GEARING UP

1 Dale Jarrett will close his 24-year NASCAR career with his final start in a Sprint Cup points race Sunday at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Jarrett, 51, won 32 races -- including the Daytona 500 three times -- and won the series championship in 1999. This will be his 668th start.

The Hickory, N.C., native previously said he would drive his Toyota Camry in only the first five races this year for Michael Waltrip Racing and then retire, although he also plans to drive in the series’ non-points All-Star race May 17.

“It’s been a terrific experience,” Jarrett told reporters this week. “When I climb from the car [after the race], I’m sure it’s going to be pretty emotional.”

Jarrett will continue as a NASCAR TV analyst. His teammate David Reutimann will take over Jarrett’s No. 44 car after the race, and 23-year-old Michael McDowell will drive Reutimann’s No. 00 Toyota.

2 KV Racing Technology, one of the Champ Car World Series teams moving to the Indy Racing League as part of their merger, said it would field two cars this year with drivers Will Power and Oriol Servia.

KV is owned by Champ Car co-owner Kevin Kalkhoven and former racer Jimmy Vasser.

Power previously drove for the Champ Car team of Team Australia, led by Derrick Walker and Australian businessman Craig Gore, but that team recently folded because of lack of sponsorship.

So Power, Gore and their Aussie Vineyards-Team Australia sponsorship are moving to KV Racing. Power won the provisional pole and finished third in last year’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

3 Gary Ross, who directed the horse-racing movie “Seabiscuit” in 2003, has made a deal with Universal Pictures to film an as yet untitled drama depicting a NASCAR driver.

The movie centers on a young driver who develops a mentor/rival relationship with an older driver he grew up idolizing, Ross told the publication Daily Variety.

NASCAR has agreed to cooperate with the production, enabling Ross to shoot scenes during upcoming races and use the sport’s footage of races and drivers.

4 The American Le Mans Series, whose top-tier levels feature exotic “prototype” high-performance sports cars, opens its 12-race season Saturday with the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race at the 3.7-mile Sebring, Fla., road course.

The series also will stop in Long Beach on April 19, a day before the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, and its final race is Oct. 18 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey.

The diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI dominated the series’ premier LMP1 Series last year, and it has won the Sebring race the last two years. But it faces a new diesel-powered competitor this season, the Peugeot 908. In the LMP2 Series, Penske Racing will defend its 2007 title with its Porsche RS Spyders.

5 In local racing Saturday, late-model stock cars head a multi-race program at the half-mile Perris Auto Speedway, and sport-compact and midget cars are featured at Ventura Raceway.

Irwindale Speedway, which is changing its name to Toyota Speedway at Irwindale, plans an open house from noon to 4:30 p.m. Saturday with several late-model stock car teams practicing in advance of the track’s season opener March 22. Admission is free.

--

james.peltz@latimes.com