NASCAR Goes Dirt Racing.; F1 Debuts
NASCAR CUP SERIES
FOOD CITY DIRT RACE
Site: Bristol, Tennessee
Schedule: Friday, practice, 4:05 p.m. and 6:35 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying races, 6 p.m., 6:15 p.m.; 6:30 p.m., and 6:45 p.m.; Sunday, race, 3:30 p.m.
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
Race distance: 250 laps, 133.25 miles.
Last year: Brad Keselowski won after starting from the pole (on concrete).
Last race: Ryan Blaney negated a dominating performance by Kyle Larson, passing him for the lead with eight laps remaining to win at Atlanta.
Fast facts: Larson has moved from fifth to second in the points race behind Denny Hamlin. ... Larson led 269 of the 325 laps and won the first two stages at Atlanta. The 269 laps led are more than any other driver has led through six races. ... Hamlin, Larson, and Kevin Harvick, who is sixth, all have five top-10 runs this season. ... Bristol is the first of three straight short tracks on the schedule, but the series is off next week.
Next race: April 10, Martinsville, Virginia.
NASCAR XFINITY SERIES
Last race: Justin Allgaier took advantage when dominant Martin Truex Jr. was caught speeding on pit road and outran the 2017 Cup champion to the finish at Atlanta.
Next race: April 9, Martinsville, Virginia.
NASCAR TRUCK SERIES
Pinty's Truck Race on Dirt
Site: Bristol, Tennessee
Schedule: Friday, practice, 3:05 p.m. and 5:35 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying races, 4:30 p.m., 4:45 p.m.; 5 p.m., and 5:15 p.m.; race, 8 p.m.
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway
Race distance: 134 laps, 201 miles.
Last year: Sam Mayer won the lone race in mid-September after starting 17th.
Last race: Kyle Busch won for the 60th time in the series, pulling away over the last 30 laps to win at Atlanta.
Fast facts: John Hunter Nemechek, who drives for Busch, remained the series points leader with his fourth top-10 run in as many races. ... Ben Rhodes, the winner of the season's first two events, and 2020 champion Sheldon Creed are next, with three-time series champion Matt Crafton fourth. ... The series will return for a more traditional race on Bristol's high-banked oval in September.
Next race: April 17, Richmond, Virginia.
FORMULA ONE
Bahrain Grand Prix
Site: Sakhir, Bahrain
Schedule: Friday, practice, 7:30-8:30 a.m. and 11:a.m.-Noon; Saturday, practice, 8 a.m.-9 a.m.; qualifying, 11 a.m.-Noon; Sunday, race, 11 a.m.
Track: Bahrain International Circuit
Race distance: 57 laps, 191.5 miles.
Last year: Lewis Hamilton and Sergio Perez won on back-to-back weekends in November and December.
Last race: Max Verstappen won the 2020 season finale.
Fast facts: Hamilton heads into the F1 season opener, having won four championships in a row, six of the last seven, and seven overall in his career. ... He's won 11 races in each of the last three seasons, giving him 33 victories while starting in 58 of 59 events.
Next race: April 18, Imola, Italy.
INDYCAR
Last race: Scott Dixon clinched his sixth series championship, holding off Josef Newgarden despite Newgarden's Dixon-matching fourth victory of the season.
Next race: April 18, Birmingham, Alabama (season opener)
NHRA DRAG RACING
Last race: Josh Hart won Top Fuel and J.R. Todd in Funny Car at the Gatornationals.
Next event: TBD, Pomona, California; April 16-18, Las Vegas.
WORLD OF OUTLAWS
Next event: March 26, Osborn, Missouri; March 27, Eldon, Missouri.
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