From Associated Press

All Times EDT

NASCAR SPRINT CUP
Centurion Boats At The Glen

Site: Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Schedule: Friday, qualifying (ESPN2, 3 p.m.); Sunday, race (ESPN, 1 p.m.).

Track: Watkins Glen International (permanent road course, 2.45 miles, 11 turns).

Race distance: 220.5 miles, 90 laps.

Last race: Carl Edwards won at Pocono Raceway with a gambling pit strategy that he thought would cost him the victory. Edwards pitted from the lead just before a rain shower that caused a 41-minute red flag and had the driver arguing with crew chief Bob Osborne over the decision. But the strategy worked perfectly as the race wound up going to completion as Edwards stretched his last tank of fuel to earn his fourth victory of the season.

Last year: Tony Stewart took advantage of a stunning mistake by Jeff Gordon with two laps to go to win the Centurion Boats at The Glen. Gordon, who started from the pole and led a race-high 51 laps, seemed to have his 10th road course victory in hand, but he spun out on his own heading into the first turn with Stewart a couple of car-lengths behind. Gordon finished ninth.

Fast facts: There are only five races remaining until the start of the Chase for the championship. Kevin Harvick rebounded from a first-lap crash to finish fourth at Pocono and jumped from 13th to 11th, switching places with former Cup champion Matt Kenseth, who finished 11th. The top 12 drivers are eligible for the 10-race Chase. … Gordon and Stewart have combined for eight wins, 11 top-five finishes and 15 top-10 placings at Watkins Glen. Both drivers are winless this season. … Kyle Busch will be trying to become the first driver to win three national-series road-course races in the same season. He won the Cup’s only other road-course race at Infineon Raceway on June 22 after taking the Nationwide event at Mexico City in April. … Watkins Glen is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.

Next race: 3M Performance 400, Aug. 17, Brooklyn, Mich.
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NASCAR NATIONWIDE
Zippo 200

Site: Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (ESPN2, 10 a.m.), race (ABC, 2:30 p.m.).

Track: Watkins Glen International (permanent road course, 2.45 miles, 11 turns).

Race distance: 200.9 miles, 82 laps.

Last race: Canadian road-racer Ron Fellows splashed his way to victory Saturday in the first NASCAR points event run on grooved rain tires, winning when heavy rain and poor visibility forced officials to end the race 26 laps early.

Last year: Kevin Harvick led 37 laps and beat Jeff Burton by 3.5 seconds in the Zippo 200.

Fast facts: Nine of the last 10 winners of this event started in the top 10 and 12 of 15 overall. … Harvick returns to the series following a three-race hiatus. He had two road-course victories last year, including the inaugural Montreal event. … Joey Logano finished 17th in his first NASCAR road-course start last weekend after crashing during the final caution period. He had won at Kentucky Speedway in June in his third Nationwide start and added second-place finishes at Milwaukee and Gateway. … Points leader Clint Bowyer finished ninth at Montreal and has a 168-point lead over fellow Cup driver Carl Edwards. … Fellows has won this race three times, including two in a row from 2000-01. … Chevrolets have won 10 of the 14 Nationwide events at Watkins Glen.

Next race: Carfax 250, Aug. 16, Brooklyn, Mich.

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NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS
Toyota Tundra 200

Site: Lebanon, Tenn.

Schedule: Saturday, qualifying, 2:45 p.m., race (Speed Channel, 7 p.m.).

Track: Nashville Superspeedway (tri-oval 1.33 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 200 miles, 150 laps.

Last race: Points leader Johnny Benson survived a late flurry of cautions and held off Ron Hornaday Jr. in a two-lap shootout at the finish to win the Power Stroke Diesel 200 on July 25. It was his first win at O’Reilly Raceway Park’s .686-mile oval and second straight overall.

Last year: Travis Kvapil led 47 of the final 48 laps to win the Toyota Tundra 200. Kvapil beat Ron Hornaday Jr. by 2.403 seconds.

Fast facts: Benson will again try to win three consecutive races. He posted consecutive victories in each of the last two years, but failed to complete the three-peat. Mike Skinner did it in 2007 and is one of only five drivers in truck history to accomplish the feat. … Skinner won the pole in the 2005 Nashville event en route to a fourth-place finish, led a race-high 50 laps in 2006 and placed third last year. … Ted Musgrave had his string of six straight top-5 finishes at the Superspeedway snapped last year, when he placed eighth. … Jimmie Johnson announced he will make his truck debut when the series heads to Bristol on Aug. 20.

Next race: O’Reilly 200, Aug. 20, Bristol, Tenn.

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INDY RACING LEAGUE
Meijer 300

Site: Sparta, Ky.

Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 6:30 p.m.; Saturday, race (ESPN2, 6:30 p.m.).
Track: Kentucky Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns).
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.
Last race: Scott Dixon inherited the lead when Tony Kanaan pitted on lap 62 and led the rest of the way to take the Grand Prix of Edmonton on July 26. Dixon has five wins this season and a 65-point lead over Helio Castroneves in the standings with four races remaining.

Last year: Tony Kanaan blistered the field during the Meijer Indy 300, easily passing A.J. Foyt IV with nine laps remaining for his second straight win.

Fast facts: The series won’t return to Nashville Superspeedway after efforts to negotiate an agreement for a 2009 race failed. The Edmonton Sun recently reported that Toronto would replace the Nashville race in an 18-race schedule in 2009. … Dixon was the runner-up in last year’s race. … Castroneves has no wins but 11 top-five finishes in 13 races this season. … Scott Sharp snapped a 40-race winless skid by taking the 2005 event. Danica Patrick won the pole that year, but finished 16th.

Next race: Grand Prix of Sonoma (Calif.), Aug. 24

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NHRA
Lucas Oil Nationals

Site: Brainerd, Minn.

Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 3:45 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 12:15 p.m. (ESPN2, 8:30 p.m.; Sunday, eliminations, Noon (ESPN2, 7 p.m., tape). 

Track: Brainerd International Raceway.

Last event: Tony Schumacher completed a sweep of the three-race western swing of the NHRA season on July 27, winning the Top Fuel competition at the Fram-Autolite Nationals at Sonoma, Calif. Schumacher, who also won in Colorado and Washington, has eight victories overall this season. The other winners were Robert Hight (Funny Car), Dave Connolly (Pro Stock) and Matt Guidera (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

Last year: John Force won his 125th Funny Car event by beating Kenny Bernstein by about 2 feet in a meeting of drag-racing legends. Bernstein’s son, Brandon, beat Larry Dixon in the Top Fuel final. In Pro Stock, Jeg Coughlin became just the 11th racer in NHRA’s 56-year history with 50 national wins when he beat Greg Anderson. Andrew Hines beat teammate Eddie Krawiec in an all-Harley-Davidson final.

Fast facts: Schumacher clinched the No. 1 seed in Top Fuel and the 20-point bonus that comes with it when the points reset after the final regular season race. … Anderson was the last driver to sweep the “Western Swing” events, doing it in 2004. … Connolly moved past Warren Johnson and into the top 10 in the standings. The top-10 drivers qualify for the six-race playoff. … Hight earned his first win since the season-opening event in Pomona, Calif. … Antron Brown became the second Top Fuel driver to seal a berth in the Countdown to the Championship with his first-round win at Sonoma.

Next event: Toyo Tires Nationals, Aug. 17, Reading, Pa.

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FORMULA ONE

Last race: McLaren driver Heikki Kovalainen has won his first F1 race after Felipe Massa pulled out of the Hungarian Grand Prix with three laps to go. Massa overtook both Kovalainen and pole sitter Lewis Hamilton at the start and was heading for victory when Hamilton dropped out of contention with a tire puncture. But Massa’s Ferrari engine overheated toward the end and Kovalainen took an 11-second victory over Timo Glock of Toyota.

Next race: Mediterranean Grand Prix, Aug. 24, Valencia, Spain

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OTHER RACES
NASCAR Developmental Series

WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR: Friday, Stafford Motor Speedway, Stafford, Conn.
CAMPING WORLD SERIES EAST: Saturday, Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn.
CANADIAN TIRE SERIES: Saturday, Mosport Speedway, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada