ON TRACK This weekend's events

NASCAR
WINSTON CUP
Pop Secret Microwave Popcorn 400
Schedule: Today, qualifying (TNT, 3 p.m.); Sunday, race (TNT, 1 p.m.).
Track: North Carolina Speedway, Rockingham (tri-oval, 1.017 miles, 22 degrees banking in turns 1-2, 25 degrees in turns 3-4).
Race distance: 400 miles, 393 laps.
Last race: Dale Earnhardt Jr. kept his slim championship hopes alive by winning the Checker Auto Parts 500 at Phoenix. Earnhardt is still 228 points behind standings leader Matt Kenseth, who finished sixth.
Last year: Johnny Benson won for the first time in 226 Winston Cup starts, at the Pop Secret Microwave 400. Benson was coming back from two separate rib injuries that sidelined him for six races.
BUSCH SERIES
Target House 200
Site: Rockingham, N.C.
Schedule: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1:30); Saturday, race (TNT, 1 p.m.).
Track: North Carolina Speedway, Rockingham (tri-oval, 1.017 miles, 22 degrees banking in turns 1-2, 25 degrees in turns 3-4).
Race distance: 200 miles, 197 laps.
Last race: Bobby Hamilton Jr. won the rain-shortened Bashas' Supermarkets 200 and Scott Riggs took the lead in the tight five-man points chase at Phoenix International Raceway.
Last year: Jamie McMurray picked up an unlikely victory at the Sam's Club 300 at Rockingham after a next-to-last lap crash knocked out race leaders Jeff Green and Michael Waltrip.
Next race: Ford 300, Nov. 15, Homestead, Fla.
NHRA
Automobile Club Finals
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 5 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 1:30 p.m. (ESPN2, 11 p.m., tape); Sunday, early eliminations, 2 p.m. (ESPN2, 4:30 p.m.), final eliminations (ESPN2, 10 p.m., tape).
Track: Pomona (Calif.) Raceway.
Last event: Tony Pedregon clinched his first Funny Car championship after defeating Whit Bazemore, the No. 2 driver in the standings, in the final round of the ACDelco Las Vegas Nationals on Oct. 26. Kenny Bernstein (Top Fuel), Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) and Craig Treble (Pro Stock Bike) also won.
Last year: John Force clinched his 10th consecutive Funny Car title and 12th overall when he defeated Pedregon in the semifinals at the Automobile Club Finals. Force went on to win the event, as did Cory McClenathan and Kurt Johnson in their respective categories.
-- Associated Press