NASCAR WINSTON CUP Ford 400

NASCARWINSTON CUPFord 400
Schedule: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1 p.m.); Sunday, race (NBC, 12:30 p.m.).Track: Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 8 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.Last race: Matt Kenseth took the lead after putting on two tires during his final pit stop at lap 261 and raced to victory at the Checker Auto Parts 500 in Phoenix. It was Kenseth's series-leading fifth victory of the season.Last year: Bill Elliott, whose previous victory came in 1994, passed teammate Casey Atwood five laps from the end of the Pennzoil 400 after stalking the rookie for several trips around the 11/2-mile Homestead-Miami Speedway.Fast facts: This is the final race of the season. ... Tony Stewart finished eighth at Phoenix and holds an 89-point lead over Mark Martin in the championship standings. If Stewart does not lead a lap at Homestead, he needs to finish at least 22nd to clinch his first Winston Cup title. Stewart won the first two Homestead races in 1999 and 2000 and led the most laps last season. ... Ryan Newman recorded his sixth pole of the season last week, breaking the Winston Cup rookie record set by Davey Allison in 1987. He has been the polesitter in three of the last four races. ... A loss for Rusty Wallace this weekend will end his streak of recording at least one victory in a season at 16 years. His winless streak is at 61 races. ... Jeff Burton is the only Roush Racing driver not to have a victory this season.
BUSCH GRAND NATIONALFord 300
Schedule: Saturday, race (NBC, 1:30 p.m.).Track: Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 8 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 200 miles, 300 laps.Last race: Scott Wimmer won the Bashas' Supermarket 200 in Avadale, Ariz., under a yellow flag, but Greg Biffle clinched the Busch Series championship by leading all but the last 16 laps of the 200-lap race at Phoenix International Speedway. He wound up third, just ahead of series runner-up Jason Keller.Last year: Joe Nemechek took advantage of Kevin Harvick's tough luck, making a late charge to win the season-ending GNC Live Well 300. The victory was the 11th of Nemechek's Busch career, his second that year and third in five races at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where his younger brother, John, was killed in a truck race in 1997.Fast facts: This is the final race of the season. ... Biffle is the only driver to have won titles in both the Busch and Craftsman Truck Series (2000) and gave team owner Jack Roush his only NASCAR championships. Biffle will move up to Winston Cup in 2003, driving a fifth Roush Racing entry. ... Wimmer has won three of the last seven races. ... This will be Jack Sprague's last race for Hendrick Motorsports. He will be moving to the Winston Cup circuit and driving for Haas Racing. ... Jeff Green has started among the top-five and finished in the top-10 in each of his last three Busch races at Homestead.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKSFord 200
Schedule: Thursday, qualifying, 1 p.m.; Friday, race (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.).Track: Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 8 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 201 miles, 134 laps.Last race: Kevin Harvick held off Ted Musgrave in a last-lap shootout and won the Chevy Silverado 150 in Phoenix. It was Harvick's first victory in 75 truck series starts.Last year: Ted Musgrave squeezed the last few ounces of fuel out of his dominating Dodge to win the Florida Dodge Dealers 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Musgrave, who became the event's fifth first-time series winner, led a race-high 86 laps including the final 15 circuits. He took over for good when Jack Sprague, his Chevrolet low on gas, pitted from the lead on the 153rd of 167 laps.Fast facts: This is the final race of the season. ... Mike Bliss leads Rick Crawford by 32 points and third-place Musgrave by 71 in the championship standings. Bliss can claim the championship by finishing fifth or better, no matter what the other two do. ... Harvick is the fifth driver to win on all three NASCAR circuits, joining Bobby Hamilton, Terry Labonte, Mark Martin and Ken Schrader. ... Chevrolet sealed its fifth truck manufacturer title with Harvick's win last week. Chevrolet won the series' first four titles. ... No driver has ever recorded more than one victory at Homestead, where five of the six previous winners got their first victories. No series champion has won at the track. ... Carlos Contreras and Coy Gibbs will both be making their final regular truck series starts this weekend. Both are moving to the Busch Series circuit. ... John Mickel will be looking to become the first Englishman to compete in a truck event this weekend.
CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMSMexican Grand Prix
Schedule: Today, qualifying 3:30 p.m. (Speed Channel, 4 p.m., tape); Saturday, qualifying, 3 p.m. (Speed Channel, 3:30 p.m., tape); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 4 p.m.).Track: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City (road course, 2.75 miles, 17 turns).Race distance: 200.75 miles, 73 laps.Last race: Jimmy Vasser became the first multiple winner of the CART 500 at California Speedway. Vasser, who wrecked the previous week in Australia, overcame a late race red flag restart and held off Michael Andretti while posting the fastest winning speed in race history at 189.727 mph.Last year: Inaugural race.Fast facts: This is the final race of the season. ... Adrian Fernandez is questionable after suffering a broken back in Australia two weeks earlier. ... Christian Fittipaldi is making his last start in a CART race after eight seasons on the circuit. He will be racing on the Winston Cup circuit next season. ... It's Mexico City's first CART race since 1981, when Rick Mears recorded his second consecutive win there. ... Toyota will be seeking its third straight victory in Mexico this weekend. Cristiano da Matta won the season-opening Tecate Telmex Grand Prix in Monterrey on March 10.
-- Associated Press