Starting line /This week’s racing
IndyCar Series
Event: Honda Indy Toronto. Site: Toronto. Schedule: Friday, practice; Saturday, practice, qualifying; Sunday, practice, race, 1 p. m. (Ch. 7). Track: Streets of Toronto (street course, 1.725 miles). Race distance: 148.75 miles, 85 laps. Last year: Inaugural event. Last week: Justin Wilson gave team owner Dale Coyne his first victory after 25 years of trying, leading 49 of 60 laps at Watkins Glen International. Coyne’s victory came in his 558th entry as an owner-driver. Fast facts: Defending series champion Scott Dixon has three victories and seven straight top-10 finishes. . . . Paul Tracy, from nearby Scarborough, won CART races in Toronto in 1993 and 2003. Tracy’s KV Racing Technology entry is sponsored by the Ontario Honda Dealers Association. . . . Dario Franchitti (1999), Will Power (2007) and Wilson (2005) also won CART races at the track. Next race: Rexall Edmonton Indy Grand Prix, July 26, Edmonton City Centre Airport, Edmonton, Alberta.
Sprint Cup
Event: LifeLock.com 400. Site: Joliet, Ill. Schedule: Thursday, practice (Speed, 5-6:30 p. m.), qualifying (Speed, 8:30-10:30 p. m.); Friday, practice (Speed, 5-7:30 p. m.); Saturday, race, 8 p. m. (TNT, 6:30- 11:30 p. m.). Track: Chicagoland Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles). Race distance: 400 miles, 267 laps. Last week: Tony Stewart raced to his second victory of the year, holding on after making late contact with Kyle Busch at Daytona International Speedway. Fast facts: Owner-driver Michael Waltrip will scale back to a partial schedule next year, giving his NAPAsponsored ride to Martin Truex Jr. The 46-year-old Waltrip is a two-time Daytona 500 winner. Truex will leave Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing at the end of the year. . . . Kevin Harvick won the first two Sprint Cup races at Chicagoland, in 2000 and 2001. Next race: Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, July 26, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis.
Nationwide
Event: Dollar General 300. Site: Joliet, Ill. Schedule: Thursday, practice (ESPN2, 7-8:30 p. m.); Friday, qualifying (ESPN2, 3-5 p. m.), race, 8 p. m. (ESPN, 7:30-11 p. m.). Track: Chicagoland Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles). Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps. Last year: Kyle Busch raced to the fifth of his 10 2008 Nationwide victories, easily holding off Denny Hamlin. Busch also won the Sprint Cup race. Last week: Defending series champion Clint Bowyer won at Daytona International Speedway, beating Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards in a green-white-checker finish. The victory was Richard Childress Racing’s first of the season. Fast facts: Kevin Harvick (2005 and 2007) is the only two-time winner in the first eight races at the track. . . . David Reutimann will drive Braun Racing’s No. 10 Dollar General car. Next race: Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250, July 18, Gateway International Raceway, Madison, Ill.
Camping World Trucks
Next race: Built Ford Tough 225, July 18, Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Ky. Last race: Points leader Ron Hornaday raced to his second straight victory and third of the season, leading 175 of 201 laps June 27 at Memphis Motorsports Park. The 51-year-old Hornaday has a series-record 42 victories and three season titles.
NHRA
Event: Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals. Site: Morrison, Colo. Schedule: Friday, qualifying; Saturday, qualifying (ESPN2, 10 p. m.-midnight); Sunday, final eliminations (ESPN2, 7-10 p. m.). Track: Bandimere Speedway. Last year: Tony Schumacher (Top Fuel) and Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car) won in the first 1,000-foot races in NHRA history. The NHRA cut the Top Fuel and Funny Car runs from a quarter-mile following Scott Kalita’s death in Englishtown, N. J. Last event: Larry Dixon raced to his fourth Top Fuel victory of the season and 47th overall, beating Brandon Bernstein on June 28 in Norwalk, Ohio. Jack Beckman (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won. Next race: NHRA Northwest Nationals, July 17-19, Pacific Raceways, Cent, Wash.
Formula One Event: German Grand Prix. Site: Hockenheim, Germany. Schedule: Friday, practice (Speed, 8-9 a. m.); Saturday, practice, qualifying (Speed, 8-9:30 a. m.); Sunday, race, 8 a. m. (Fox, 3-5 p. m.). Track: Nuerburgring (road course, 3.2 miles). Race distance: 191.9 miles, 60 laps. Last year: McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton raced to the fourth of his five 2008 victories en route to the season title, holding off Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. Last race: Sebastian Vettel won the British Grand Prix on June 21 for his second victory of the year, beating Red Bull teammate Mark Webber by 15.1 seconds. Next race: Hungarian Grand Prix, July 26, Budapest, Hungary.
Western New York
Dunn Tire Raceway Park: IHRA Drag Racing, Friday, 7 p. m. Holland Speedway: NASCAR Charger 50, Saturday, 7:15 p. m. Ransomville Speedway: Harold Reinhart Memorial Poster Night, Friday, 7:15 p. m. Arcade International: Mid-Season Championships, Friday, 7:30 p. m. Genesee Speedway: Autograph Night, Saturday, 6
p. m. Merrittville Speedway: Lucas Oil Weekly Series, Saturday, 7 p. m. Humberstone Speedway: 358 Modifieds, Sunday, 6:45 p. m. Wyoming County: Sunoco ROC Modified Tour Friday, 7:30 p. m. Stateline Speedway: $10,000 Super Late Models, Saturday, 7 p. m.
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