Winston Cup

FAST FACTS
Event	GFS Marketplace 400
Site	Brooklyn, Mich.
Schedule	Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 3 p.m.); Sunday, race (TNT, 2 p.m.).
Track	Michigan International Speedway (d-shaped oval, 2 miles, 18 degrees banking in turns).
Distance	400 miles, 200 laps.

Last race: Robby Gordon stretched his fuel over the final 39 laps to complete a sweep of this year's road-course races with a victory at Watkins Glen International. Gordon won at Sonoma's road course June 22 despite violating a "gentlemen's agreement" by passing teammate Kevin Harvick under caution.

	Drivers to Watch
	Check out a short list of drivers to keep an eye on this weekend at Michigan.

Last year: Dale Jarrett rebounded from a spin on the 12th lap and passed Jeff Burton with five laps to go to win the Pepsi 400 at Michigan International Speedway. Jarrett's 30th career victory -- and fourth at Michigan -- came on the 11th anniversary of his first Winston Cup win.

Fast facts: Jeff Gordon was bumped twice in last week's race, once by Greg Biffle on the opening turn of the first lap and then into the wall by Harvick after running out of gas on the final turn. Gordon has not finished two of the past three races. ... Matt Kenseth leads Dale Earnhardt Jr. by 258 points after 22 of 36 races. He has nine top-five and 16 top-10 finishes this season. ... Car owner Richard Childress announced Tuesday he will drive the late Dale Earnhardt's No. 3 Chevrolet in a prerace ceremony before the Oct. 11 race at Lowe's Motor Speedway. ... Michael Melo, who flooded Fox with e-mails after a Boston Red Sox game pre-empted an auto race, was sentenced to six months of home detention on Tuesday.

Next race: Sharpie 500, Aug. 23, Bristol, Tenn.

IRL

FAST FACTS
Event	Belterra Casino Indy 300
Site	Sparta, Ky.
Schedule	Saturday, qualifying, 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, race (ABC, 2 p.m.).
Track	Kentucky Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns).
Distance	300 miles, 200 laps.

Last race: Helio Castroneves drove without any cockpit electronics to win the Emerson Indy 250 at Madison, Ill., ending a 20-race winless streak. Castroneves ran the entire race with no readout on his steering wheel, meaning he had to make his own decisions when to shift and had to guess on fuel.

	Drivers to Watch
	Check out a short list of drivers to keep an eye on this weekend at Kentucky.

Last year: Felipe Giaffone narrowly beat fast-closing Sam Hornish Jr. in the Belterra Casino Indy 300 for his first IRL victory. The Brazilian led the final 39 laps on the 1.5-mile Kentucky Speedway tri-oval after the leaders made their final pit stops for fuel.

Fast facts: This is the fourth year of the event. Buddy Lazier won the first two races but failed to become the first IRL driver to win the same event three years in a row last year. ... Tony Kanaan regained the series lead with 357 points after his second-place finish last week, followed by Gil de Ferran with 350 and Castroneves with 347. Scott Dixon, who was leading entering the race, fell all the way to fourth, 24 points behind the leader with five races left. ... Anton Julien, a left rear tire changer for Al Unser Jr., was seriously injured in a pit accident at Gateway. Julian hurt his right knee and suffered a concussion after Bryan Herta slid into the rear of Unser's car, which was on its hydraulic jacks. ... There have been eight different winners in the 11 races this season, with only Dixon and de Ferran the only multiple victors.

Next race: Nazareth Indy 250, Aug. 24, Nazareth, Pa.

NHRA

FAST FACTS
Event	Rugger Liner Nationals
Site	Brainerd, Minn
Schedule	Friday, qualifying, 2:50 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1:30 p.m.); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 2 p.m.).
Track	Brainerd International Raceway.

Last race: Larry Dixon became the fourth driver in NHRA history to sweep the three-race Western Swing by winning Top Fuel during the FRAM-Autolite Nationals at Infineon Raceway on Aug. 3. Gary Scelzi, Jeg Coughlin and Geno Scali also won their respective categories. The Western Swing consists of consecutive events in Denver, Seattle and Sonoma, Calif.

Last year: John Force got his 10th Funny Car victory of 2002, beating teammate Gary Densham in the final round of the Rugged Liner NHRA Nationals. Kenny Bernstein, Coughlin and Scali also won their divisions.

Fast facts: Dixon has eight victories this season. ... Scelzi became the 13th NHRA driver to earn a victory in both Top Fuel and Funny Car when he drove to his first career Funny Car victory at Infineon. ... Force has won this event 10 of the last 15 years, including three in the last four. ... Scelzi and John Smith were involved in a spectacular crash at the 2001 event. Smith broke his left arm, leg and wrist; Scelzi was unharmed. ... This is the 22nd year of the event. ... Brainerd International Raceway was resurfaced since last year.

Next race: Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, Sept. 1, Indianapolis.

BGN

FAST FACTS
Event	Cabela's 250
Site	Brooklyn, Mich.
Schedule	Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1 p.m.); Saturday, race (TNT, 1:30 p.m.).
Track	Michigan International Speedway (d-shaped oval, 2 miles, 18 degrees banking in turns).
Distance	250 miles, 125 laps.

Last race: Brian Vickers made the decisive pass on Shane Hmiel at lap 181, then held on to win the Kroger 200 at Clermont, Ind. on Aug. 2 for his first career Busch Series victory. Vickers was making his 47th career start, and at 19, is the youngest competitor in NASCAR.

	Drivers to Watch
	Check out a short list of drivers to keep an eye on this weekend at Michigan.

Last year: Michael Waltrip outlasted Jeff Burton by 3.901 seconds to win the Cabela's 250. Waltrip recorded his ninth career Busch Series victory and first in 36 races dating to October 1999 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Fast facts: Tony Stewart is expected to compete in the Cabela's 250, his first Busch race since 1998. ... Scott Riggs leads David Green by just seven points in the championship standings. The top five drivers are separated by 99 points. ... Burton is the only polesitter to win a Busch race at Michigan in 1996, setting the track record at that time. ... Todd Bodine and Mark Martin are the only drivers to win this race twice.

Next race: Food City 250, Aug. 22, Bristol, Tenn.

CTS

FAST FACTS
Event	O'Reilly 200
Site	Bristol, Tenn.
Schedule	Wednesday, Aug. 20, qualifying, 3 p.m., race (Speed Channel, 8:30 p.m.).
Track	Bristol Motor Speedway (oval, .533 miles, 36 degrees banking in turns).
Distance	106.60 miles, 200 laps.

Last race: Rookie Carl Edwards won his second straight truck race by capturing the Federated Auto Parts 200 at Nashville Superspeedway. Edwards, who won by 1.209 seconds over Ted Musgrave, was forced to the rear of the 33-truck field at the start because of an engine change.

Last year: Inaugural race.

Fast facts: Brendan Gaughan leads Travis Kvapil by seven points in the championship standings entering the O'Reilly 200. Ted Musgrave is third, 21 points behind Gaughan. ... The Craftsman Truck Series returns to Bristol Motor Speedway after a three-year absence. ... The track was among the 18 facilities that were a part of the inaugural truck schedule in 1995. Joe Ruttman won at Bristol that year. ... Ron Hornaday Jr. and Jack Sprague combined to win the last three events at the track. Both of Hornaday's wins came from the pole.

Next race: NCTS 200, Sept. 4, Richmond, Va.

CART
Last race: Paul Tracy earned all 23 possible points in winning the Champ Car Grand Prix, giving him a 20-point lead over Bruno Junqueira, who had entered the weekend with a three-point lead over Tracy. Tracy lost the lead only on pit stops in winning his career-best sixth race of the year and first at the Mid-Ohio course, where he had finished second four times in 10 previous appearances.

Next race: Molson Indy, Aug. 24, Montreal.

Formula One
Last race: Juan Pablo Montoya won the German Grand Prix on Aug. 3, speeding away after a crash in the opening seconds took out three top contenders. Kimi Raikkonen, second in the standings, Ralf Schumacher, winner of two of the previous three races, and Rubens Barrichello, the winner of the last race, were gone before the first lap was completed. Michael Schumacher had a flat in his Ferrari while in second place and ended up seventh.

Next race: Hungarian Grand Prix, Aug. 24, Budapest.