Busy weekend offers veritable motorsports smorgasbord
It doesn't get any better than this, folks. Stock cars, open wheels, sports cars, drags ... it's the biggest racing weekend of the year. The clincher? Round 2 of Danica vs. Dan and Kurt vs. Tony.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- The stars have aligned for you, the true racing fan.
This weekend brings a cornucopia of motorsports, the only time in 2007 where every major racing series is competing on this continent.
One Great Weekend
This race weekend shapes up to be one of the best in memory, with every major racing series in action in North America. Here's what to watch, all times Eastern.
Noon Nextel Cup practice -- SPEED
3:30 p.m. Nextel Cup qualifying -- SPEED
6 p.m. Busch Series practice -- ESPN2
9 p.m. Craftsman Truck Series race -- SPEED
10 a.m. Nextel Cup practice -- SPEED
3 p.m. Busch Series qualifying -- ESPN2
5 p.m. NHRA qualifying -- ESPN2
5:30 p.m. Nextel Cup practice -- SPEED
6:30 p.m. Busch Series race -- ESPN2
9:30 p.m. IndyCar race -- ESPN2
1 p.m. Formula One race -- Fox
2 p.m. Nextel Cup race -- TNT
4 p.m. Champ Car race -- ABC
4 p.m. NHRA finals -- ESPN2
-- Staff and wire reports
It's a virtual plethora of fast cars, loud engines, talented drivers and almost every type of racing discipline for your perusal.
This weekend is one of only two this season (the other being June 30-July 1) with every major series racing. So, take you pick.
The fun actually started Wednesday on Tony Stewart's dirt track. Not that a late-model event at Eldora Speedway qualifies as part of a major series, but it included plenty of major-league names in racing.
Carl Edwards won the old-school dust-up against 19 other NASCAR drivers, one NASCAR legend (Red Farmer), one NASCAR team owner (Ray Evernham) and two NHRA stars (Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon).
You had to pay $24.95 to watch that one on HBO, but the rest of the racing extravaganza week comes via the normal broadcast and cable outlets.
It includes the annual Saturday night show at Texas Motor Speedway with the Bombardier Learjet 550, guaranteed wheel-to-wheel IndyCar action at 220 mph.
The road-course fans among you have two choices Sunday -- the Canadian Grand Prix Formula One race at Montreal and/or the Mazda Grand Prix Champ Car event at Portland.
For those who prefer racing with fenders, NASCAR has a full boat -- Nextel Cup at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania, Busch at Nashville, along with Craftsman Trucks at TMS.
Sports car fans also have a show with Sahlen's Six Hours at the Glen for the Grand-Am Rolex Series at Watkins Glen, N.Y.
And don't forget the straight-line racers. The NHRA is burning the nitro at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill.
Make sure that remote is working properly before you start all the channel switching. For the gearheads, it doesn't get any better than this.
When this much racing action is taking place almost simultaneously, some weird stuff is bound to happen. And a couple of these events have added drama going in.
We have the Dan versus Danica showdown here in Fort Worth to see if the two IndyCar racers get through Saturday night's event without another on-track -- or off-track -- incident.
Danica Patrick angrily confronted and grabbed Dan Wheldon on pit road after the Milwaukee race last weekend, feeling he didn't give her enough room as they bumped wheels on a turn.
They have traded barbs all week. Wheldon called Patrick "a spoiled brat" Wednesday, adding, "she kept grabbing me like a dog wanting to bite my ankles. It was unprofessional."
Said Patrick: "Something needed to be said and I said it. He kept walking away from me. That was unprofessional."
Patrick hasn't proved she can win, but clearly, she can fight, at least a nice little verbal bout. And IRL officials love every minute of it. Bad blood brings added publicity.
No better place for some old-fashioned vitriol than TMS. After all, this is the track where A.J. Foyt tossed Arie Luyendyk to the ground like a rag doll in the inaugural IndyCar Series event at Texas 10 years ago.
Speaking of getting tossed, will NASCAR send Kurt Busch home for his inexcusable pit-road incident last week at Dover?
Busch almost punted Tony Stewart's jackman, Jason Lee. After an on-track incident between Busch and Stewart, Busch pulled right next to Stewart's car in the pits so he could scream at Stewart.
But Busch came dangerously close to hitting Lee, who wisely leaped on the hood of Stewart's car to avoid becoming Busch's hood ornament.
NASCAR officials say no decision on Busch's punishment, if any, is coming until Friday.
Translation: Busch probably gets a proverbial trip to the NASCAR woodshed -- the Nextel Cup hauler -- Friday morning at Pocono for a lecture from the top brass.
Speculation was Busch's action might warrant a one-race suspension, but why bring Busch to Pocono if they plan to send him home?
Ironically, the person who could tell Busch what to expect is Stewart. Tony was the last driver to get a "Friday chat" at Talladega after he questioned NASCAR's integrity on his radio show.
Integrity came into question for the last F1 race when the dreaded "team orders" kept rookie Lewis Hamilton from challenging Fernando Alonso for the victory at Monaco.
McLaren team boss Ron Dennis said he only wanted to keep his two drivers from wrecking each other. The real test could come Sunday if Hamilton is in front and Alonso is right behind him in the final laps at Montreal.
The possibilities are endless on an extraordinary few days in the racing world. So much to see, all packed into a short window of motors overload.
If racing is your thing, this is your weekend. Enjoy the moment.
Terry Blount covers motorsports for ESPN.com. He can be reached at terry@blountspeak.com.
