champ Del Worsham remains in seventh place (485), while 16-time Funny Car champ John Force dropped from seventh to ninth (448). ... In Pro Stock, Jason Line continues to lead the standings (942 points), followed by teammate Greg Anderson (816), Bo Butner (614), Allen Johnson (465) an Drew Skillman (465). Defending two-time series champ Erica Enders (341) climbed from ninth to eighth place, but is now 601 points behind Line. ... In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Eddie Krawiec leads the standings with 353 points, followed by defending series champ Andrew Hines (233), Hector Arana (207), Jerry Savoie (204) and Chip Ellis (193).

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