Truck series ‘playoff ’ race coming to Vegas
Some of these guys probably will be Cup series stars in a couple of years. Some probably will be driving for Front Row Motorsports, running for 29th place and trying to hold off Danica Patrick. GREEN-WHITE-CHECKERED
Those who think throwback uniforms in the stick-and-ball sports are cool shouldn’t miss this weekend’s NASCAR weekend at Darlington, where most cars will be sporting paint schemes that, like the old speedway itself, harken to another era.
Kyle Busch’s scheme will pay homage to Dale Jarrett’s 1993 Daytona 500 win; brother Kurt’s will be far less conspicuous: The hood of the No. 41 Chevy will commemorate VF1, which is not a video music channel but some sort of machine shop gizmo produced by Gene Haas, one of Kurt’s car owners.
Competing against drivers, some more than twice his age, 16-year-old Jason Reichert of Henderson qualified on the pole and then won a Formula Ford The Series race at Buttonwillow Raceway Park near Bakersfield, California, on Sunday.
Formula Ford is the first rung on the ladder to the IndyCar series.
Young Reichert, a Las Vegas Motor Speedway karting phenom who drives for Huddy Motorsports from California, will next compete in his “hometown” race at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch in Pahrump from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.
Graham Rahal, better known as the son of former Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal or the husband of NHRA Top Fuel driver Courtney Force, held off James Hinchcliffe by .008 of a second — the closest finish in Texas Motor Speedway history — to win Saturday’s rain-delayed IndyCar race.
Hinchcliffe, who drives for Henderson’s Sam Schmidt, led six times for 188 laps. Rahal led once for about 200 yards. But Hinchcliffe can take solace in being selected to participate in ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” Season 23 while Graham and Courtney go to Applebee’s for lunch and argue about the fastest way to get there. Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352. His motor sports notebook runs on Friday. Follow him on Twitter: @ ronkantowski NASCAR SPRINT CUP BOJANGLES’ SOUTHERN 500
Site: Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Schedule: Practices and qualifying canceled because of inclement weather. Start positions will be based on points standings. Sunday, race (3 p.m., NBC). Race distance: 501.3 miles, 367 laps. Last race: Driving at Michigan, Kyle Larson nabbed his first career win. XFINITY VFW SPORT CLIPS HELP A HERO 200
Site: Darlington Raceway, Darlington, South Carolina
Schedule: Practices and qualifying canceled because of inclement weather. Start positions will be based on points standings. Saturday (race, 12:30 p.m., NBC). Race distance: 200.8 miles, 147 laps. Last race: Michael McDowell picked up his first career win at Road America. CAMPING WORLD TRUCK CHEVROLET SILVERADO 250
Site: Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada
Schedule: Saturday, practice (6:30 a.m.), practice (8:35 a.m.), qualifying (2:45 p.m., FS2). Sunday, race (11:30 a.m., FS1). Race distance: 157.37 miles, 64 laps. Last race: Brett Moffitt won for the first time in a major NASCAR series at Michigan. VERIZON INDYCAR GRAND PRIX AT THE GLEN
Site: Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York
Schedule: Friday, practice (8 a.m.), practice (12:30 p.m., NBCSN). Saturday, practice (8 a.m.), qualifying (noon). Sunday, race (11 a.m., NBCSN). Race distance: 202 miles, 60 laps. Last race: Graham Rahal won by 0.008 seconds at Texas. FORMULA ONE ITALIAN GRAND PRIX
Site: Monza National Autodrome, Monza, Italy
Schedule: Friday, practice (1 a.m. and 5 a.m.). Saturday, practice (2 a.m.), qualifying (5 a.m.). Sunday, race (5 a.m., NBCSN). Race distance: 190.6 miles, 53 laps. Last race: Nico Rosberg moved within nine points of the series-leading Hamilton by winning in Belgium. NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING CHEVROLET U.S. NATIONALS Site: Lucas Oil Raceway, Indianapolis Schedule: Friday, qualifying (5 p.m.). Saturday, qualifying (1:15 p.m., 4:30 p.m., 5:10 p.m.). Sunday, qualifying (9:45 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 1:55 p.m.). Monday, finals (12:37 p.m., Fox Sports).
Last race: Brittany Force held off defending world champion Antron Brown in top fuel Aug. 21 in Minnesota.