Thursday, April 23, 1998 | 5:59 a.m.
All Times EDT
NASCAR
WINSTON CUP
Diehard 500
Site: Talladega, Ala.
Schedule: Friday, first-round qualifying, 4 p.m. (ESPN2); Saturday, second-round qualifying, 11:45 p.m. (ESPN2, 6 p.m.); Sunday, race, 1 p.m. (ABC; and ESPN2, replay 11 p.m.).
Track: Talladega Superspeedway (tri-oval, 2.66 miles, 33 degrees banking in corners).
Race distance: 500 miles, 188 laps.
Last year: Terry Labonte, helped by a 21-car crash that eliminated a dozen top contenders, won the October race for his lone 1997 victory. The Chevrolet driver passed leader Kenny Schrader two laps from the end and held off brother Bobby Labonte by less than two car-lengths. Mark Martin won the Winston 500 in May, edging Dale Earnhardt by 0.146 seconds.
Last race: Pole-sitter Bobby Hamilton won the rain-delayed Goody's 500 on Monday at Martinsville, Va., leading 378 of the 500 laps in the Kodak Chevrolet. Ted Musgrave finished second, 6.376 seconds back.
Fast facts: Earnhardt has a track-record seven Winston Cup victories, five in the Diehard 500 and two in the Winston 500. He has three top-four finishes in the last four restrictor-plate races; winning the season-opening Daytona 500, and finishing second in the 1997 Winston 500 and fourth in the 1997 Pepsi 500 at Daytona. For safety purposes at Talladega and Daytona, carburetor restrictor plates are used to reduce speeds. ... Matt Kenseth, the Busch series winner at Rockingham, N.C., is attempting to qualify for his first Winston Cup race. He will drive the No. 60 Ford for Jack Roush.
Next race: California 500, May 3, Fontana, Calif.
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BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL
Touchstone Energy 300
Site: Talladega, Ala.
Next race: Touchstone Energy 300, April 25, Talladega, Ala.
Schedule: Thursday, first-round qualifying, 4:30 p.m.; Friday, second-round qualifying, 11:30 a.m.; Saturday, race, 1 p.m. (ABC, tape 4 p.m.).
Track: Talladega Superspeedway (tri-oval, 2.66 miles, 33 degrees banking in corners).
Race distance: 300 miles, 113 laps.
Last year: Mark Martin, driving a Ford, raced to the fifth of his six 1997 victories, holding off Steve Park by .100 seconds. Martin, a two-time Winston Cup winner this year, has a record 32 BGN 32 victories.
Last race: Ed Berrier won the Galaxy Foods 300 at Hickory, N.C., on April 11 for his first victory in 208 Busch starts. The Ford driver led the final 106 laps, finishing 12 car-lengths ahead of Hermie Sadler's Chevrolet.
Fast facts: Series leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the Coca-Cola 300 at Fort Worth, Texas, on April 4 for his first series victory. The Chevy driver has six straight top-10 finishes. He finished second in Las Vegas and Bristol, Tenn., and third in Nashville, Tenn.
Next race: New Hampshire 200, May 9, Loudon, N.H.
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CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS
Craftsman 200
Site: Portland, Ore.
Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 10 p.m.; Saturday, 3:30 p.m. (TBS).
Track: Portland Speedway (oval, 0.5 miles).
Race distance: 100 miles, 200 laps.
Last year: Rich Bickle raced to his first series victory, beating 1996 winner Ron Hornaday by .675 seconds. Bickle drove a Chevrolet owned by Winston Cup driver Darrell Waltrip.
Last week: Hornaday won the Chevy Trucks Desert Star Classic at Phoenix, beating three-time champion Jack Sprague by 1.464 seconds. The Chevrolet driver has a series-record 19 victories.
Fast facts: Hornaday, who also won the season-opening Chevy Trucks Challenge at Homestead, Fla., tops the standings with 502 points, two more than Sprague. ... Winston Cup driver Mike Skinner won the 1995 race.
Next race: NAPACARD 200, May 9, Monroe, Wash.
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CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS
Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix
Site: Nazareth, Pa.
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying, 1:15 p.m. (ESPN2, tape, Sunday 2 a.m.); Sunday, race, 12:30 p.m. (ESPN).
Track: Nazareth Speedway (tri-oval, 1.0 miles).
Race distance: 225 miles, 225 laps.
Last year: Canada's Paul Tracy raced to the first of three straight victories, starting from the pole and holding off 1996 winner Michael Andretti by .527 seconds. Tracy, also the 1994 winner, set a qualifying record with an average speed of 191.174 mph.
Last race: Italy's Alex Zanardi, the defending CART champion, won the Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 5, passing Bryan Herta with two laps left, and holding off Dario Franchitti by 2.917 seconds.
Fast facts: Brazil's Adrian Fernandez, the Budweiser 500 winner, leads the season standings with 41 points. Canada's Greg Moore is second at 37, followed by Zanardi at 34. ... Bobby Rahal, in his final season as a driver, won the 1992 race for the last of his 24 career victories.
Next race: Rio 400, May 10, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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FORMULA ONE
San Marino Grand Prix
Site: Imola, Italy.
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying, 7 a.m. (Speedvision); Sunday, race, 8 a.m. (Fox Sports Net, Speedvision).
Track: Enzo and Dino Ferrari Autodrome (road course, 3.057 miles, 15 turns).
Race distance: 189.509 miles, 62 laps.
Last year: Williams-Renault's Heinz-Harald Frentzen raced to his first Formula One victory, outdueling Ferrari's Michael Schumacher in an unprecedented 1-2 finish for German drivers.
Last race: Schumacher ended McLaren's early season monopoly, beating Finland's Mika Hakkinen by 22.899 seconds in the Argentine Grand Prix on April 12. Schumacher has 28 F-1 victories.
Fast facts: Brazilian star Ayrton Senna was killed in a crash in the 1994 race. ... Hakkinen, who took the season-opening races in Australia and Brazil, leads the standings with 26 points. Schumacher is second with 14, and McLaren's David Coulthard third with 13.
Next race: Spanish Grand Prix, May 10, Barcelona, Spain.
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NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION
Pennzoil Nationals
Site: Dinwiddie, Va.
Schedule: Friday, first-round qualifying, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Saturday, second-round qualifying, noon and 4 p.m. (ESPN2, tape 11 p.m.); Sunday, final eliminations, 11 a.m. (ESPN2, 4 p.m.).
Track: Virginia Motorsports Park.
Last year: Gary Scelzi won the Top Fuel title, beating Cory McClenathan with a run of 4.737 seconds at 282.48 mph. Chuck Etchells took the Funny Car division, and Warren Johnson won the Pro Stock competition.
Last event: McClenathan won the Top Fuel title in the Fram Nationals on Monday at Commerce, Ga. McClenathan, a three-time winner this year in the Joe Gibbs-owned McDonald's Dragster, beat Pat Dakin with a run of 4.756 seconds at 306.12 mph. Cruz Pedregon won his second Funny Car title of the year, and Mark Osborne took the Pro Stock division.
Fast facts: McClenathan leads the Top Fuel standings with 440 points, followed by Jim Head at 357. Pedregon tops the Funny Car race with 420 points, 42 more than John Force.
Next event: Lone Star Nationals, April 30-May 3, Ennis, Texas.
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INDY RACING LEAGUE
Next race: Indianapolis 500, May 24.
Last race: Scott Sharp won the Dura-Lube 200 in Phoenix on March 22, beating Tony Stewart by 2.366 seconds in a Dallara-Aurora. Sharp has two victories in nine IRL starts.
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