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CBSSports.com wire reports
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Series-by-series news and notes about this week's races.
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| Sprint Cup Series | | Race: Sharpie 500 |  | | Site: Bristol, Tenn. | | Schedule: Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 3:30 p.m.); Saturday, race (ESPN, 7 p.m.). | | Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, .533 miles, 36 degrees banking in turns). | | Race distance: 266.5 miles, 500 laps. | | Last race: Carl Edwards completed a weekend sweep at Michigan International Speedway, beating points leader Kyle Busch off pit road on their last stops and driving off for his fifth Cup win of the season and second in the last three races. Edwards, who turned 29 on Friday, also won the Nationwide Series race the previous day, becoming only the second driver to win both races. Mark Martin did it in 1993. | | Last year: Edwards had a dominating victory at Bristol Motor Speedway. He passed Kasey Kahne for the lead with 166 laps to go and wasn't challenged the rest of the way as he drove to his second victory of 2007. | | Fast facts: Busch became the first driver to clinch a berth in the 2008 Chase with his runner-up effort at Michigan. Edwards, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton can join him this weekend. ... Roush Fenway drivers took four of the top five spots at Michigan. ... Matt Kenseth is a two-time winner at Bristol. ... Tony Stewart has led the most laps in three of the last six Cup events at Bristol, but has yet to win at the track. He is winless this season. ... Jeff Gordon has just three top-10 finishes in his last 10 races. He was knocked out of last week's race at Michigan after bumping into teammate Johnson. ... Kurt Busch has five Bristol wins, while Kyle Busch won the 2007 spring event. ... There are three races remaining before the Chase. ... Travis Geisler replaced Chris Carrier as crew chief for rookie Sam Hornish Jr. | | Next race: Sprint Cup 500, Aug. 31, Fontana, Calif. |
| Nationwide Series | | Race: Food City 250 |  | | Site: Bristol, Tenn. | | Schedule: Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 5 p.m.), race (ESPN, 7:30 p.m.). | | Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, .533 miles, 36 degrees banking in turns). | | Race distance: 133.25 miles, 250 laps. | | Last race: Carl Edwards took the lead in the pits, then drove away for his first NASCAR Nationwide victory at Michigan International Speedway and 16th overall series win. The reigning series champion was trailing Tony Stewart when the leaders drove onto pit road under a caution flag on lap 93. Edwards came out in front and easily led to the end of the 125-lap race on the 2-mile oval. | | Last year: Kasey Kahne passed Ryan Newman with eight laps to go and then held off several charges from Jason Leffler to win at Bristol Motor Speedway. The race was marred by a NASCAR scoring error against Kyle Busch that cost him a chance to run for the win. Busch was penalized with 77 laps to go and had to forfeit his second-place position, a penalty NASCAR later said was incorrect. | | Fast facts: NASCAR discovered the teams of Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 and No. 20 Toyotas deliberately attempted to mask the true horsepower in their engines after last week's race at Michigan. Inspectors found magnets under the gas pedals of both cars when they were sent to the chassis dyno for examination. Tony Stewart finished third in the No. 20 in his final Nationwide race for JGR. ... Points leader Clint Bowyer won the rain-shortened event at Bristol on March 15 and has two top-five finishes and another top-10 showing in his last three starts there. ... The top three drivers in the standings are separated by only 132 points, the closest margin with 10 races remaining since four were within 135 points of the leader in 2003. ... Four-time Bristol winner Kevin Harvick will not compete at the track for the first time in his Nationwide career, ending a string of 16 straight starts that dated to the spring race in 2000. Cale Gale will drive the No. 33 Chevrolet instead. | | Next race: Camping World 300, Aug. 30, Fontana, Calif. |
| Craftsman Truck Series | | Race: O'Reilly 200 |  | | Site: Bristol, Tenn. | | Schedule: Wednesday, Aug. 20, qualifying, 4:15 p.m., race (Speed Channel, 8 p.m.). | | Track: Bristol Motor Superspeedway (oval .533 miles, 36 degrees banking in turns). | | Race distance: 106.6 miles, 200 laps. | | Last race: Johnny Benson became the fifth truck driver to win three straight races, passing Erik Darnell with three laps left and pulling away in the Toyota Tundra 200. Benson, the winner of four of the last five races, joined Mike Skinner (1996 and 2007), Ron Hornaday (1997), Greg Biffle (2000) and Todd Bodine (2005) as the only drivers to win three races in a row in the series' 13-year history. | | Last year: Benson postponed a pit stop and then held off Brendan Gaughan to win the O'Reilly 200. | | Fast facts: Benson, a 13-time winner in the series, leads Hornaday by 45 points with 10 races remaining. ... Chrissy Wallace, along with her father Mike, rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange last week. Chrissy is expected to make her next Craftsman Trucks start on Sept. 6 at Gateway International Raceway. ... Colin Braun leads the Rookie of the Year standings by 16 over Donny Lia. ... Jack Sprague has won a race in each year except for the series' inaugural year of 1995 and in 2003, when he only started twice. He is winless this year. | | Next race: Gateway 200, Sept. 6, Madison, Ill. |
| Indycar Series | | Race: Grand Prix of Sonoma |  | | Site: California | | Schedule: Saturday, qualifying, 4:15 p.m.; Sunday, race (ESPN2, 5:30 p.m.). | | Track: Infineon Raceway (road course, 2.26 miles, 12 turns). | | Race distance: 184 miles, 80 laps. | | Last race: Scott Dixon came from behind at Kentucky Speedway, passing Helio Castroneves coming off the final turn on the 1.5-mile oval to win the Meijer Indy 300 on Aug. 9. It was the second win in a row and the sixth victory of the season for Dixon, tying the record of Dan Wheldon, his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate. Dixon is going for his second IndyCar championship. | | Last year: Dixon took advantage of Dario Franchitti's misfortune and won at Infineon. Franchitti had dominated the 80-lap race until he collided with teammate Marco Andretti on lap 69. | | Fast facts: Five of Dixon's six wins and all of his top-five finishes have come in the 10 oval races this season. ... Castroneves has finished second seven times this season. He now trails Dixon by 78 points with three races remaining. ... Marco Andretti remains winless since picking up his first career victory in August 2006, a span of 32 races. | | Next race: Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, Aug. 31 |
| Formula One | | Race: European Grand Prix |  | | Site: Valencia, Spain | | Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 8 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 8 a.m.). | | Track: Streets of Valencia (road course, 3.38 miles, 25 turns). | | Race distance: 192.66 miles, 57 laps. | | Last race: McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen won his first F1 race after Ferrari's Felipe Massa had engine trouble with three laps to go in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Aug. 3. Massa overtook Kovalainen and pole sitter Lewis Hamilton at the start and was heading for victory after Hamilton fell back following a tire puncture. But Massa's engine overheated toward the end and Kovalainen took an 11-second victory over Timo Glock of Toyota. Massa ended up 17th, out of the points. | | Last year: Inaugural race. | | Fast facts: Defending champion Kimi Raikkonen finished third at Hungary for his best result since a runner-up effort at the French GP in June. ... Fernando Alonso won the European GP at Nuerburg, Germany, last year. ... Valencia joins Monaco as a second race staged on city streets. ... Ferrari has an 11-point lead over McLaren in the constructors' standings. | | Next race: Belgian Grand Prix, Spa, Sept. 7 |
AP NEWS
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