GEARING UP

What’s new in motor sports heading into this weekend:

1) NASCAR’s Nextel Cup and Busch series return to the newly reconfigured Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval that underwent major renovation in the off-season.

The track’s corner banking was raised to 20 degrees from 12, and test laps in January showed that the Cup drivers will be racing at much higher speeds Sunday than in previous years.

2) An appeals committee upheld penalties levied against the teams of Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne for violations during qualifying for last month’s Daytona 500.

Both drivers’ crew chiefs were suspended for four races and fined $50,000 each, and both drivers were docked 50 championship points -- an unprecedented penalty by NASCAR.

3) Teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Pruett made nice after Montoya’s controversial victory in the Busch race last Sunday in Mexico City.

Pruett was leading in the closing laps until Montoya spun him out, enabling Montoya to score his first NASCAR victory. Pruett was livid, but said later the two talked it over and Montoya apologized. “What happened was not intentional on Juan’s part,” Pruett said.

Said Montoya, the former Formula One driver who switched to NASCAR: “I completely understand Scott’s frustration as I would feel the same way.”

4) American Nicky Hayden opens his defense of the MotoGP motorcycle series championship Saturday at the Grand Prix of Qatar.

Hayden, 25, of Owensboro, Ky., won the title in last year’s final race in Spain after his closest rival, Valentino Rossi of Italy, fell in the early laps. That ended Rossi’s streak of consecutive world championships at five.

MotoGP will make its sole American stop at Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif., on July 22.

5) Perris Auto Speedway in Riverside County and the Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino have multi-race schedules Saturday night that include late-model stock cars.

-- JIM PELTZ

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STAT OF THE WEEK

* Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets have won three of the nine Cup races run at Las Vegas, with Jimmie Johnson winning each of the last two years and Jeff Gordon taking the checkered flag in 2001. The team with the best record at the Nevada track, though, is Roush Racing, with five victories, including two by current driver Matt Kenseth, two by former Roush driver Jeff Burton and one by former Roush star Mark Martin, all in Fords.

- Associated Press

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THE RACES

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP

UAW-DaimlerChrysler 400

* When: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 3 p.m.); Sunday, race (Ch. 11, 1 p.m.).

* Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (D-shaped oval, 1.5 miles, 20 degrees banking in turns), Las Vegas.

* Race distance: 400 miles, 267 laps.

* 2006 winner: Jimmie Johnson.

* Next race: Kobalt Tools 500, March 18, Hampton, Ga.

NASCAR BUSCH

Sam’s Town 300

* When: Today, qualifying (Speed Channel, 5 p.m.); Saturday, race (Ch. 7, 11:30 a.m.).

* Where: Las Vegas Motor Speedway (tri-oval, 1.5 miles, 20 degrees banking in turns), Las Vegas.

* Race distance: 300 miles, 200 laps.

* 2006 winner: Kasey Kahne.

* Next race: Nicorette 300, March 17, Hampton, Ga.

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DRIVER STANDINGS

*--* NEXTEL CUP No Driver Points Behind 1 Mark Martin 335 2 Jeff Burton 330 5 3 Jeff Gordon 309 26 4 Kevin Harvick 307 28 5 David Ragan 270 65 6 Clint Bowyer 264 71 7 Joe Nemechek 259 76 8 J.J. Yeley 251 84 9 Kyle Busch 239 96 10 David Stremme 236 99 11 David Gilliland 235 100 12 Matt Kenseth 232 103 13 Johnny Sauter 224 111 14 Robby Gordon 218 117 15 Jimmie Johnson 216 119

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*--* BUSCH No Driver Points Behind 1 Carl Edwards 495 2 Denny Hamlin 455 40 3 Dave Blaney 433 62 4 Greg Biffle 397 98 5 Kevin Harvick 345 150 Marcos Ambrose 345 150

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*--* CRAFTSMAN TRUCKS No Driver Points Behind 1 Jack Sprague 355 Mike Skinner 355 3 Johnny Benson 330 25 4 Ron Hornaday 321 34 5 Todd Bodine 306 49

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