KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY DRIVE THE TRACK SALE SET FOR APRIL 24

Kentucky Speedway will provide race fans the opportunity to drive their personal vehicles around the facility’s 1.5-mile tri-oval racetrack during the first “Drive the Track Sale” of the 2010 season on Saturday, April 24 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Fans that make a minimum $40 purchase on single-race tickets, season ticket plans or discounted Kentucky Speedway logo and popular driver merchandise from the track’s Fan Center Gift Shop will be able to drive three paced laps around the track at approximately 70 mph. The Kentucky Speedway Fan Center is located off of Interstate 71 Exit 57 and Ky. Hwy. 35 N in Sparta, Ky. Fans can phone 859-567-3400 for more information.

POWER SURGES TO SEASON-OPENING IZOD INDYCAR SERIES VICTORY IN SAO PAULO

Penske Racing driver Will Power somewhat fittingly emerged victorious from the March 14 season-opening IZOD IndyCar Series event in Sao Paulo, Brazil that experienced prerace track surface work, five caution periods including one brought out by a five-car incident on Lap 1, seven lead changes among five drivers and a 36-minute weather delay that converted the race to a timed event. Power, who earned his second career series victory and first since Aug. 1, 2009 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, took the race lead from Ryan Hunter-Reay on Lap 58 and led closing four circuits. Hunter-Reay and his No. 37 ride finished 1.8581 seconds behind Power’s No. 12 car. Brazilian Vitor Meira took third in the No. 14, Raphael Matos claimed fourth in the No. 2 and Dan Wheldon rounded out the race top five in the No. 4 car. Defending series champion Dario Franchitti claimed seventh in his No. 10 machine. The series will continue its 17-race schedule that will test drivers with a total of nine road and street courses on the Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., on Sunday, March 28 at 3:30 p.m. (EST). Ryan Briscoe won last season’s event after Graham Rahal started from the pole position. Race coverage will be available on Versus television, which returned to the DirecTV channel lineup this week following a six-month absence, XM Radio Channel 145, Sirius Radio 211, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Radio Network and http://www.indycar.com. The championship standings follow: http://bit.ly/ICS10stand.

EDWARDS WILL HOLD THE NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD ENTERING SATURDAY’S BRISTOL EVENT

The NASCAR Nationwide Series will return to action Saturday, March 20 in the now more cozy Bristol Motor Speedway confines. The legendary race facility announced last month that it was moving its Turn 2 and 4 SAFER barrier in to narrow the racing surface by three feet. Roush Fenway Racing star and two-time Kentucky Speedway race winner Carl Edwards will hold the lead in the series standings and a 41-point advantage over second-place driver Brad Keselowski when drivers take the green flag. Edwards will be making his 180th career series start in the event and will be working a string of three consecutive top-five finishes after taking third place in the series last race in Las Vegas Feb. 27. Keselowski will be attempting to extend his top-five finish streak to three following his fourth-place Las Vegas finish. Brian Vickers will start the race third in the series standings and 48 points behind Edwards. Vickers owns three top-10 finishes through as many events this season. He earned his second fifth-place finish of the season in Las Vegas. Justin Allgaier started the week fourth in the series standings and 56 points behind Edwards. Allgaier took his third top-10 finish of the season in Las Vegas with a seventh-place showing. Kyle Busch will roll into the Bristol event fifth in the series standings and 81 points off the lead. He dropped two spots in the standings at Las Vegas with an 18th-place finish. His earlier Auto Club Speedway victory ranks as his only top-five and top-10 series finish of the season. Race coverage begins at 2:00 p.m., on ABC, Performance Racing Network radio and Sirius XM Radio 128. Kevin Harvick won the first of two series races at the track last season after Brendan Gaughan started from the pole position. Series standings: http://tinyurl.com/NNS10Stand.

KYLE BUSCH WILL AIM FOR HIS THIRD STRAIGHT NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY VICTORY ON SUNDAY

Joe Gibbs Racing driver Kyle Busch will take aim at his third consecutive and fourth career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Bristol Motor Speedway victory on Sunday, March 21 at 1:00 p.m. (EST), on FOX. Performance Racing Network radio and Sirius XM Radio 128 event coverage will begin at noon. Kyle Busch has earned three victories, a second-place and a 17th-place finish in his past five starts on the Tennessee track. He will enter the race 15th in the series standings and 176 points behind championship leader Kevin Harvick. Busch, who placed 13th in the 2009 standings with four victories and a total of nine top-five and 13 top-10 finishes, has yet to crack a race top 10 this season. He earned his season-best 14th-place finishes at Daytona International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway before finishing 15th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and 25th in the series last event at Atlanta Motor Speedway March 7. Harvick will enter the race with a 26-point lead over second-place championship driver Matt Kenseth after taking two top-five and a total of four top-10 finishes this season. Harvick earned an average 34th-place finish in his two Bristol starts last season, but has earned a victory, nine top-five and 11 top-10 finishes at the track through 18 career starts. Kenseth also has posted two top-five and a total of four top-10 finishes this season. He drove to his season-best second-place finish at Atlanta. He has taken two victories and a total of seven top-five and 12 top-10 finishes through 20 career Bristol starts. Kenseth has finished in the Bristol top 10 in three of the past four events there. Kenseth’s Roush Fenway Racing teammate Greg Biffle will enter the Bristol event third in the standings and 59 points behind Harvick after generating one top-five and four top-10 finishes this season. Biffle has banked three top-five and a total of four top-10 finishes in the past six Bristol races. He has yet to earn a Bristol victory, but has nailed down five top-five and a total of eight top-10 finishes through 14 career starts there. Four-time and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson will enter the Bristol race fourth in the series standings after taking two victories and a total of two top-five and top-10 finishes this season. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is 74 points behind Harvick in the standings. Johnson has wheeled to three top-five and a total of eight top-10 Bristol finishes through 16 career starts. He will be searching for his third straight top-10 finish at the track on Sunday. Richard Childress Racing driver Clint Bowyer will start Sunday’s Bristol battle fifth in the standings and 86 points behind Harvick. Bowyer has produced one top-five and a total of three top-10 finishes this season. He posted an average finish of 17th in two Bristol races last season. He has taken a top-five and total of three top-10 finishes in his past five starts at the track. Mark Martin started last season’s race from the pole position. Series standings: http://bit.ly/NSCS010.