ON THE TRACKS | This weekend's events

NASCARWINSTON CUPUAW-GM Quality 500
Schedule: Saturday, race (NBC, 7:30 p.m.).Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C. (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 500 miles, 334 laps.Last race: Ryan Newman's gas gamble paid off with another win, at the Banquet 400 in Kansas City, Kan. Newman drove the final 117 laps on one tank of fuel and held off a challenge from Bill Elliott to win his series-leading eighth victory of the season.Last year: Subbing for the injured Sterling Marlin, Jamie McMurray became the quickest driver in NASCAR modern-day history to win a race when he took the UAW-GM Quality 500.
BUSCH SERIESLittle Trees 300
Schedule: Today, race, 8 p.m. (Saturday, TNT, Noon, tape).Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway, Concord, N.C. (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.Last race: David Green led just one lap down the stretch, but it was good enough to win the Mr. Goodcents 300 at Kansas Speedway and retake the lead in the points standings. The race finished under caution when Bobby Hamilton Jr. crashed on the last lap.Last year: Jeff Burton nearly lapped the field and won the Little Trees 300 by nearly 20 seconds. It was Burton's second straight win and fifth of the 2002 season.Next race: Sam's Town 250, Oct. 18, Memphis, Tenn.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKSSilverado 350K
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 2:15 p.m.; Saturday, race (Speed Channel, 3 p.m.).Track: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 219 miles, 146 laps.Last race: Dennis Setzer picked up his third victory of the season by winning the John Boy & amp; Billy 250 at South Boston Speedway. Setzer had finished second in the previous two races.Last year: Brendan Gaughan took the lead when Ted Musgrave spun out with 14 laps left and held on to win the Silverado 350 at Texas Motor Speedway. It was Gaughan's second win of 2002, both coming at Texas.Next race: Advance Auto Parts 200, Oct. 18, Martinsville, Va.
CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMSTelmex Gigante Gran Premio Mexico
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 3:50 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 3:05 p.m.; Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 4 p.m.).Track: Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Mexico City (road course, 2.75 miles, 17 turns).Race distance: 203.378 miles, 73 laps.Last race: Mario Dominguez overcame a fourth-row starting spot to win the Grand Prix of the Americas in Miami. Drivers starting outside the first three rows have won just twice in the last 33 races, with Dominguez claiming both of them.Last year: Kenny Brack won for the first time in 2002, at the season-ending Mexican Grand Prix in front of a CART-record crowd of 174,866 at the Hermanos Rodriguez Autodrome.Next race: Lexmark Indy 300, Oct. 26, Surfers Paradise, Australia.
FORMULA ONEJapanese Grand Prix
Schedule: Friday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1 a.m.); Saturday, race (Speed Channel, 1 a.m.).Track: Suzuka Circuit (road course, 3.636 miles, 21 turns).Race distance: 192.708 miles, 53 laps.Last race: Michael Schumacher overcame the rain and moved closer to his sixth series championship after winning the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis.Last year: Schumacher delivered a perfect ending to a near-perfect season by winning his third straight Japanese Grand Prix and 11th race of the 2002 season.
INDY RACING LEAGUEChevy 500
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 5:30 p.m.; Sunday, race (ESPN, 3:30 p.m.).Track: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.Last race: Sam Hornish Jr. won the fastest open-wheel race in history, averaging 207.151 mph in the Toyota Indy 400 at California Speedway. Hornish and four other drivers will compete for the championship at the season-ending race Oct. 12 at Texas Motor Speedway.Last year: Hornish edged Helio Castroneves to win the Chevy 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sept. 15 to clinch his second straight IRL title. Hornish nipped Castroneves by .0096 seconds in becoming the first driver to win two IRL championships.
NHRAO'Reilly Fall Nationals
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN, 5 p.m., tape); Sunday, elminations, Noon (ESPN2, 6 p.m., tape).Track: Texas Motorplex, Dallas.Last event: Tony Schumacher set a national elapsed-time record en route to his fourth Top Fuel victory of the season at the rain-delayed Lucas Oil Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Schumacher set the record in his U.S. Army dragster at 4.441 seconds during his qualifying victory. Tim Wilkerson, Warren Johnson and Michael Phillips also won.Last year: Jeg Coughlin moved another step closer to his second Pro Stock championship by winning at the O'Reilly Fall Nationals, his third victory in a row and seventh in 10 events. Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel) and Del Worsham (Funny Car) also won.Next event: ACDelco Nationals, Oct. 26, Las Vegas.