•The race: Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500
•The place: Pocono Raceway
•The time/date: 1 p.m. Sunday
•The track: 2.5-mile triangle
•The distance: 500 miles/200 laps
•TV: ESPN
•2007 winner: Kurt Busch
•2007 pole-sitter: Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1 Tires. They say that Pocono is similar to Indy, and everybody knows what happened when the rubber met the road there last weekend.
2 Jimmie Johnson. They say Pocono is similar to Indy, and Johnson had the fastest car at Indy.
3 Kyle Busch. They say Pocono — well, you know — and Busch, the series points leader, could do no better than 15th at Indy.
IRL expands
The Indy Racing League announced its 2009 IndyCar series schedule on Wednesday.
The season will begin on the streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., and end at Homestead-Miami Speedway’s oval, which has hosted the season-opening race the past several years. The Homestead race will be Oct. 11.
The race at Kansas Speedway will be April 26 and again be the last race before the Indianapolis 500. New races are scheduled for Toronto and Long Beach, Calif.
Not on the schedule are races at New Hampshire and Las Vegas, both of which had expressed interest.
Randy and Jimmie
The Craftsman Truck series team owned by Randy Moss has a driver for its race at Bristol Motor Speedway in the fall: Jimmie Johnson.
“I have never run a truck race, so it should be fun. Heck, my brother Jarit has run more than me,”
Johnson said.
Canadian debut
Clint Bowyer will drive north of the border for the first time this weekend when he competes in the Nationwide Series race in Montreal. Because of scheduling, Bowyer will be unable to practice or even qualify his car there.
“I’ve never seen the place,”
Bowyer said. “I didn’t get a chance to watch (the race) on TV (last year), and it looks like my first laps on the track are going to be when the green flag drops.”
Bowyer leads the series in points.
•Friday: Sprint Cup practice, 11 a.m., Speed Channel
•Friday: Nationwide practice, 1 p.m., ESPN2
•Friday: Sprint Cup qualifying, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2
•Saturday: Sprint Cup practice, 9 a.m., ESPN2
•Saturday: Nationwide qualifying, 11:30 a.m., ESPN2
•Saturday: Nationwide race, 2:30 p.m., ESPN2
•Sunday: Sprint Cup race, 1 p.m., ESPN
