Courtesy of The Associated Press
All times Central (U.S.)
NASCAR Sprint Cup
Russ Friedman 400
Site: Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (0.75-mile D-shaped oval)
TV schedule: Friday, qualifying (Speed, 4:30 p.m.); Saturday, race (Fox, 6 p.m.)
Race distance: 300 miles/400 laps
2008 winner: Clint Bowyer
Fast facts: Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup champion, leads the series standings for the first time since March 2005. Busch, the winner in Atlanta in March, finished sixth at Talladega — his sixth top-10 of the season — to take a five-point lead over Jeff Gordon. Busch won the September 2005 race at Richmond. ... Jimmie Johnson swept the 2007 Richmond races. ... Dale Earnhardt Jr. is 15th in the standings after his second-place finish at Talladega on Sunday. He has three victories, eight top-fives and 10 top-10s at Richmond. ... David Poole, The Charlotte Observer’s NASCAR writer for 13 years, died Tuesday of a heart attack. He was 50.
www.nascar.com
NASCAR Nationwide
Lipton Tea 250
Site: Richmond (Va.) International Raceway (0.75-mile D-shaped oval)
TV schedule: Friday, qualifying, (Speed, 3 p.m.), race (ESPN2, 6 p.m.)
Race distance: 187.5 miles/250 laps
2008 winner: Denny Hamlin
Fast facts: Brad Keselowski’s Sprint Cup victory Sunday at Talladega made him the first Nationwide Series regular to win a Cup race since Jamie McMurray in 2002 at Charlotte. Keselowski, ninth Saturday in Talladega, is sixth in the Nationwide standings. ... Kyle Busch leads the points race with 1,219. Carl Edwards is second at 1,157. ... Mark Martin is making his first Nationwide start of the year, driving Rick Hendrick’s No. 5 Lipton Chevrolet. Martin has five victories at Richmond and 48 overall in the series, both records. ... Kevin Harvick has four Nationwide wins at Richmond.
www.nascar.com
NHRA
O’Reilly Midwest Nationals
Site: Madison, Ill., Gateway International Raceway
TV schedule: Saturday, qualifying (ESPN2, 5 p.m.); Sunday, final eliminations (ESPN2, 6 p.m.)
2008 winners: Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Rod Fuller (Top Fuel), Kurt Johnson (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle)
Fast facts: Ron Capps, coming off a quarterfinal loss to Tim Wilkerson after winning three of the first five races, leads the Funny Car standings with 464 points. Jack Beckman is second with 395, followed by Ashley Force Hood at 394. In Top Fuel, Tony Schumacher, a two-time winner this year, has a 39-point lead over Antron Brown. Jeg Coughlin has the Pro Stock lead. ... Pro Stock driver Allen Johnson is making his 300th start. He has five victories.
www.nhra.com
Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Verizon Wireless 250
Site: Millville, N.J., New Jersey Motorsports Park
TV schedule: Sunday, race (Speed, noon)
Race duration: 2 hours, 45 minutes
2008 winners: Ozz Negri and Mark Patterson (Daytona Prototype); Andy Lally and Tim George Jr. (GT)
Fast facts: Alex Gurney took the lead on a four-wide pass on lap 65 Saturday and held off Michael Valiente by .705 of a second to win the Bosch Engineering 250. It was the ninth victory for Gurney and Jon Fogarty and the No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Pontiac Riley Daytona Prototype team based out of the Dallas area. ... Andy Lally and Tim George Jr. return to defend their GT victory from last season, but will be driving different cars for TRG. Lally is paired with Justin Marks in the No. 67 Porsche GT3 and George is co-driving with RJ Valentine in the No. 68 Porsche GT3.
www.grand-am.com/rolex
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