ON THE TRACKS This weekend's events



NASCAR WINSTON CUPNew England 300
Schedule: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 3 p.m.); Sunday, race (TNT, 1:30 p.m.).
Track: (Loudon) New Hampshire International Speedway (oval, 1.058 miles, 12 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 317.4 miles, 300 laps.
Last race: Ryan Newman stretched his last tank of fuel and won the Tropicana 400 at Chicagoland Speedway. Three of Newman's four career victories have come this season.
Last year: Ward Burton collected his first victory since the season-opening Daytona 500 by winning the New England 300. Burton, who started 31st, took the lead with 10 laps left while Matt Kenseth's tire was deflating and held off Jeff Green by 3.230 seconds for his fifth career win.
Fast facts: Busch Series drivers Johnny Sauter and David Reutimann will compete for Morgan-McClure Motorsports this weekend. Sauter made his Winston Cup debut with the team last weekend and finished 35th. ... Bobby Labonte's car engulfed in flames after being involved in a five-car collision last weekend. He managed to scramble out of the car and was not injured. ... Kenseth leads Jeff Gordon by 165 points in the standings. ... During practice two days before the 2000 event, Kenny Irwin was killed when his car slammed into a wall at 150 mph. He died eight weeks to the day, and at almost the same spot, where Adam Petty was killed while practicing for a Busch series event. ... Jeff Burton leads all drivers with four victories in New Hampshire. Gordon has won three times. Burton won this race three straight years from 1997-99.
BUSCH SERIESNew England 200
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 1:30 p.m.; Saturday, race (TNT, 1 p.m.).
Track: (Loudon) New Hampshire International Speedway (oval, 1.058 miles, 12 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 200 miles, 211.6 laps.
Last race: Bobby Hamilton Jr. overpowered the field, leading all but a handful of laps Saturday in winning the Tropicana Twister 300 at Joliet, Ill. Hamilton took the lead from pole-starter Casey Mears on the third lap and led 186 of 200 trips around the 11/2-mile Chicagoland Speedway oval, including the last 53.
Last year: Hamilton came from 17th with 64 laps to go and won the Busch 200 at New Hampshire. Hamilton, who set a race record with an average speed of 110.368 mph, won for the first time in 96 career starts.
Fast facts: Two of Hamilton's three career Busch victories have come in the last four races. He has finished in the top 10 in eight of the last 10 races. ... Scott Riggs finished seventh last weekend and extended his lead over David Green in the championship race from 2 to 23 points as Green finished 11th. ... The track hosted two Busch races each season from 1990-93. ... Buckshot Jones won from the 26th spot in 1998. It was the largest jump of any Busch winner at New Hampshire. ... Ricky Craven was the first driver to win from the pole, in 1991. ... This weekend's race will be the 17th race at Loudon, which has yet to produce a two-time winner.
Next race: Colorado 250, July 26, Fountain, Colo.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKSRam Tough 200
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 5 p.m.; Saturday, race (Speed Channel, 9 p.m.).
Track: Gateway International Raceway, St. Louis (egg-shaped oval, 1.25 miles, 11 degrees banking in turns 1-2, 9 degrees in turns 3-4).
Race distance: 200 miles, 160 laps.
Last race: Carl Edwards raced to his first truck victory, beating Ted Musgrave by 3.568 seconds in the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Edwards, a 23-year-old rookie from Columbia, Mo., finished second the previous week at Kansas Speedway, behind Roush Racing teammate Jon Wood.
Last year: Terry Cook broke an 88-race victory drought by winning the Dodge Ram Tough 200. Cook, who went to the emergency room with flu symptoms days earlier, recovered enough to take his Ford F-150 from the eighth starting position to the lead by the 91st of 160 laps. Jason Leffler finished second.
Fast facts: NASCAR fined crew chief Doug Richert $25,000 for using unapproved cylinder heads in Edwards' Ford last week. It also deducted 100 driver points from Edwards and 100 owner points from Jack Roush. ... The top seven drivers in the standings are separated by just 93 points. The only competitor among the seven without a victory is leader Travis Kvapil. ... Dennis Setzer has recorded five straight top-five finishes. He has not finished among the top five in any of his five career truck starts at Gateway. He placed sixth last year. ... David Starr is expected to return this weekend after missing four weeks due to an injury suffered during testing at The Milwaukee Mile.
Next race: Sears 200, July 26, Brooklyn, Mich.
FORMULA ONEBritish Grand Prix
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 9 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 7:30 a.m.).
Track: Silverstone (England) Circuit (road course, 3.194 miles, 14 turns).
Race distance: 191.64 miles, 60 laps.
Last race: Ralf Schumacher won the French Grand Prix for his second straight victory. Schumacher finished 13.8 seconds ahead Juan Pablo Montoya in the second consecutive 1-2 finish for Williams-BMW. Michael Schumacher languished in fifth most of the race and finished third.
Last year: Michael Schumacher won the British Grand Prix for his seventh victory of the season and the 60th of his career. The victory moved Schumacher to the verge of his record-tying fifth season championship.
Fast facts: Ralf Schumacher has been the polesitter in three of the last four races. He is third in the championship standings, his highest career placing. ... Williams-BMW drivers have finished 1-2 in each of the last two races, with Juan Pablo Montoya placing second both times. ... Jacques Villeneuve has just one podium finish with the BAR team -- none since 2001. He won this race in 1996 and 1997. ... Jim Clark won this race four straight years from 1961-1965 and was later joined by Alain Prost as the only drivers to have five victories at Silverstone. ... The Silverstone Circuit is known for high-speed corners and high winds due to the open nature of the course. The track was built on a World War II airfield.
Next race: German Grand Prix, Aug. 3, Hockenheim.
INDY RACING LEAGUEFirestone Indy 200
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 4:45 p.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN2, 8 p.m.).
Track: Nashville Superspeedway, Gladeville, Tenn. (tri-oval 1.33 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 266 miles, 200 laps.
Last race: Bryan Herta took the lead with five laps to go and held on to win the Kansas Indy 300 for his first IRL victory. Herta's victory at Kansas Speedway denied Scott Dixon the circuit's first three-race winning streak since 1998, when Kenny Brack won at Charlotte, Pikes Peak and Atlanta.
Last year: Alex Barron outran Gil de Ferran in the final two laps after a restart, winning the Firestone Indy 200 by 0.42 seconds for his first IRL victory in only his 11th start. Barron led only the final 11 laps to become the fourth first-time winner in five races.
Fast facts: Felipe Giaffone was moved Tuesday to a rehabilitation hospital and will spend at least a week there. Giaffone, who broke his right leg and pelvis in a crash at Kansas, said he could spend as much as three weeks in the hospital. ... This is the third and final night race this season. Al Unser Jr. won at Texas Motor Speedway on June 7 and Scott Dixon took the June 28 race at Richmond. ... There have been six different winners through the first eight races this season. Dixon is the only multiple winner, with three victories. ...Tony Kaanan leads the points standings by 31 over Dixon. ... This race is the only IRL event to take place on concrete. It's only the second concrete track on which the circuit has ever competed, joining the Dover Speedway races in 1998 and 1999.
Next race: Michigan Indy 400, July 27, Brooklyn.
NHRA
Mile-High Nationals
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 6:15 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 4:15 p.m. (ESPN, 7 p.m., tape); Sunday, early eliminations (ESPN, 2:30 p.m.), final eliminations (ESPN2, 6 p.m., tape).
Track: Bandimere Speedway, Denver.
Last event: Doug Kalitta raced to his third Top Fuel victory of the season, beating first-time finalist Scott Weis in the NHRA Nationals at Gateway International Raceway on June 29. Del Worsham, Ron Krisher and Geno Scali also won their divisions.
Last year: Darrell Russell raced to his second Top Fuel victory of the season, beating Cory McClenathan in the final of the Mile-High Nationals. Del Worsham, Mike Edwards and Colorado racer Matt Hines also won their divisions in the competition.
Fast facts: Husband and wife Top Fuel racers John Smith and Rhonda Hartman-Smith have raced each other four times this year and five times overall. Rhonda is 3-2 against her husband following her quarterfinal win at Gateway. ... Tony Pedregon has six victories in 12 events this season and his 25 career wins ranks him fourth on the all-time Funny Car list. ... In 1999, Jeg Coughlin beat brother Troy to set a new elapsed-time track record and win the Pro Stock final.
Next event: CarQuest Auto Parts Nationals, July 27, Seattle.

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