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Auto Racing Glance

[June 08, 2017] The Sports Xchange

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: AXALTA PRESENTS THE POCONO 400 (160 laps, 400 miles around a 2.5-mile tri-oval), Pocono Raceway; Long Pond, Pa.

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET -- Fox (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: This will be the 79th NASCAR Cup race held at Pocono, also known as "The Tricky Triangle." ... Kurt Busch won this race last year, while Chris Buescher won last August's rain-shortened race. ... Jimmie Johnson won this past Sunday's AAA 400 at Dover International Speedway. It extended his record to 11 wins at the one-mile oval and also tied NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough for sixth on NASCAR Cup's all-time wins list (83 wins). If Johnson wins Sunday at Pocono, he'll tie NASCAR Hall of Famers Darrell Waltrip's and Bobby Allison's 84 wins, respectively. ... Following Dover, Martin Truex Jr. remains atop the NASCAR Cup point standings (545 points), followed by Kyle Larson (536), Kevin Harvick (429), Kyle Busch (416), Jamie McMurray (415), Jimmie Johnson (414), Brad Keselowski (410), Chase Elliott (398), Denny Hamlin (361) and Clint Bowyer (349).

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: POCONO GREEN 250 (100 laps, 250 miles around a 2.5-mile tri-oval), Pocono Raceway; Long Pond, Pa.

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

THIS WEEK: This will be only the second-ever Xfinity Series race at Pocono. The first race, last year, was won by Larson. ... Speaking of Larson, he won last Saturday's Xfinity race at Dover and finished runner-up in Sunday's NASCAR Cup race there. ... Elliott Sadler remains atop the Xfinity Series points (375), followed by Justin Allgaier (363), William Byron (318), Darrell Wallace Jr. (291), Daniel Hemric (283), Ryan Reed (270), Brennan Poole (263), Matt Tifft (255), Michael Annett (248) and Cole Custer (242).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: WINSTARONLINEGAMING.COM 400 (167 laps, 250.5 miles around a 1.5-mile oval), Texas Motor Speedway; Fort Worth, Texas.

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

THIS WEEK: This is the 39th Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. It's also part of the IndyCar weekend at TMS. ... Byron won this race last year, one of seven wins he'd earn in the season. Johnny Sauter won last year's playoff race there. ... Sauter also won last Friday's Truck race at Dover. ... Points leaders are: Johnny Sauter (291), Christopher Bell (239), Matt Crafton (232), Ben Rhodes (215), Chase Briscoe (208), Ryan Truex (185), Grant Enfinger (181), Kaz Grala (175), Timothy Peters (170) and Noah Gragson (145). ... Peters (and former teammate Brett Moffitt) has missed the last two races after Red Horse Racing suspended operations due to lack of sponsorship. However, Peters is expected to be back racing this weekend, driving the No. 99 Chevrolet Silverado for MDM Motorsports.

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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: RAINGUARD WATER SEALERS 600 (248 laps on a 1.455-mile oval), Texas Motor Speedway; Fort Worth, Texas.

TV: Saturday, 8:30 p.m. ET -- NBCSN (Radio: IndyCar Radio Network).

THIS WEEK: This will be the 29th IndyCar race held at TMS. ... Graham Rahal comes into this race riding a freight train of momentum. Not only is he the defending winner of last year's race at Texas (which was split over two days in two months due to rain delay in the first part, and picked up again on Aug. 27), Rahal also won both races this past weekend on Detroit's Belle Isle. ... Winners of the first eight races have been Sebastien Bourdais (St. Petersburg), James Hinchcliffe (Long Beach), Josef Newgarden (Alabama) Simon Pagenaud (Phoenix), Will Power (IndyCar Grand Prix), Takuma Sato (Indy 500) and Rahal (both Belle Isle races). ... Scott Dixon (303 points) is No. 1 in the IndyCar standings, followed by Helio Castroneves (295), Indy 500 winner Sato (292), 2016 series champ Pagenaud (278), Newgarden (259), Rahal (251), Alexander Rossi (246), Power (233), Tony Kanaan (223) and Hinchcliffe (216).

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION, MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: NHRA SUMMERNATIONALS, June 8-11, Old Bridge Township Raceway Park; Englishtown, N.J.

TV: Live coverage of final eliminations, Sunday, 6-7:30 p.m. ET -- Fox Sports 1.

THIS WEEK: This will be the 10th race on the 24-race national event schedule. ... Last weekend's winners at New England were Brittany Force (Top Fuel), Matt Hagan (Funny Car) and Erica Enders (Pro Stock). Enders' win was noteworthy because it was her first win since 2015. ... Funny Car driver Alexis DeJoria returned to action at New England after missing the previous three races due to a family situation. ... Points leaders: Top Fuel -- Leah Pritchett (809 points), Antron Brown (775), Steve Torrence (746), Tony Schumacher (712), Doug Kalitta (571); Funny Car -- Ron Capps (827), Matt Hagan (748), Courtney Force (564), Robert Hight (561) and John Force (555); Pro Stock -- Bo Butner (750), Tanner Gray (715), Greg Anderson (682), Jason Line (630) and Jeg Coughlin Jr. (627); Pro Stock Motorcycle -- Eddie Krawiec (306), L.E. Tonglet (291), Andrew Hines (230), Jerry Savoie (204) Scotty Pollacheck (196).

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