Races to watch this weekend:
NASCAR
Sprint Cup
Geico 400
Site: Joliet, Illinois
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying; Sunday, race, 5 p.m.
Track: Chicagoland Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles).
Race distance: 400.5 miles, 267 laps.
Last year: Tony Stewart won the rain-delayed Chase opener en route to his third season title, conserving fuel and holding off Kevin Harvick. Winless in the regular season, Stewart finished with a Chase-record five victories.
Last week: Clint Bowyer won at Richmond, and Jeff Gordon rallied to finish second to take the final spot in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship.
Fast facts: Denny Hamlin, the series leader with four victories, tops the reset Chase standings - three points ahead of Jimmie Johnson, Stewart. Brad Keselowski. Greg Biffle and Bowyer are six points behind, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kenseth are nine points back, and Harvick, Martin Truex Jr., Kasey Kahne and Gordon are 12 points behind. ... Stewart also won at the track in 2004 and 2007. ...
Danica Patrick is making her sixth series start.
Next race: Sylvania 300, Sept. 23, New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, New Hampshire
Online: www.nascar.com
NATIONWIDE
Dollar General 300
Site: Joliet, Illinois
Schedule: Saturday, qualifying (34: 30 p.m.), race, 6: 30 p.m.
Track: Chicagoland Speedway (oval, 1.5 miles).
Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.
Last year: Brad Keselowski raced to the third of his five 2011 victories.
Last week: Kevin Harvick won at Richmond to snap a 30-race winless streak. The Cup driver has 38 career Nationwide victories, six at Richmond.
Fast facts: Elliott Sadler, the July winner at the track, leads the season standings with eight races left - one point ahead of defending series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr. ... Joe Gibbs Racing's No. 18 team leads the owners' standings, 13 points ahead of Richard Childress' No. 2 car driven by Sadler. Roush Fenway's No. 6 team - driven by Stenhouse - is third, 14 points behind Gibbs' car. Joey Logano will drive the No. 18 this week. He has a series-high six victories in 15 starts. ... Keselowski and Kurt Busch also are racing.
Next race: Kentucky 300, Sept. 22, Kentucky Speedway, Sparta, Kentucky.
Online: www.nascar.com
INDYCAR
Mav TV 500
Site: Fontana, California
Schedule: Friday, practice, qualifying; Saturday, race, 11: 45 p.m.
Track: Auto Club Speedway (oval, 2.0 miles).
Race distance: 500 miles, 250 laps.
Last year: Inaugural race. Last year at Las Vegas in the season finale, two-time Indy 500 winner Dan Wheldon was killed in an accident on the 11th lap. The race was cancelled and the drivers returned to track for a five-lap tribute to Wheldon.
Last race: Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Grand Prix of Baltimore on Sept. 2 for the Andretti Autosport driver's series-leading fourth victory.
Fast facts: Penske Racing's Will Power enters the finale with a 17-point lead over second-place Hunter-Reay. The series champion will receive a $1-million bonus. ... Hunter-Reay won oval races this year at the Milwaukee Mile and Iowa Speedway. ... Dario Franchitti won in 2005 in the last IndyCar race at the track. He won the Indianapolis 500 in May. ...
The 100-mile Firestone Indy Lights race also is Saturday. Tristan Vautier leads the series standings.
Online: www.indycar.com
