Track: Auto Club Speedway (D-shaped oval, 2 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns). Race distance: 500 miles, 250 laps.
Last race: Carl Edwards saw Kyle Busch lead 415 consecutive laps at Bristol Motor Speedway, then used his bumper to nudge Busch's car aside with 30 laps to go, causing it to wiggle just enough so Edwards could drive by for his second consecutive Cup victory and third in the last four events.
Last year: Jimmie Johnson grabbed a victory in the Sharp Aquos 500, clinching a spot in the Chase for the Championship.
Track: Auto Club Speedway (D-shaped oval, 2 miles, 14 degrees banking in turns). Race distance: 300 miles, 150 laps.
Last race: Brad Keselowski passed Clint Bowyer with 24 laps to go and pulled away for his second victory of the season, capping a remarkable run from the 37th starting position to Victory Lane at Bristol Motor Speedway. Bowyer had dominated the race after slipping by Dario Franchitti for the lead on lap 107, but appeared to wiggle exiting the second turn on the 227th lap as Keselowski went past him.
Last year: Jeff Burton turned a late pit stop and fresh tires into a win in the Camping World 300. He passed Kyle Busch for the lead just eight laps from the end and pulled away to win by 2.859 seconds — about 12 car lengths — as Busch barely held off pole-winner Denny Hamlin for second place.
Track: The Raceway at Belle Isle (street course, 2.096 miles, 13 turns). Race distance: 188.64 miles, 90 laps.
Last race: Helio Castroneves, driving a hastily prepared backup car, snapped a 29-race winless drought at the Grand Prix of Sonoma. The win came five days after one of Team Penske's trucks caught fire during the long trek from its race shop in North Carolina to California, badly damaging the primary cars of Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe. The teammates then drove to a 1-2 finish.
Last year: Tony Kanaan gambled and won the Detroit Indy Grand Prix. The Brazilian, the leader after a late restart, had enough fuel to win the shortened race and avoid a last-lap melee that collected Scott Dixon and Kanaan's Andretti Green Racing teammate Dario Franchitti. Danica Patrick avoided the wreckage to finish second.
Last event: Tony Schumacher raced to his fifth straight Top Fuel victory and 10th of the season, beating Larry Dixon with a 3.845-second run at 313.88 mph in the Toyo Tires Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Also, Jack Beckman raced to his second Funny Car victory of the season and Jeg Coughlin (Pro Stock) and Matt Smith (Pro Stock Motorcycle) won their divisions.
