A look at the weekend in racing

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

NASCAR Nextel Cup

Last race: Pole-sitter Joe Nemechek completed the sweep at Kansas Speedway with his win in the Banquet 400.

Last year: Tony Stewart chased down Ryan Newman over the final stretch to win the UAW-GM Quality 500.

Fast facts: Kurt Busch, who gained the series lead when Dale Earnhardt Jr. was docked 25 points last week for cursing during a live TV interview after winning at Talladega, increased his lead to 29 points with a sixth-place finish at Kansas. ... Earnhardt has four straight top-10 finishes. ... Two-time NASCAR champion Terry Labonte announced Tuesday he will run about 10 races in each of the next two seasons before retiring.

Next race: Subway 500, Oct. 24, Martinsville, Va.

NASCAR Busch Series

Last race: Joe Nemechek held off Greg Biffle by .041 of a second to win the Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas Speedway.

Last year: Greg Biffle began an 800-mile day by winning the rain-postponed Little Trees 300 at Concord with the season's largest margin of victory, 12.628 seconds. The race was postponed one day because of rain, causing it to start eight hours before the Nextel Cup race.

Fast facts: Martin Truex Jr. leads Kyle Busch by 149 points in the standings despite both drivers crashing during last week's race. ... Busch has three top-five finishes in five career Busch starts at Concord. ... Tony Stewart is winless in three career Busch races after wrecking with 1 1/2 laps to go at Kansas.

Next race: Sam's Town 250, Oct. 23, Memphis, Tenn.

NASCAR Craftsman Trucks

Last race: Todd Bodine ended Ted Musgrave's three-race winning streak at California Speedway with his victory in the American Racing Wheels 200 on Oct. 2.

Last year: Brendan Gaughan came from the back of the pack and won the Silverado 350, becoming the first truck driver to win four straight races at the same track.

Fast facts: Bobby Hamilton finished fifth at California and increased his lead in the standings to 56 points over Dennis Setzer with five races remaining. ... Setzer won the O'Reilly 400K at Fort Worth on June 11. ... There have been at least 11 different winners in five of the last 10 seasons. The record is 14 set in 1998.

Next race: Kroger 200, Oct. 23, Martinsville, Va.

Indy Racing League

Last race: Tony Kanaan clinched his first series championship after finishing second at the Toyota 400 in Fontana, Calif. on Oct. 3. Kanaan was .0183 seconds behind Adrian Fernandez, who claimed his second straight victory and third in five races.

Last year: A terrifying crash that left Kenny Brack badly injured ended the season-finale Chevy 500 five laps early, sending Gil de Ferran to victory lane in his last career start and giving runner-up Scott Dixon the series championship.

Fast facts: This is the final race of the season. ... Kanaan won the Bombardier 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 12. He will be trying to become the first driver to win two races at a track in the same season since Greg Ray did it at Pikes Peak in 1999. ... Nine of the last 14 IRL events at Texas Motor Speedway have had the margin of victory of less than one second.

Formula One
Last race: Michael Schumacher won his 13th race of the season and first since August by capturing the Japanese Grand Prix.

Next race: Brazilian Grand Prix, Oct. 24, Sao Paulo

NHRA
Last event: Tony Schumacher clinched his second Top Fuel championship, then tied the record for victories in a season with his ninth at the Lucas Oil Nationals in Reading, Pa.. Gary Scelzi (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Angelle Savoie (Pro Stock Bike) also won.

Next event: ACDelco Nationals, Oct. 31, Las Vegas

Champ Car World Series
Last race: Sebastien Bourdais held off Newman-Haas teammate Bruno Junquiera in a side-by-side battle to win the Las Vegas 400 on Sept. 25 for his sixth victory of 2004. Bourdais won by 0.066 seconds, the sixth-closest finish since 1979.

Next race: Oct. 24, Surfer's Paradise, Australia

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print
• Subscribe