This week in Motor Sports

Friday, April 2, 2004 | 9:22 a.m.

Site: Las Vegas

Schedule: Today, qualifying, 2 p.m.; Saturday, qualifying, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN2, 7 p.m., tape); Sunday, eliminations, 10 a.m. (ESPN2, 8 p.m., tape)

Track: The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway

Last event: Andrew Hines became the first driver to earn an NHRA victory on a Harley-Davidson, winning the Pro Stock Bike final at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., on March 21. Tony Schumacher earned his second win of the season in the Top Fuel, Del Worsham took the Funny Car final and Greg Anderson won Pro Stock.

Last year: Larry Dixon ran his winning streak at Las Vegas to three after taking Top Fuel. Tony Pedregon (Funny Car) and Greg Anderson (Pro Stock) also won.

Fast facts: Kenny and Brandon Bernstein became the first father-son combination to win at the same event in 2001. Kenny recorded his first Top Fuel victory in over a year while Brandon took the Top Alcohol Dragster category. ... The track features luxury suites above the grandstand covering the quarter-mile, the first such facility in drag racing. ... This is the fourth year of the event.

Next event: O'Reilly Spring Nationals, April 18, Houston

Driver standings: Top Fuel -- 1. Tony Schumacher, 310. 2. Doug Kalitta, 244. 3. Brandon Bernstein, 225. 4. David Grubnic, 210 . 5. Darrell Russell, 206. Funny Car -- 1. Del Worsham, 298. 2. John Force, 188. 3. Gary Densham, 185. 4. Tim Wilkerson, 167. 5. Gary Scelzi, 164. Pro Stock -- 1. Greg Anderson, 314. 2. Kurt Johnson, 244. 3. Warren Johnson, 201. 4. Jeg Coughlin, 185. (tie) Larry Morgan, 185. Pro Stock Bike -- 1. Andrew Hines, 118. 2. GT Tonglet, 96. 3. Geno Scali, 77. 4. Karen Stoffer, 75. 5. Antron Brown, 54.

On the Net: www.nhra.com

Site: Fort Worth, Texas

Schedule: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 1:10 p.m.); Sunday, race (Fox, 10 a.m.)

Track: Texas Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns)

Race distance: 500 miles, 334 laps

Last race: Kurt Busch won his third consecutive race at Bristol and fourth in the last five tries at the track after taking the Food City 500. Busch angered his pit crew by passing up a tire change with the other leaders under caution 119 laps from the end of the 500-lap race, but still managed to hold off Rusty Wallace.

Last year: Ryan Newman passed Dale Earnhardt Jr. with 10 laps to go and went on to win the Samsung/RadioShack 500 to become the seventh different winner in as many races at Texas Motor Speedway. Earnhardt edged Jeff Gordon in a photo finish for second.

Fast facts: Wallace's winless drought reached 104 races despite leading 100 laps at Bristol. ... Jamie McMurray was fined $10,000 by NASCAR on Tuesday and placed on probation until the end of August for spinning out Matt Kenseth at Bristol. ... Jimmy Spencer is expected to replace Kevin Lepage in the No. 4 Morgan-McClure Motorsports Chevrolet this weekend. ... The track was repaved during fall 2001 in an attempt to obtain faster lap times.

Next race: Advance Auto Parts 500, April 18, Martinsville, Va.

Driver standings: 1, Matt Kenseth, 898. 2, Kurt Busch, 877. 3, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 857. 4, Tony Stewart, 804. 5, Ryan Newman, 788. 6, Jimmie Johnson, 785. 7, Kevin Harvick, 773. 8, Jeremy Mayfield, 764. 9, Elliott Sadler, 757. 10, Sterling Marlin, 727.

On the Net: www.nascar.com

Site: Fort Worth, Texas

Schedule: Qualifying was Thursday; Saturday, race (Fox, 11 a.m.)

Track: Texas Motor Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles, 24 degrees banking in turns)

Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps

Last race: Martin Truex Jr. pulled away after a restart nine laps from the finish and won the Sharpie Professional 250 at Bristol for his first Busch victory.

Last year: Joe Nemechek won the O'Reilly 300, crossing the finish line under caution in an event marred by two red flags and eight other caution periods. Nemechek was in front on the restart on the 196th of 200 laps after the second red flag, brought out by a chain-reaction accident that involved 15 cars and caused a 22-minute stoppage.

Fast facts: Truex is the first Busch regular to win a race this year. The previous events were won by Nextel Cup stars Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jamie McMurray, Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle. ... Nemechek leads all drivers with four top-five finishes at the track. ... Earnhardt picked up his first Busch win at the 1998 event. ... No driver has won from the pole.

Next race: Pepsi 300, April 10, Nashville, Tenn.

Driver standings: 1. Kevin Harvick, 790. 2. David Green, 749. 3. Martin Truex Jr., 740. 4. Michael Waltrip, 724. 5. Greg Biffle, 678. 6. Jason Keller, 673. 7. Robby Gordon, 637. (tie) Kyle Busch, 637. 9. David Stremme, 634. 10. Johnny Sauter, 628.

On the Net: www.nascar.com

Site: Bahrain

Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 4 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 4 a.m.)

Track: Bahrain International Circuit (road course, 3.37 miles, 12 turns)

Race distance: 191.87 miles, 57 laps

Last race: Michael Schumacher won his second consecutive race of the season by taking the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 21. It was the 72nd career victory for the six-time world champion, who finished 5.0 seconds ahead of Juan-Pablo Montoya in a Williams-BMW on the 3.3445-mile Sepang International Circuit.

Last year: Inaugural race

Fast facts: The Bahrain Grand Prix is the first of two new races on the 2004 schedule. ... The track opened on March 17. ... Britain's Jenson Button recorded his first podium finish in 68 races at Malaysia. ... Schumacher recorded his 57th career pole at Malaysia.

Next race: San Marino Grand Prix, April 25, Imola, Italy

Driver standings: 1. Michael Schumacher, Germany, Ferrari, 20. 2. Rubens Barrichello, Brazil, Ferrari, 13. 3. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia, Williams, 12. 4. Jenson Button, Britain, BAR-Honda, 9. 5. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 8. 6. Jarno Trulli, Italy, Renault, 6. 7. Ralf Schumacher, Germany, Williams, 5. 8. David Coulthard, Britain, McLaren, 4. 9. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Sauber, 1.

On the Net: www.formula1.com

Last race: Bobby Hamilton passed Mike Skinner in the final turn, then held on when they bumped coming to the finish line to win the inaugural EasyCare 200 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 13.

Next race: Kroger 250, April 17, Martinsville, Va.

Driver standings: 1. Travis Kvapil, 340. 2. Carl Edwards, 336. 3. Bobby Hamilton, 320. 4. David Reutimann, 313. 5. Dennis Setzer, 285. 6. Shane Hmiel, 271. 7. Terry Cook, 269. 8. Mike Skinner, 264. 9. Chad Chaffin, 262. 10. Matt Crafton, 261.

On the Net: www.nascar.com

Last race: Tony Kanaan repeated as Phoenix champion, dominating the Copper World Indy 200 on March 21 to win the fastest Indy car race at Phoenix International Raceway since 1995.

Next race: Indy Japan 300, April 17, Twin Ring Motegi

Driver standings: 1. Tony Kanaan, 77. 2. Helio Castroneves, 71. 3. Dan Wheldon, 70. 4. Sam Hornish Jr., 65. 5. Darren Manning, 58. 6. Tora Takagi, 56. 7. Scott Dixon, 52. 8. Buddy Rice, 48. 9. Alex Barron, 46. 10. Tomas Scheckter, 44.

On the Net: www.indyracingleague.com