NASCAR
SPRINT CUP
ADVOCARE 500
Site: Hampton, Ga.
Schedule: Friday, practice (Speed, 2:30-4 p.m.), qualifying (Speed, 6-7:30 p.m.); Saturday, practice (Speed, 2:30-3:30 p.m., 5:30-6:30 p.m.); Sunday, race, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN, 6:30-11:30 p.m.).
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway (tri-oval, 1.54 miles).
Race distance: 500.5 miles, 325 laps.
Last year: Jeff Gordon won the rain-delayed race, holding off Hendrick teammate Jimmie Johnson in a Tuesday finish.
Last week: Denny Hamlin won at Bristol to tie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Brad Keselowski for the series victory lead with three. Johnson finished second.
Fast facts: Greg Biffle leads the season standings with two races left in the regular season. Johnson is second, 11 points back. The top 10 – Dale Earnhardt Jr. is third, followed by Matt Kenseth, Martin Truex Jr., Clint Bowyer, Keselowski, Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Stewart – will earn spots in the 12-driver Chase. Kasey Kahne, with two victories, holds the first of the two wild-card spots that will go to the drivers with the most victories in the 11th-20th spots. Kahne is 11th in the standings. No. 13 Kyle Busch, No. 14 Gordon, No. 15 Ryan Newman, No. 16 Marcos Ambrose and No. 18 Joey Logano each have one victory. The points will be reset to 2,000 for each Chase qualifier, and the top 10 will receive three points for each regular-season victory. … The track had two Cup races a year from its opening in 1960 to 2010. Speedway Motorsports Inc. shifted one of the races to Kentucky Speedway.
Next race: Federated Auto Parts 400, Sept. 8, Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Va.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
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NATIONWIDE
NRA AMERICAN WARRIOR 300
Site: Hampton, Ga.
Schedule: Saturday, practice (Speed, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.), qualifying (Speed, 3:30-5 p.m.), race, 7 p.m. (ESPN, 6:30-10 p.m.).
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway (tri-oval, 1.54 miles).
Race distance: 300.3 miles, 195 laps.
Last year: Carl Edwards held off Kyle Busch after overcoming a pit-stop penalty.
Last week: Joey Logano raced to his sixth series victory of the year, chasing down Kevin Harvick at Bristol and holding on over a series of late cautions. Defending series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. was second.
Fast facts: Elliott Sadler leads the season standings, 19 points ahead of Stenhouse. Sam Hornish Jr. is third, 28 points back. Austin Dillon, Sadler’s Richard Childress Racing teammate, is fourth – 35 points behind. Sadler leads the series regulars with four victories. … Busch, Logano and Harvick are racing along with fellow Cup drivers Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski. Busch, the series career victory leader with 51, is winless in 14 starts this season.
Next race: Virginia 529 College Savings 250, Sept. 7, Richmond International Raceway, Richmond, Va.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
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CAMPING WORLD TRUCK
JEFF FOXWORTHY’S GRIT CHIPS 200
Site: Hampton, Ga.
Schedule: Friday, practice (Speed, 1-2:30 p.m.), qualifying (Speed, 4:30-6 p.m.), race, 8 p.m. (Speed, 7:30-10:30 p.m.).
Track: Atlanta Motor Speedway (tri-oval, 1.54 miles).
Race distance: 202.2 miles, 130 laps.
Last year: Ron Hornaday Jr. raced to the second of his four 2011 victories, winning on pit strategy. He has a series-record 51 victories.
Last race: Timothy Peters won at Bristol on Aug. 22, leading all 204 laps for his second victory of the season and fifth overall. Peters easily pulled away from Red Horse Racing teammate Parker Kligerman on a green-white-checkered restart.
Last week: Peters leads the season standings, 17 points ahead of James Buescher. Buescher has a series-high three victories. … Brothers Kyle and Kurt Busch are racing against each other for the first time in the series. Kyle Busch has four Truck victories at the track.
Next race: American Ethanol 200, Sept. 15, Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
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INDYCAR
GRAND PRIX OF BALTIMORE
Site: Baltimore.
Schedule: Friday, practice; Saturday, practice, qualifying (NBC Sports Channel, 6-7 p.m.); Sunday, race, 2:45 p.m. (NBC Sports Channel, 2-5 p.m.).
Track: Streets of Baltimore (street course, 2.0 miles).
Race distance: 150 miles, 75 laps.
Last year: Team Penske’s Will Power won the inaugural race for the last of his six 2011 victories. Oriol Servia was second.
Last week: Ryan Briscoe won at Sonoma, holding off Penske teammate Power for his first victory of the year and eighth overall.
Fast facts: Power leads the season standings with two races left, 36 points ahead of Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay. Power and Hunter-Reay each have won three straight races this year. Power won road races at Alabama, Long Beach and Sao Paulo, and Hunter-Reay won on ovals at Milwaukee and Iowa and the street course in Toronto. … Three-time defending series champion Dario Franchitti is ninth in the standings. … The downtown course runs along the Inner Harbor and goes around Oriole Park at Camden Yards. … Josef Newgarden will miss the race after injuring his left index finger at Sonoma. Bruno Junqueira will replace Newgarden in the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing entry. … The Indy Lights race also is Sunday (NBC Sports Channel, 12:30-2 p.m.)
Next race: MAV TV 500, Sept. 15, Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, Calif.
Online: http://www.indycar.com
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NHRA FULL THROTTLE
U.S. NATIONALS
Site: Clermont, Ind.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying; Saturday, qualifying; Sunday, qualifying (ESPN2, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., 5-7 p.m.); Monday, final eliminations (ESPN2, noon-6 p.m.).
Track: Lucas Oil Raceway.
Last year: Antron Brown became the first U.S. Nationals winner in both Top Fuel and Pro Stock Motorcycle, beating Del Worsham in the Top Fuel final. Mike Neff raced to the Funny Car victory, Greg Anderson won in Pro Stock, and Hector Arana Jr. topped the Pro Stock Motorcycle field.
Last race: Ron Capps topped the Funny Car field in Brainerd, Minn., on Aug. 22 to take the points lead. Erica Enders raced to her third Pro Stock victory of the season and second in a row, Morgan Lucas won the Top Fuel division, and Eddie Krawiec raced to the Pro Stock Motorcycle victory.
Fast facts: The event ends the 17-race regular season. The top 10 in each division will qualify for the six-race Countdown to the Championship. … Brown leads the Top Fuel standings, 58 points ahead of Spencer Massey. Both drivers have four victories this season. … Capps, a three-time winner this year, has a 53-point lead over Robert Hight in the Funny Car standings. Hight won four straight events from February to April. … Allen Johnson leads the Pro Stock points race and has a series-best four victories. … Krawiec tops the Pro Stock Motorcycle standings and has six victories.
Next race: O’Reilly Auto Parts Nationals, Sept. 14-16, zMAX Dragway, Concord, N.C.
Online: http://www.nhra.com
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FORMULA ONE
BELGIAN GRAND PRIX
Site: Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.
Schedule: Friday, practice (Speed, 8-9:30 a.m.), Saturday, practice, qualifying (Speed, 8-9:30 a.m.); Sunday, race, 8 a.m. (Speed, 7:30-10 a.m.).
Track: Spa-Francorchamps (road course, 4.35 miles).
Race distance: 191.415 miles, 44 laps.
Last year: Sebastian Vettel raced to the seventh of his 11 victories en route to his second straight season title. Red Bull teammate Mark Webber was second.
Last race: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton won the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 29 for his second victory of the year, holding off Lotus’ Kimi Raikkonen.
Fast facts: Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso leads the season standings, 40 points ahead of Webber and 42 in front of third-place Vettel. Alonso also leads the series with three victories. … The course is the longest in F1.
Next race: Italian Grand Prix, Sept. 9, Autodromo di Monza, Monza, Italy.
Online: http://www.formula1.com
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OTHER RACES
ARCA RACING SERIES: Southern Illinois 100, Monday, DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, DuQuoin, Ill. Online: http://www.arcaracing.com
AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES: Baltimore Sports Car Challenge, Saturday (ABC, Saturday, noon-2 p.m.), Streets of Baltimore, Baltimore. Online: http://www.americanlemans.com
WORLD OF OUTLAWS: Sprint Car: Friday-Saturday, Skagit Speedway, Alger, Wash.; Monday, Willamette Speedway, Lebanon, Ore. Late Model: Saturday, Tyler County Speedway, Middlebourne, W.Va. Super DirtCar: Sunday, Rolling Wheels Raceway, Elbridge, N.Y. Online: http://www.worldofoutlaws.com
U.S. AUTO RACING CLUB: Silver Crown: Ted Horn 100, Sunday, DuQuoin State Fairgrounds, DuQuoin, Ill. Sprint Car: Friday, Tri-City Speedway, Pontoon Beach, Ill.; Saturday, Terre Haute Action Track, Terre Haute, Ill. Online: http://www.usacracing.com
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