AUTO RACING PACKAGE: Auto Racing Glance
All Times EDT
NASCAR
SPRINT CUP
BANK OF AMERICA 500
Site: Concord, North Carolina.
Schedule: Thursday, practice (NBC Sports Network, 1:30-3 p.m.), qualifying (NBC Sports Network, 7-8:30 p.m.); Friday, practice (NBC Sports Network, 3:30-4:30 p.m., 6:30-7:30 p.m.); Saturday, race, 7 p.m. (NBC, 7-11 p.m.).
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles).
Race distance: 501 miles, 334 laps.
Last year: Kevin Harvick raced to the third of his five 2014 victories en route to the season title.
Last week: Harvick won at Dover in a must-win situation to advance to the second round of the Chase. Six-time champion Jimmie Johnson was eliminated from the Chase after a torn rear axle seal left him with a 41st-place finish.
Fast facts: The race is the fourth in the 10-race Chase. The playoff field was cut from 16 to 12 last week. It will be reduced to eight after the sixth race and to four after the ninth. Drivers get a spot in the next round with a victory. Points are reset after each round and the title will be decided by finishing order in the Nov. 22 finale at Homestead. Denny Hamlin won the Chase opener at Chicagoland, and Matt Kenseth took the second event at New Hampshire. Joey Logano advanced on points along with Carl Edwards, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt won a tiebreaker with Jamie McMurray for the final spot. Paul Menard and Clint Bowyer dropped out along with Johnson and McMurray. ... Johnson has a record seven Charlotte victories. ... Gordon, retiring after the season, won the 1994 Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte for the first his 92 victories. He has won five times at the track. ... Edwards won the 600-miler in May.
Next race: Hollywood Casino 400, Oct. 18, Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
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XFINITY
DRIVE FOR THE CURE 300
Site: Concord, North Carolina.
Schedule: Thursday, practice (NBC Sports Network, 5:30-7 p.m.); Friday, qualifying (NBC Sports Network, 4:30-6 p.m.), race, 8 p.m. (NBC Sports Network, 7:30-10:30 p.m.).
Track: Charlotte Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles).
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.
Last year: Brad Keselowski raced to the fourth of his five 2014 victories.
Last week: Regan Smith won at Dover for his second victory of the season.
Fast facts: Kyle Busch is making his 11th start of the season in Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 54 Toyota. The eight-time Charlotte winner has four victories this year and a series-record 74 overall. ... Erik Jones is driving JGR's No. 20 car. He has two victories this year and also has won twice in his full-time Truck Series ride for Kyle Busch Motorsports. ... Keselowski, Kasey Kahne and Austin Dillon also are racing. Dillon won the May race at the track. ... Chris Buescher leads the standings, 24 points ahead of defending champion Chase Elliott and 36 ahead of Smith.
Next race: Kansas Lottery 300, Oct. 17, Kansas Speedway, Kansas City, Kansas.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
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CAMPING WORLD TRUCK
Next race: Fred's 250, Oct. 24, Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, Alabama.
Last week: John Wes Townley won at Las Vegas for his first career victory. Austin Theriault crashed head-on into an unprotected wall, sustaining a compression fracture in his lower back.
Online: http://www.nascar.com
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FORMULA ONE
RUSSIAN GRAND PRIX
Site: Sochi, Russia.
Schedule: Friday, practice (NBC Sports Network, 7-8:30 a.m.), Saturday, practice (NBC Sports Network, 6-7:30 p.m.), qualifying (NBC Sports Network, 8-9:30 p.m.); Sunday, race, 7 a.m. (NBC Sports Network, 6:30-9:30 a.m., noon-3 p.m.).
Track: Sochi Autodrom (road course, 3.637 miles).
Race distance: 192.75 miles, 53 laps.
Last year: Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won the inaugural race for the ninth of his 11 2014 victories en route to the season title. Teammate Nico Rosberg was second.
Last race: Hamilton won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sept. 27 for his eighth victory in the first 14 races. Rosberg was second.
Fast facts: Hamilton has a 48-point lead over Rosberg with five races left. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel is third, 59 points behind. Rosberg and Vettel each have three victories this year. ... The Hermann Tilke-designed circuit runs through the Olympic Park.
Next race: U.S. Grand Prix, Oct. 25 Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas.
Online: http://www.formula1.com
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NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING
Next event: AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals, Oct. 16-18, Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas.
Last week: Antron Brown won the Keystone Nationals in Pennsylvania for his third Top Fuel victory in the first three Countdown events and his sixth win of the season. Jack Beckman won in Funny Car, Chris McGaha in Pro Stock, and Andrew Hines in Pro Stock Motorcycle.
Online: http://www.nhra.com
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OTHER RACES
WORLD OF OUTLAWS: Sprint Car: NAPA Super DIRT Week, Saturday, Rolling Wheels Raceway, Elbridge, New York. Super DirtCar: NAPA Super DIRT Week, Sunday, New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, New York. Online: http://www.worldofoutlaws.com
U.S. AUTO RACING CLUB: Silver Crown, NAPA Super DIRT Week, Saturday, New York State Fairgrounds, Syracuse, New York. Online: http://www.usacracing.com