GEARING UP
What’s new in motor sports heading into this weekend:
1. While NASCAR arrives at the California Speedway in Fontana, the IndyCar Series holds the Detroit Indy Grand Prix on the 2.1-mile road course at Belle Isle and the Champ Car World Series holds the Bavaria Grand Prix on the 2.83-mile Assen road course in Holland, both on Sunday.
NHRA drag racing, meanwhile, starts its Countdown to the Championship playoff with the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals this weekend at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Clermont, Ind., near Indianapolis.
2. Speculation is mounting that Joe Gibbs Racing, one of NASCAR’s top teams, will switch to Toyota from Chevrolet starting next season.
Gibbs and Toyota, whose U.S. operations are based in Torrance, have declined to confirm the change. But if it happens, the switch probably would be a boon to Toyota, which has struggled in its first year in the Nextel Cup series.
Gibbs’ Cup drivers are two-time champion Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin, who are second and third, respectively, in this year’s points. Its third driver, J.J. Yeley, is leaving after this season and will be replaced by Kyle Busch, who is eighth in points and moving from Hendrick Motorsports.
3. Bobby Labonte is probably too low in the points (17th) to make NASCAR’s 12-driver Chase for the Cup playoff, but he has another incentive to run well in Sunday’s Sharp Aquos 500 at the California Speedway.
General Mills, the main sponsor of Labonte’s No. 43 Petty Enterprises Dodge, and its nonprofit partner First Book will donate 43 books to Fontana-area children in need for every lap Labonte completes.
That comes to 10,750 books if Labonte, the 2000 Cup champion, drives all 250 laps of the race.
4. Helio Castroneves, the ebullient two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, will be among the contestants on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” this fall.
“It’s definitely something that I never would have imagined participating in,” said the 32-year-old Brazilian. “I’ve set my sights on winning.”
He’s scheduled to be paired with ballroom dancer Julianne Hough, who was part of last year’s winning duo.
The show’s new season debuts Sept. 24; the IndyCar Series’ season finale is Sept. 9.
5. In local racing Saturday night, sprint cars return to Perris Auto Speedway and Ventura Raceway, and late-model stock cars head the program at Irwindale Speedway.
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