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[September 06, 2018] MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES

MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: BIG MACHINE VODKA 400 AT THE BRICKYARD (160 laps, 400 miles around a 2.5-mile quad oval), Indianapolis Motor Speedway; Indianapolis, Ind.

TV: Sunday, 2 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 2:20 p.m. ET) -- NBCSN (Radio: ISM Radio Network).

THIS WEEK: One of NASCAR's signature races moves to September for the first time, but a win at The Brickyard is still one of the most coveted in the sport. ... The 2-mile quad oval is tailor-made for great racing with open-wheel cars, but NASCAR has been a bit of a slog there and attendance has dwindled from more than 200,000 to less than 50,000 in recent years. ... But the list of winners is largely a who's-who of NASCAR royalty, and being the final race before the playoffs begin, a win would be vital to many. ... This will be the 26th of 36 races on the season, and this is the 25th running of the race at Indy. ... Kasey Kahne won the race last season. ... With one race to go, 14 of the 16 playoff spots are spoken for, but the bubble drivers are interesting. ... Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is 14th in the standings but could get knocked out of the playoffs if there's a first-time winner at Indy from outside the top 15 and his teammate Alex Bowman does not win but passes him in points. ... Brad Keselowski notched his first win of the season last week at Darlington. ... *Kyle Busch leads the points standings with 1,038, followed by *Kevin Harvick (999), *Martin Truex Jr. (883), *Kurt Busch (835), *Joey Logano (818), *Keselowski (785), Kyle Larson (783), *Clint Bowyer (777), Ryan Blaney (755) and Denny Hamlin (738) rounding out the top 10. ... *Chase Elliott is 11th (737), *Erik Jones 13th (679) and *Austin Dillon 19th (496), all inside the playoff cutoff. ... The four drivers currently winless but in the playoffs on points are Blaney, Larson, Hamlin and Aric Almirola (12th, 681 points). Johnson is 14th (605) and Bowman 15th (586). With Dillon in the playoffs with his win at Daytona, the first driver out is Ricky Stenhouse Jr. in 16th (518), and he can't catch Bowman on points.

(All stats and standings per NASCAR.com)

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: LILY DIABETES 250 (100 laps, 250 miles around a 2.5-mile quad oval), Indianapolis Motor Speedway; Indianapolis, Ind.

TV: Saturday, 3 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 3:20 p.m. ET) -- NBCSN (Radio: Motor Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: The 25th of 33 races on the season, the series is set to run only its seventh race at the mammoth Indianapolis Motor Speedway. ... There are two races left for the Xfinity full-timers in the regular season before the playoffs begin at Richmond on Sept. 21. ... William Byron won this race last year as a full-time Xfinity driver, and Ty Dillon did it in 2014, but the other five were all won by Cup regulars. ... Brad Keselowski won last week's race at Darlington. ... *Justin Allgaier leads in points with 888, followed by Elliott Sadler (872), Cole Custer (871), *Christopher Bell (852), Daniel Hemric (844), *Tyler Reddick (693), Brandon Jones (687), Matt Tifft (663), Ryan Truex (660), and Ryan Reed (559) rounding out the top 10. The playoffs will start with 12 drivers, with Austin Cindric (549) and Ross Chastain (543) holding spots 11 and 12, respectively. Michael Annett (489) is currently the first driver out.

(All stats and standings per NASCAR.com)

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

THIS WEEK: The Trucks are taking their second of two weekends off after 17 of 23 races on the season and two races to go in the Round of 8. ... Seven drivers are vying to be in the Round of 6, with Justin Haley already punching his ticket with the win in Canada two weeks ago. Fearsome Talladega serves as the cutoff on Oct. 13. ... The next race is at Las Vegas on Sept. 14. ... Johnny Sauter leads the Truck standings (2,081 points), followed by Brett Moffitt (2,075), Noah Gragson (2,070), *Haley (2,065), Matt Crafton (2,047), Stewart Friesen (2,047), Ben Rhodes (2,046) and Grant Enfinger (2,035).

*Victory and advancement to the next round.

(All stats and standings per NASCAR.com)

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VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES

THIS WEEK: This series takes its final weekend off before running the double-points race on the Sonoma road course on Sept. 16. ... For the 13th consecutive season, the championship will be decided in the final race. ... Takuma Sato won last week at Portland but is out of the championship picture. ... Scott Dixon's championship lead is at 29 points as the New Zealander is on top of the standings (598). He'll win the title at Sonoma if he finishes first or second there; he's won the race twice. He is followed by Alexander Rossi (569), Australia's Will Power (511), Josef Newgarden (511), and Ryan Hunter-Reay (462).

FORMULA ONE

THIS WEEK: The Italian Grand Prix may go down as the turning point in the championship race after Sebastian Vettel collided on the first lap with Lewis Hamilton, who went on to win at Monza. Vettel recovered to a fourth-place finish, but Hamilton gained 12 more points. ... Now the series takes a week off before heading to Asia for the Singapore Grand Prix on Sept. 16. ... Great Britain's Hamilton leads the standings in his Mercedes with 256 points, followed by Vettel, Ferrari (226), Finland's Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari (164), Finland's Valterri Bottas, Mercedes (159) and Belgium's Max Verstappen, Red Bull (130).

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION

THIS WEEK: The "Big Go" in Indianapolis settled the playoff picture, and now the NHRA takes a week off before heading to Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pa., next week to start the Countdown to the Championship. ... Winners at the U.S. Nationals over Labor Day weekend were Terry McMillen in Top Fuel, J.R. Todd in Funny Car, Tanner Gray in Pro Stock and LE Tonglet in Pro Stock Motorcycle. All four classes will race at Maple Grove. ... Steve Torrence leads the Top Fuel standings (2,100 points), followed by Clay Millican (2,080), Tony Schumacher (2,070), Leah Pritchett (2,060), Doug Kalitta (2,050), Terry McMillen (2,040), Antron Brown (2,040), Brittany Force (2,020), Mike Salinas (2,010) and Scott Palmer (2,000) to start the 10-driver playoffs. ... Courtney Force leads Funny Car (2,100), followed by Matt Hagan (2,080), Robert Hight (2,070), Ron Capps (2,060), Todd (2,050), Jack Beckman (2,040), Tommy Johnson Jr. (2,030), Shawn Langdon (2,020), John Force (2,010) and Tim Wilkerson (2,000). ... Gray leads Pro Stock (2,100), followed by Greg Anderson (2,080), Erica Enders (2,070), Jeg Coughlin Jr. (2,060), Vincent Nobile (2,050), Deric Kramer (2,040), Drew Skillman (2,030), Jason Line (2,020), Bo Butner (2,010) and Chris McGaha (2,000). ... Eddie Krawiec leads Pro Stock Motorcycle (2,100), followed by Andrew Hines (2,080), Tonglet (2,070), Hector Arana Jr. (2,060), Jerry Savoie (2,050), Matt Smith (2,040), Scotty Pollacheck (2,030), Steve Johnson (2,020), Angie Smith (2,010) and Angelle Sampey (2,000). The playoffs start with 10 drivers in each class.

--Field Level Media

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