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Auto Racing Glance

[June 23, 2016] The Sports Xchange

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES: TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350 (110 laps, 218.9 miles), Sonoma Raceway; Sonoma, California.

TV: Sunday, June 26, 3 p.m. ET - Fox Sports 1 (Radio: Performance Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: After a weekend off, the Sprint Cup Series resumes with the first of two road course races of the season. ... Joey Logano won the most recent race, the June 12th FireKeepers Casino 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Logano dominated the event, leading 138 of 200 laps. Rookie Chase Elliott had a career-best finish of second place in the event, followed by Kyle Larson, Brad Keselowski and Kevin Harvick. ... Kyle Busch won last year's race at Sonoma. He's hoping to have a similar finish this Sunday, which would also snap a streak where he's racked up four consecutive finishes of 30th or worse with a last place showing (40th position) at Michigan. ... There have been seven different winners in the last seven races at Sonoma: Kasey Kahne (2009), Jimmie Johnson (2010), Kurt Busch (2011), Clint Bowyer (2012), Martin Truex Jr. (2013), Carl Edwards (2014) and Kyle Busch (2015). ... Ernie Irvan and Tony Stewart will be inducted into Sonoma Raceway's Walk of Fame this weekend. ... Sunday's race will be the final telecast of the season for Fox Sports. NBC and NBCSN take over the remaining 20 race telecasts of the season starting with the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona on July 2. ... Kevin Harvick continues to lead the Sprint Cup point standings with 526 points. Kurt Busch is second (496), followed by Brad Keselowski (480), Carl Edwards (472), Joey Logano (455), Chase Elliott (453), Jimmie Johnson (441), Martin Truex Jr. (433), Kyle Busch (417) and Matt Kenseth (409).

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: The series is off this weekend.

THEN AND NOW: Sam Hornish Jr. won last Sunday's race at Iowa. It was Hornish's first race since last year's Sprint Cup season finale at Homestead-Miami. Hornish filled in for the injured Matt Tifft. It was Hornish's second win at Iowa in three years. ... Winners of the first 14 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), Denny Hamlin (Charlotte), Kyle Larson (Pocono), Daniel Suarez (Michigan) and Hornish (Iowa). ... Daniel Suarez (490 points) remains in the lead in the Xfinity Series point standings. Elliott Sadler (469) is second, followed by Ty Dillon (455), Justin Allgaier (422), Brandon Jones (417), Brendan Gaughan (412), Erik Jones (411), Brennan Poole (407), Darrell Wallace Jr. (373) and Ryan Reed (331).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: DRIVIN' FOR LINEMAN 200 (SPEEDIATRICS 200 (160 laps, 200 miles), Gateway Motorsports Park; Iowa Speedway; Madison, Illinois (suburb of St. Louis, Missouri).

TV: Saturday, June 25, 8:30 p.m. ET - Fox Sports 1 (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THEN AND NOW: This will be the 16th time the Camping World Truck Series has raced at Gateway Motorsports Park. Cole Custer won last year's race there. Darrell Wallace Jr. won there in 2014. There has been just one driver to win more than once at Gateway: Ted Musgrave won twice there. ... Rookie driver William Byron earned his second consecutive win and third of the season last weekend at Iowa Speedway. ... ThorSport Racing didn't win at Iowa, but it was a very successful day nonetheless, with three of its four drivers finishing in the top eight. That was a significant achievement considering that the team's shop in Sandusky, Ohio suffer extensive damage in a fire in the early hours of Monday, June 13. ... Winners thus far this season have been Johnny Sauter (Daytona), John Hunter Nemechek (Atlanta), Kyle Busch (Martinsville), William Byron (Kansas, Michigan and Iowa) and Matt Crafton (Dover, Charlotte). ... Crafton remains atop the Truck point standings after Iowa with 219 points, followed by William Byron (208), Timothy Peters (198), Daniel Hemric (186), Tyler Reddick (182), John Hunter Nemechek (175), Johnny Sauter (174), Ben Kennedy (168), Spencer Gallagher (165) and Cameron Hayley (158).

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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: KOHLER GRAND PRIX (50 laps, 202.4 miles around a 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course), Road America; Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

TV: Sunday, June 26, 1:15 p.m. ET - NBCSN.

THEN AND NOW: While this will be the 26th Indy car race at Road America, it will be the first since 2007. Sebastien Bourdais, who won that race (when the event was under Champ Car World Series sanction), will be in Sunday's race field. ... The Firestone 600 race at Texas Motor Speedway, which was suspended on June 19 due to rain, will resume on Lap 72 on Saturday, August 27. James Hinchcliffe will be scored the leader, followed by Ryan Hunter-Reay and Mikhail Aleshin. The race will then complete its originally scheduled 248-lap distance - provided rain doesn't play a factor once again. ... Josef Newgarden, who suffered a fractured right clavicle and small fracture in his right hand in a wicked wreck on Lap 42 of the abbreviated race at Texas on June 19, is on the driver entry list for Sunday's race. Newgarden was expected to miss several races, with journeyman driver J.R. Hildebrand slated to replace him, but it appears Newgarden won't miss any races if he indeed competes in Sunday's event. ... 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) and Will Power (Belle Isle 2). ... Simon Pagenaud (357 points) continues to maintain a commanding lead in the Verizon IndyCar Series points standings. Defending series champion Scott Dixon is second (277), followed by Helio Castroneves (271), Josef Newgarden (259), Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi (242), Carlos Munoz (242), Will Power (240), Tony Kanaan (240), Juan Pablo Montoya (233) and Charlie Kimball (227).

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: SUMMIT RACING EQUIPMENT NHRA NATIONALS, June 24-26, Summit Motorsports Park; Norwalk, Ohio.

TV: Final eliminations, Sunday, June 26, 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. ET (live) and again at 6:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. ET (taped), Fox Sports 1.

THEN AND NOW: The NHRA returns to Bristol Dragway's Thunder Valley for this weekend's event. ... Richie Crampton (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock) are defending winners of this event. ... Last weekend's winners at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway in Bristol, Tennessee were Shawn Langdon (Top Fuel), Tommy Johnson Jr. (Funny Car) and Jason Line (Pro Stock), who won his sixth race of the season. ... In the NHRA point standings, Doug Kalitta leads Top Fuel (926 points), followed by 2015 series champ Antron Brown (873), Steve Torrence (846), Brittany Force (754) and Tony Schumacher (675). ... In Funny Car, Ron Capps leads (841 points), followed by Jack Beckman (786), Courtney Force (741), Matt Hagan (710) and 2015 Funny Car season champ Del Worsham (701). ... In Pro Stock, Jason Line continues to lead the standings (1,263 points), followed by teammate Greg Anderson (1,170), Bo Butner (758), Allen Johnson (668) and Drew Skillman (625). Defending two-time series champ Erica Enders (373) continues to struggle, dropping from 10th to 11th place after Bristol and is now a massive 825 points behind Line. ... In Pro Stock Motorcycle, Eddie Krawiec leads the standings with 436 points, followed by Jerry Savoie (310), Angelle Sampey (297), 2015 series champ Andrew Hines (290) and Chip Ellis is fifth (269).

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