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Auto Racing Glance

[March 23, 2017] The Sports Xchange

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: AUTO CLUB 400 (200 laps, 400 miles), Auto Club Speedway; Fontana, Calif.

TV: Sunday, March 26, 3:30 p.m. ET -- FOX (Radio: Motor Racing Network/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: This will be the 28th NASCAR Cup race at Fontana. Jeff Gordon won the first race on the two-mile, D-shaped oval in 1997. Jimmie Johnson is the winningest active Cup driver at ACS with six wins, including last year's race. ... Ryan Newman is the most recent winner in the series, last Sunday at Phoenix. It was Newman's first Cup win since 2013 and also the first win for Richard Childress Racing since 2013. ... For the fourth straight race, there are only 39 cars entered for this race. A full field is 40 cars. ... With 184 points, Kyle Larson, who has finished runner-up in each of the last three races and four of the last five (dating back to the last race of 2016), is atop the NASCAR Cup point standings. Second through fifth are Brad Keselowski (178), Chase Elliott (171), Martin Truex Jr. (153) and Joey Logano (135).

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: NXS 300 (150 laps, 300 miles), Auto Club Speedway; Fontana, Calif.

TV: Saturday, March 25, 4 p.m. ET -- Fox Sports 1 (Radio: MRN/SiriusXM Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: This will be the 28th Xfinity race held at Fontana. ... Austin Dillon is the defending winner but Kyle Busch is the winningest driver in Xfinity races at ACS with six wins, his most recent coming in 2013. ... Justin Allgaier won last Saturday at Phoenix, his fourth career Xfinity win and first in the series since 2012. ... Elliott Sadler remains atop the Xfinity Series points (144), followed by William Byron (133), Ryan Reed (121), Allgaier (115) and Darrell Wallace Jr. (109).

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES: The series is off until April 1 at Martinsville.

UPDATE: Christopher Bell won the most recent race at Atlanta three weeks ago, his third career win. It was also the first Truck Series win at Atlanta for Kyle Busch Motorsports. ... Points leaders: Christopher Bell (93 points), Johnny Sauter (86), Ben Rhodes (86), Kaz Grala (78), Matt Crafton (72), Timothy Peters (70), Regan Smith (56), Chase Briscoe (54), Grant Enfinger (52) and Joe Nemechek (49).

VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES: The series is off until the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 9.

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THIS WEEK: A field of 22 cars took part Tuesday in a test at Barber Motorsports Park In Birmingham, Ala. Australian driver Will Power, a two-time Barber race winner and three-time pole sitter, was the fastest during the six-hour test with a best lap of 1 minute, 7.7518 seconds (at 122.211 mph). Max Chilton was second fastest at 1:07.7591 (122.198 mph). There were 14 drivers within one-half second of each other. ... The 2017 season began with a big upset, as Sebastien Bourdais, in his first race for Dale Coyne Racing, took the checkered flag in the March 12 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Last season's series champion, Simon Pagenaud, finished second, followed by Scott Dixon. ... Points leaders (after one race): Bourdais (53 points), Pagenaud (41), Dixon (35), Ryan Hunter-Reay (32), Takuma Sato (31), Helio Castroneves (28), Marco Andretti (26), Josef Newgarden (24), James Hinchcliffe (23) and Ed Jones (20).

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION, MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES: The series is off this week.

NEXT RACE: DENSO SPARK PLUS NHRA NATIONALS, March 31 - April 2, The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Las Vegas, Nev.

THIS WEEK: Winners of this past weekend's Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., were: Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), Shane Gray (Pro Stock) and Eddie Krawiec (Pro Stock Motorcycle). It was Force's record-extending 148th win and Schumacher's record-extending 83rd career win. While it was the third race of the 24-race NHRA national event schedule for Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock, Gainesville was the first race of the 16-race Pro Stock Motorcycle schedule. ... Points leaders: Top Fuel -- Leah Pritchett (300 points); Tony Schumacher (279), Antron Brown (243), Doug Kalitta (220), Brittany Force (151); Funny Car -- Matt Hagan (308), John Force (238), Ron Capps (235), Tommy Johnson Jr. (209), Courtney Force (177); Pro Stock -- Greg Anderson (319), Jason Line (281), Shane Gray (226), Bo Butner III (198), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (187); Pro Stock Motorcycle -- Eddie Krawiec (120), Andrew Hines (97), Joey Gladstone (81), Steve Johnson (74), Jerry Savoie (63).

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