Times Eastern

INDIANAPOLIS 500

Site: Indianapolis.

Schedule: Friday, practice, Firestone Freedom 100 Indy Lights, pit stop competition (Versus, 11 a.m.-4 p.m.); Sunday, race, 1 p.m (ABC, noon-4:30 p.m.).

Track: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (oval, 2.5 miles).

Race distance: 500 miles, 200 laps.

Last year: New Zealand's Scott Dixon gave owner Chip Ganassi his third Indy 500 victory, holding off Vitor Meira and Marco Andretti. Dixon started from the pole and led 115 laps in his first Indianapolis win.

Last race: Dixon raced to his 17th series victory, beating Helio Castroneves by 0.71 seconds at Kansas Speedway on April 26.

Fast facts: Castroneves, the 2000 and 2001 winner, took the pole with a four-lap average of 224.864 mph. Acquitted of tax evasion charges in April, the Brazilian is driving the No. 3 car for 14-time Indy winner Roger Penske. Penske teammate Ryan Briscoe qualified second at 224.083, and 2007 winner Dario Franchitti (224.010) locked up the third front-row position for Ganassi. ... Dan Wheldon, the 2005 winner for Andretti Green, qualified 18th for Panther Racing — second last year with Meira. Wheldon spent the last three years with Ganassi. ... Danica Patrick has three top-10 finishes in four Indy starts. She qualified 10th for Andretti Green. ... Sarah Fisher will start 21st. ... Conquest Racing owner Eric Bachelart made a post-qualifying driver change, replacing Bruno Junqueira with Alex Tagliani in the No. 36. ... Canadian Paul Tracy is making his first Indy start since finishing second in 2002.

Next race: A.J. Foyt Indy 225, May 31, The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.

On the Net: http://www.indycar.com

NASCAR
SPRINT CUP
Coca-Cola 600

Site: Concord, N.C.

Schedule: Thursday, practice (Speed, 3-4:30 p.m.), qualifying (Speed, 7-9:30 p.m.); Saturday, practice (Speed, 2:30-3:30 p.m.); Sunday, race, 5:45 p.m. (Fox, 5-10:30 p.m.).

Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles).

Race distance: 600 miles, 400 laps.

Last year: Kasey Kahne snapped a 52-race winless streak in points events, taking advantage of Tony Stewart's late flat tire. Kahne won the non-points All-Star race the previous week at Lowe's.

Last week: Stewart won for the first time as a team owner, breaking through for a $1 million payday in the All-Star race at Lowe's. Stewart passed Matt Kenseth with two laps to go in a thrilling final 10-lap shootout.

Fast facts: Jeff Gordon leads the season standings with 1,601 points, followed by Stewart (1,572), Kurt Busch (1,546) and three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson (1,465). ... NASCAR's longest race is in its 50th season. Joe Lee Johnson won the first event in 1960, also the first race at the 1.5-mile track. ... Darrell Waltrip won the race a record five times. ... On May 9 in the last points race, 50-year-old Mark Martin won for the second time in the last four events, outlasting Hendrick teammate Johnson at Darlington. ... Johnson won five times in a six-race stretch at Lowe's, taking the 2003 Coca-Cola 600 and sweeping the spring and fall races in 2004 and 2005 in his Lowe's-sponsored Chevy. ... Gordon won the 1994 race for the first of his 82 Cup victories. He also won in 1997 and 1998, and has two Charlotte fall victories.

Next race: Dover 400, May 31, Dover International Speedway, Dover, Del.

On the Net: http://www.nascar.com

NATIONWIDE
CARQUEST Auto Parts 300

Site: Concord, N.C.

Schedule: Thursday, practice (Speed, 1-2:30 p.m.), Saturday, qualifying (Speed, 3:30-5:30 p.m.); Saturday, race, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2, 7-10:30 p.m.).

Track: Lowe's Motor Speedway (quad-oval, 1.5 miles).

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

Last year: Kyle Busch won in a Toyota fielded by Braun Racing, driving the final 68 laps on a tank of gas. Denny Hamlin was second. Busch also won in October at Lowe's.

Last race: Matt Kenseth won at Darlington Raceway on May 8 after a flat tire forced leader Busch to pit under caution with two laps left.

Fast facts: Busch, a three-time winner this year, leads the series standings with 1,539 points, followed by Carl Edwards (1,502), Jason Leffler (1,386), Joey Logano (1,340) and Brad Keselowski (1,331). ... Jeff Burton is making his 300 Nationwide Series start. He has 27 victories — three at Lowe's.

Next race: HELUVA GOOD! 200, May 30, Dover International Speedway, Dover, Del.

On the Net: http://www.nascar.com

CAMPING WORLD TRUCKS

Next race: AAA Insurance 200, May 29, Dover International Speedway, Dover, Del.

Last week: Ron Hornaday Jr. raced to his first victory of the season and the 40th of his career, holding off Kyle Busch at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

On the Net: http://www.nascar.com

FORMULA ONE
Monaco Grand Prix

Site: Monte Carlo, Monaco.

Schedule: Thursday, practice; Saturday, practice (Speed, 3-4:30 a.m.), practice, qualifying (Speed, 8-9:30 a.m.); Sunday, race, 8 a.m. (Speed, 7:30-10 a.m., 5:30-8:30 p.m.).

Track: Monte Carlo street circuit (19-turns, 2.075 miles).

Race distance: 161.9 miles, 78 laps.

Last year: McLaren's Lewis Hamilton won on the rain-slick street circuit, beating BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica by 3 seconds in a race shortened to 76 laps.

Last race: Brawn GP's Jenson Button won for the fourth time in five races this season, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello on May 10 in the Spanish Grand Prix.

Fast facts: A French court dismissed Ferrari's bid to stop Formula One's budget cap plans. Ferrari was seeking a court injunction against governing body FIA's plans to introduce a voluntary $60 million budget cap starting next season. Teams that accept the cap will be allowed to make more technical changes to their cars than those who don't. Ferrari, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull and Toro Rosso have threatened to pull out of next year's championship if the cap is implemented. ... Ferrari has won only five of the last 31 races at Monaco and has been shut out since Michael Schumacher's 2001 victory. ... Button leads the season standings with 41 points, followed by Barrichello (27) and Chinese GP winner Sebastian Vettel (23).

Next race: Turkish Grand Prix, June 7, Istanbul Speed Park, Istanbul.

On the Net: http://www.formula1.com

NHRA FULL THROTTLE

Next event: O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals, May 29-31, Heartland Park Topeka, Topeka, Kan.

Last week: Tony Schumacher raced to his third Top Fuel victory of the season, beating Doug Kalitta in the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway. Del Worsham (Funny Car) and Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) also won.

On the Net: http://www.nhra.com