GEARING UP

What’s new in motor sports entering this weekend:

1 NASCAR’s new Car of Tomorrow, which many Nextel Cup drivers find tough to tame, will be raced for the fifth time Saturday night at the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C., dubbed, “The track too tough to tame.”

Greg Biffle, the Ford driver for Roush Fenway Racing, will be trying to win the event for the third consecutive year and break the streak of Hendrick Motorsports, whose Chevrolets have won all Car of Tomorrow races so far.

2 The Formula One series arrives in Europe for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday at the Circuit de Catalunya course in Barcelona. All eyes will be on rookie Lewis Hamilton, who will try to earn his fourth consecutive top-three finish.

3 Danica Patrick, who nearly became the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500 two years ago, acknowledged the pressure is building for her to win her first IndyCar Series race of any kind.

As the 500 approaches again May 27, “I do feel more pressure this year,” she said. “As the years go on, you get more impatient.”

4 The death of funny car drag racer Eric Medlen of injuries in a March practice crash has taken a toll on team owner-driver John Force, said Robert Hight, another team driver and Force’s son-in-law.

“Since the accident, John has just -- he’s not been himself,” Hight said at a news conference. He added, however, that the 14-time National Hot Rod Assn. champion had been “getting somewhat more back to normal” at the track.

5 In local racing Saturday night, USAC/CRA sprint cars return to Perris Auto Speedway in Riverside County, and Irwindale Speedway and Orange Show Speedway in San Bernardino plan multi-race programs that include late-model stock cars.

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LEADERS

NASCAR Nextel Cup career victories leaders (x-active):

*--* 1. Richard Petty 200 2. David Pearson 105 3. Darrell Waltrip 84 3. Bobby Allison 84 5. Cale Yarborough 83 6. Jeff Gordon-x 77 7. Dale Earnhardt 76 8. Rusty Wallace 55 9. Lee Petty 54 10. Ned Jarrett 50 10. Junior Johnson 50 12. Herb Thomas 48 13. Buck Baker 46 14. Bill Elliott 44 15. Tim Flock 39 16. Bobby Isaac 37 17. Mark Martin-x 35 18. Fireball Roberts 33 19. Dale Jarrett-x 32 20. Rex White 29

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THE RACES

NASCAR NEXTEL CUP

Dodge Avenger 500

* When: Today, qualifying, noon (Speed Channel); Saturday, race (Ch. 11, 4 p.m.).

* Where: Darlington (S.C.) Raceway (egg-shaped oval, 1.366 miles, 25 degrees banking in Turns 1-2, 23 degrees in Turns 3-4).

* Race distance: 501 miles, 367 laps.

* 2006 winner: Greg Biffle.

* Next race: NASCAR Nextel All-Star Challenge, May 19, Concord, N.C.

NASCAR BUSCH

Diamond Hill Plywood 200

* When: Today, qualifying, 2 p.m., race (ESPN2, 5:30 p.m.).

* Where: Darlington Raceway.

* Race distance: 200.8 miles, 147 laps.

* 2006 winner: Denny Hamlin.

* Next race: Carquest Autoparts 300, May 26, Concord, N.C.

FORMULA ONE

Spanish Grand Prix

* When: Saturday, qualifying (Speed Channel, 5 a.m.); Sunday, race (Speed Channel, 4:30 a.m.).

* Where: Circuit of Catalunya (road course, 2.937 miles), Barcelona.

* Race distance: 193.842 miles, 66 laps.

* 2006 winner: Fernando Alonso.

* Next race: Monaco Grand Prix, May 27, Monte Carlo.

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STAT OF THE WEEK

* Joe Gibbs Racing cars have led 794 of the 1,716 laps run in the four Car of Tomorrow races. Hendrick cars have led 549 of those laps.

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LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Tony Kanaan, on playing the role of mentor to Marco Andretti and Danica Patrick:

‘They gave me this role of teaching people, which I never thought I was going to do because I’m not the most patient guy. But, when we talk about racing, it’s easy to teach somebody that has talent.’

- JIM PELTZ