Auto Racing Glance

Wednesday, May 6, 1998 | 10:41 a.m.

CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS

Rio 400

Site: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Schedule: Saturday, qualifying, 11:45 a.m.; Sunday, race, noon (ABC, tape 3:30 p.m.).

Track: Emerson Fittipaldi Speedway at Nelson Piquet International Raceway (oval, 1.864 miles).

Race distance: 248 miles, 133 laps.

Last year: Canada's Paul Tracy raced to the second of three straight victories, taking the lead with two laps left when Bobby Rahal ran out of fuel. Tracy, driving a Penske-Mercedes, beat Greg Moore by 1.8 seconds.

Last race: Jimmy Vasser won the Bosch Grand Prix on April 27 at Nazareth, Pa., beating Target Chip Ganassi teammate Alex Zanardi by 1.4 seconds. Moore finished third to take the lead in the season standings.

Fast facts: Al Unser Jr. is winless in 38 races, the longest drought of his career. He has 31 career victories. ... Firestone, which provided tires for 13 of 17 winners last year, had tires on nine of the top 10 cars in the Bosch Grand Prix. Firestone has three victories in four races this year.

Next race: Motorola 300, May 23, Madison, Ill.

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FORMULA ONE

Spanish Grand Prix

Site: Barcelona, Spain.

Schedule: Saturday, qualifying, 7 a.m. (Speedvision); Sunday, race, 8 a.m. (Speedvision, Fox Sports Net).

Track: Circuit de Catalunya (road course, 2.937 miles).

Race distance: 188.05 miles, 64 laps.

Last year: Canada's Jacques Villeneuve raced to the third of seven 1997 victories, beating France's Olivier Panis by 5.9 seconds. Villeneuve led nearly the entire race in his Williams-Renault.

Last race: Scotland's David Coulthard led from start to finish in the San Marino Grand Prix on April 26, giving McLaren its third victory in four races this year. Germany's Michael Schumacher was second in a Ferrari.

Fast facts: Finland's Mika Hakkinen, the McLaren driver who took the season-opening races in Australia and Brazil, leads Coulthard 26-23 in the season standings. ... Schumacher won the 1995 and 1996 races. ... Villeneuve was fourth in the San Marino Grand Prix, his best finish of the year.

Next race: Monaco Grand Prix, May 24, Monte Carlo.

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NASCAR

BUSCH GRAND NATIONAL

Gumout Long Life Formula 200

Site: Loudon, N.H.

Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 2 p.m.; Saturday, race, 12:10 p.m. (TNN).

Track: New Hampshire International Speedway (oval, 1.058 miles, 12 degrees banking in corners).

Race distance: 211.6 miles, 200 laps.

Last year: Mike McLaughlin drove his Chevrolet past Jeff Fuller with two laps left and held off Steve Park by .106 seconds.

Last race: Joe Nemechek won the Touchstone Energy 300 on April 25 at Talladega, Ala., avoiding four multicar crashes and holding off Phil Parsons by .171 seconds. NASCAR fined Nemechek and crew chief Brian Pattie $5,000 apiece for using illegal shock absorbers.

Fast facts: McLaughlin also has NASCAR Modified and Busch North victories at NHIS. He won the Bellsouth Mobility-Opryland 320 on March 15 at Nashville, Tenn. ... Matt Kenseth tops the standings with 1,249 points, followed by McLaughlin (1,223) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (1,205). Randy LaJoie, the 1996 and 1997 champion, is seventh. He has not led a lap this season.

Next race: First Union 200, May 17, Nazareth, Pa.

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CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS

NAPACARD 200

Site: Monroe, Wash.

Schedule: Friday, qualifying, 10:30 p.m.; Saturday, race, 3:30 p.m. (TBS).

Track: Evergreen Speedway (oval, 0.646 miles, 8 degrees banking in corners).

Race distance: 131.138 miles, 203 laps.

Last year: Rich Bickle raced to his second victory in eight days, holding off Jack Sprague by 0.319 seconds. Bickle started his Chevrolet from the pole, just as he did a week earlier in Portland, Ore.

Last race: Stacy Compton gave Ford its first short-track victory since late in the 1996 season, winning the Craftsman 200 on April 25 at Portland. Compton, a first-time series winner, led the final 197 of 200 laps en route to a 1.063-second victory over Randy Tolsma.

Fast facts: Sprague tops the season standings with 660 points, eight more than Ron Hornaday. Sprague has two runner-up finishes and was fourth in his other two starts. Hornaday won the season-opening Chevy Trucks Challenge and the Chevy Trucks Desert Star Classic.

Next race: Yellow Freight 200, May 23, Odessa, Mo.

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WINSTON CUP

Next race: Coca-Cola 600, May 24, Concord, N.C.

Last week: Mark Martin held off series points leader Jeremy Mayfield by 1.287 seconds in the California 500 - the Ford star's third victory this year. Martin, also the winner at Las Vegas and Fort Worth, Texas, has 25 career Winston Cup victories.

Fast Facts: The Coca-Cola 600 - one of Winston Cup's five majors - will cap the May Madness that begins at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 16 with The Winston - NASCAR's traditional non-points all-star race.

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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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NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION

Next event: Mopar Parts Nationals, May 14-17, Englishtown, N.J.

Last week: Joe Amato won the Top Fuel title in the Lone Star Nationals at Ennis, Texas, beating Doug Kalitta in the final with a quarter-mile run of 4.695 seconds at 313.58 mph. Ron Capps took the Funny Car title, and Mike Edwards won the Pro Stock competition.