ON THE TRACKS | This weekend's events

NASCARNEXTEL CUPNextel All-Star ChallengeConcord, N.C.
Schedule: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 6 p.m.); Saturday, race (FX, 7:30 p.m.).Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 135 miles, 90 laps.Last race: Dale Earnhardt Jr., gambling on tires and fuel, outlasted Jimmie Johnson and Bobby Labonte to win the Chevy American Revolution 400 in Richmond, Va. Earnhardt's third victory of the season gave him a 40-point lead over Johnson in the championship standings.Last year: Jimmie Johnson won The Winston and a record $1 million prize. Johnson took the lead away from teammate Jeff Gordon three laps into the final 20-lap segment, then pulled away to an easy victory over Kurt Busch in NASCAR's annual all-star race.Fast facts: Eligible drivers are race winners from the previous and current seasons and the winner of the Nextel Open, a preliminary race for teams that have yet to win in 2003 and 2004. One driver among the losers of the Nextel Open is voted into the main event by the fans via the Internet. ... The race will be run in three segments of 40, 30 and 20 laps, but unlike past years, no drivers will be eliminated after the first two segments. The field will be inverted after the first segment and the number of cars inverted will be determined by a random draw. ... This event does not count in the standings. ... The race's only three-time winners are Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Sr.
BUSCH SERIESGoulds Pumps ITT Industries 200Nazareth, Pa.
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 4 p.m.); Sunday, race (FX, 12:30 p.m.)Track: Nazareth Speedway (tri-oval .946 miles, 1 degree banking in turn 1, 4 degrees in turn 2, 6 degrees in turns 3-4).Race distance: 200 miles, 200 laps.Last race: Polesitter Kyle Busch led 236 laps and earned his first career Busch victory in the Funai 250 at Richmond International Raceway. Busch now holds a 10-point lead over Todd Bodine in the championship standings.Last year: Ron Hornaday Jr. beat Brian Vickers by less than half a second to win the Goulds Pumps ITT Industries 200, ending a 63-event winless drought.Fast facts: Busch has seven straight top-10 finishes and 11 in 18 career starts. ... Hornaday Jr. made his Busch debut at Nazareth in May 1998 and recorded his first series victory there in 2000. ... Jason Keller has three top-five finishes in his last four starts at Nazareth. He made his 300th career Busch start at last year's event.Next race: Carquest Auto Parts 300, May 29, Charlotte, N.C.
CRAFTSMAN TRUCKSInfineon 250Concord, N.C.
Schedule: Today, race (Speed Channel, 8:30 p.m.)Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns).Race distance: 201 miles, 134 laps.Last race: Jack Sprague passed Dennis Setzer and led the last 54 laps to win the inaugural UAW/GM Ohio 250 race at Mansfield Motorsports Speedway. It was Sprague's first truck victory since Sept. 9, 2001.Last year: Ted Musgrave held off Brendan Gaughan after a late-race restart to win the inaugural Hardee's 200 at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Musgrave was penalized for speeding on pit road earlier in the race.Fast facts: Last week's race featured a series-record 94 caution laps. ... Nextel Cup regulars Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip were expected to compete this weekend. ... Sprague started from the pole in each of the last two events.Next race: MBNA America 200, June 4, Dover, Del.
CHAMP CAR WORLD SERIESMonterrey Grand Prix
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 3 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 2:45 p.m.; Sunday, race (SPIKE, 4 p.m.)Track: Fundidora Park (permanent road course, 2.1 miles, 12 turns).Race distance: 151.20 miles, 72 laps.Last race: Canadian Paul Tracy passed teammates Bruno Junqueira and Sebastien Bourdais on the second lap and went on to win the season-opening Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 18. It was Tracy's fourth win at Long Beach, including three of the last five.Last year: Tracy became the first CART driver in 21 years to win the opening two races of the season after taking the Grand Prix of Monterrey. Mexico native Michel Jourdain Jr. finished second.Fast facts: There will be a new qualifying format for this event. The driver who survives the elimination sessions Today will receive one championship point. The final grid will be determined after Saturday's qualifying. ... Tracy opened last season with three straight wins en route to his first career championship. He has 27 career victories in the series, tying him with Johnny Rutherford for eighth on the all-time list.Next race: The Milwaukee Mile, June 5.
FORMULA ONEMonaco Grand PrixMonte Carlo
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 8 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 7:30 a.m.)Track: Monte Carlo street circuit (2.068 miles).Race distance: 161.304 miles, 78 laps.Last race: Michael Schumacher pushed his season-opening winning streak to five races, matching the best start in Formula One history, by taking the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on May 9. Nigel Mansell also did it in 1992.Last year: Juan Pablo Montoya ended Michael Schumacher's three-race winning streak at the Monaco Grand Prix. Montoya held off Kimi Raikkonen in the final laps on the twisting street course for his second career victory and first for Williams-BMW at Monaco since 1983.Fast facts: Race was first held in 1929. ... Britain's Jenson Button missed last year's race after crashing during a practice session. ... Montoya, Schumacher, David Coulthard and Olivier Panis are the only drivers on the current grid to win at Monte Carlo..Next race: European Grand Prix, May 30, Nuerburgring, Germany.
NHRARoute 66 NationalsJoliet, Ill.
Schedule: Today, qualifying, 3 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 1:15 p.m. (ESPN2, 7 p.m., tape); Sunday, eliminations, noon (ESPN2, 7 p.m., tape).Track: Route 66 Raceway.Last event: Cory McClenathan won Top Fuel for the first time since 2002 at the Southern Nationals in Atlanta. Whit Bazemore earned his first Funny Car victory of the season, Greg Anderson took Pro Stock for the fifth straight week and Angelle Savoie won Pro Stock Bike.Last year: Tony Schumacher earned his first win of the 2003 season and at the Route 66 Nationals, holding off defending champion Larry Dixon in the Top Fuel final. Bazemore, Kurt Johnson and Savoie won their categories.Fast facts: Dixon has had first-round exits in consecutive events for the first time since 1999, when it happened three straight times. ... John Force Jr.'s only finals loss during the 1999 season came at Joliet against Tim Wilkerson. ... Savoie's previous win came at last year's Joliet event.Next event: O'Reilly Summer Nationals, May 31, Topeka, Kan.
Source: Associated Press