This week’s races

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 10 a.m.

NASCAR WINSTON CUP

EA Sports 500

Site: Talladega, Ala.

Schedule: Today, qualifying (CNN/SI, 1 p.m.); Sunday, race (NBC, 10 a.m.)

Track: Talladega Superspeedway (tri-oval, 2.66 miles, 33 degrees banking in turns).

Race distance: 500.08 miles, 188 laps.

Last race: Ricky Craven held off Dale Jarrett in a final-lap duel and won the Old Dominion 500 in Martinsville, Va., for his first victory in 174 starts in the Winston Cup series. Craven pulled away from Jarrett on a restart with 13 laps to go, opening a wide lead. Craven's Ford beat Jarrett's across the line by .141 seconds, giving owner Cal Wells his first victory in NASCAR's premier series.

Last year: The late Dale Earnhardt raced from 18th to first in four laps, then held off Kenny Wallace and Joe Nemechek for the last of his 76 career victories. Earnhardt beat Wallace by about two car-lengths, earning his record 10th Talladega victory.

Fast Facts: Jeff Gordon added 97 points to his lead in Martinsville and is 334 ahead of Ricky Rudd with six races remaining. ... Craven was the 16th driver to win this year, a modern record. He was also the fourth first-time winner, joining Elliott Sadler, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch. ... There were 75 lead changes during the 1984 race.

Next race: Phoenix 500, Oct. 28, Avondale, Ariz.

Driver Standings: 1. Jeff Gordon, 4,366. 2. Ricky Rudd, 4,032. 3. Sterling Marlin, 3,923. 4. Dale Jarrett, 3,905. 5. Tony Stewart, 3,873. 6. Rusty Wallace, 3,789. 7. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 3,740. 8. Kevin Harvick, 3,739. 9. Bobby Labonte, 3,697. 10. Jeff Burton, 3,519. Also, 25. Kurt Busch, 2,663.

NATIONAL HOT ROD ASSOCIATION

O'Reilly Fall Nationals

Site: Ennis, Texas.

Schedule: Today, qualifying, 12:15 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 10 a.m. (ESPN2, Sunday, 9 a.m., tape); Sunday, eliminations, 8:30 a.m. (ESPN, 1 p.m.)

Track: Texas Motorplex.

Last event: John Force inched closer to his 100th career win by beating Whit Bazemore at the Pep Boys NHRA Nationals for his 98th Funny Car victory. Gary Scelzi (Top Fuel), Troy Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Angelle Savoie (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won.

Last year: Scelzi clinched his third NHRA Top Fuel championship, and Bob Panella Jr. earned his second career NHRA Pro Stock Truck victory. Steve Johns, Cory McClenathan, Force and Kurt Johnson also were winners.

Fast facts: There are two events remaining after this week. ... The track opened in 1986. ... McClenathan recorded drag racing's first 320 mph run in 1997. ... Last year's qualifying was rained out and the running order was determined by points.

Next event: ACDelco Nationals, Oct. 28, Las Vegas.

Driver standings: Top Fuel -- 1. Kenny Bernstein, 1,812. 2. Larry Dixon, 1,754. 3. Gary Scelzi, 1,430. 4. Doug Kalitta, 1,394. 5. Mike Dunn, 1,387. 6. Darrell Russell, 1,325. 7. Doug Herbert, 1,088. 8. Tony Schumacher, 1,034. 9. David Grubnic, 843. 10. Rhonda Hartman-Smith, 727. Funny Car -- 1. John Force, 1,819. 2. Whit Bazemore, 1,534. 3. Del Worsham, 1,273. 4. Ron Capps, 1,268. 5. Tony Pedregon, 1,259. 6. Bruce Sarver, 1,147. 7. Frank Pedregon, 1,053. 8. Tommy Johnson Jr., 985. 9. Dean Skuza, 967. 10. Gary Densham, 951. Pro Stock -- 1. Warren Johnson, 1,420. 2. Jim Yates, 1,286. 3, Mike Edwards, 1,170. 4. Jeg Coughlin, 1,162. 5. Bruce Allen, 1,155. 6. Mark Osborne, 1,138. 7. Kurt Johnson, 1,096. 8. Mark Pawuk, 1,067. 9. Ron Krisher, 1,062. 10. Brad Jeter, 888. Pro Stock Motorcycle -- 1. Angelle Savoie, 1,136. 2. Antron Brown, 1,047. 3. Matt Hines, 872. 4. Craig Treble, 821. 5. GT Tonglet, 711. 6. Shawn Gann, 637. 7. Reggie Showers, 633. 8. Geno Scali, 590. 9. Steve Johnson,! 566. 10. Mike Berry, 426. Pro Stock Truck -- 1. Bob Panella Jr, 984. 2. Randy Daniels, 919. 3. Greg Stanfield, 911. 4. Jeff Gracia, 712. 5. Todd Patterson, 662. 6. Taylor Lastor, 630. 7. Mike Coughlin, 615. 8. Don Smith, 590. 9. Scott Perin, 573. 10. Victor Cagnazzi, 485.

BUSCH

Last race: Randy Lajoie won the Sam's Town 250 in Millington, Tenn., after a one-day rain delay, slipping under leaders Jay Sauter and Jeff Green as they went high toward the wall with 1 1/4 laps to go. Lajoie watched Sauter and Green vie for first place and waited for them to make contact in Turn 4. As their cars went up the bank, Lajoie went under them and held off Green for the finish.

Next race: Outback Steakhouse 200, Oct. 27, Avondale, Ariz.

Driver standings: 1. Kevin Harvick, 4,431. 2. Jeff Green, 4,228. 3. Jason Keller, 4,221. 4. Greg Biffle, 4,032. 5. Elton Sawyer, 3,737. 6. Tony Raines, 3,642. 7. Mike McLaughlin, 3,600. 8. Jimmie Johnson, 3,565. 9. Chad Little, 3,523. 10. Kenny Wallace, 3,397.

CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS

Last race: Ted Musgrave, whose crew elected to change an engine and start at the rear of the field, passed Jack Sprague with 17 laps remaining and went on to win the Orleans 350 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Musgrave battled from the 34th position at the start to reach the top 10 by the 20th lap. He dived low under Sprague's truck in Turn 2 to take the lead for good on the 130th lap. Sprague finished 0.906 seconds - about three truck-lengths -- behind Musgrave.

Next race: Chevy Silverado 150, Oct. 26, Avondale, Ariz.

Driver standings: 1. Jack Sprague, 3,420. 2. Joe Ruttman, 3,323. 3. Scott Riggs, 3,312. 4. Travis Kvapil, 3,263. 5. Ted Musgrave, 3,262. 6. Ricky Hendrick, 3,199. 7. Dennis Setzer, 3,070. 8. Terry Cook, 3,031. 9. Rick Crawford, 2,970. 10. Coy Gibbs, 2,684. Also, 31. Brendan Gaughan, 832. 40. Kyle Busch, 642.

CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS

Last race: A perfect fuel strategy by Team Rahal gave Max Papis a victory in the Honda Grand Prix in Monterey, Calif. Papis, earning his second victory of the season and third of his career, started 25th in the 26-car field. He became the first winner on the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca Raceway road course to start farther back than sixth. While the rest of the contenders made two pit stops, Papis came in five times as he worked his way toward the front.

Next race: Honda Indy 300, Oct. 28, Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Driver standings: 1. Gil de Ferran, 179. 2. Kenny Brack, 153. 3. Helio Castroneves, 141. 4. Michael Andretti, 125. 5. Dario Franchitti, 105. 6. Cristiano da Matta, 100. 7. Scott Dixon, 98. 8. Max Papis, 86. 9. Patrick Carpentier, 86. 10. Tony Kanaan, 83. Also, 11. Paul Tracy, 76. 13. Jimmy Vasser, 68. 17. Alex Tagliani, 51.

FORMULA ONE

Last race: Michael Schumacher came up with a perfect ending to a championship season, winning the Japan Grand Prix for his record-tying ninth victory of 2001. The German started from the pole in his Ferrari, opened a three-second lead on the first lap, and was in control the rest of the way. The victory allowed Schumacher to pass Alain Prost's record of 798.5 career championships points. Schumacher has won nine races in a season three times.

Driver standings: 1. Michael Schumacher, 123. 2. David Coulthard, 65. 3. Rubens Barrichello, 56. 4. Ralf Schumacher, 49. 5. Mika Hakkinen, 37. 6. Juan Pablo Montoya, 31. 7. Nick Heidfeld, 13. 8. Jacques Villeneuve, 12. 9. Jarno Trulli, 9. 10. Kimi Raikkonen, 9

INDY RACING LEAGUE

Last race: Sam Hornish Jr. overtook Scott Sharp just a few feet from the finish line to cap his championship season with a win at the Chevy 500 on Oct. 6, in the closest 1-2-3 finish in IRL history. Hornish led 114 of 200 laps. Hornish won by .0188 seconds. Robbie Buhl, who led 31 laps, was just .0468 seconds, or about a half-car-length, behind in third.

Final driver standings: 1. Sam Hornish Jr., 503. 2. Buddy Lazier, 398. 3. Scott Sharp, 355. 4. Billy Boat, 313. 5. Eliseo Salazar, 308. 6. Felipe Giaffone, 304. 7. Al Unser Jr., 287. 8. Eddie Cheever, 261. 9. Buzz Calkins, 242. 10. Airton Dare, 239. 11. Jeff Ward, 238. 12. Robbie Buhl, 237. 13. Shigeaki Hattori, 215. 14. Mark Dismore, 205. 15. Donnie Beechler, 204. 16. Robby McGehee, 196. 17. Jaques Lazier, 195. 18. Greg Ray, 169. 19. Sarah Fisher, 188. 20. Didier Andre, 188. 21. Billy Roe, 101. 22. Jeret Schroeder, 77. 23. Jon Herb, 70. 24. Helio Castroneves, 64. 25. Rick Treadway, 59. 26. Davey Hamilton, 54. 27. Richie Hearn, 50. 28. Gil de Ferran, 46. 29. Laurent Redon, 45. 30. Brandon Erwin, 40.