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Ah, Halloween. The day of spookiness and horrors is upon us once again.
Unlike Easter, there's no week-off on Halloween weekend, meaning it's not uncommon to see NASCAR running races the day before or after. As for races held on October 31, there's a number of them.
Just to make things easier, we're going to focus on the top three series.
1965 American 500
Series: Grand National (Cup)
The inaugural race held at the North Carolina International Speedway (better known as Rockingham), it was the first NASCAR premiere series race held on Halloween.
Despite starting on the pole, Richard Petty crashed on lap 58 and instead, Curtis Turner dominated the race. The Virginian led 239 of the 500 laps in the event to record his 17th and final career victory.
The race (along with the 1973 Carolina 500) was featured in the Speed program Back in the Day with Dale Earnhardt Jr.
1982 Cardinal 250
Series: Busch Late Model Sportsman (Xfinity)
NASCAR's second-tier series was in its first season in 1982. Then known as the Busch Late Model Sportsman Series, the 1982 season finale took place on October 31 at Martinsville.
Butch Lindley recorded his fourth win of the season. On an interesting note, the race featured seven drivers who have attempted a Cup race before (Lindley, Bosco Lowe, Tommy Ellis, Jimmy Hensley, Jack Ingram, John Utsman and Tommy Houston) as well as a future NASCAR champ in Dale Jarrett. Only three of them (Lindley, Lowe and Utsman) would finish in the top 20. Jarrett failed to finish and was classified in 37th.
1982 Warner W. Hodgdon American 500
Series: Cup
Well, this would explain the lack of Buschwhackers in the Cardinal 250. They're all in Rockingham.
This race featured a number of driver headlines. Randy Baker, Buck's son and Buddy's brother, made his Cup debut in the race, which ended with a 20th-place finish. Meanwhile, inaugural Talladega race winner Richard Brickhouse ran his last Cup race, finishing behind Baker in 21st.
The American 500 winner would be Darrell Waltrip, driving the Mountain Dew car in what would be the last Cup win for MD to date. Neil Bonnett, who finished 3rd, led 108 for the Wood Brothers; since then, the team has not led at least 100 laps. The closest WBR has reached that number was 70, recorded in Elliott Sadler's 2001 win at Bristol.
The namesake, Warner Hodgdon, was an interesting face in the NASCAR garage. Here's a pretty nice article about him for the interested.
Video of the final laps
1993 Slick 50 500
Series: Cup
Held at Phoenix in conjunction with the Winston West Series, it's not surprising to see the Cup drivers dominate the event. Of the seven Winston West drivers, Rick Carelli finished the highest in 21st.
Mark Martin dominated the race while Dale Earnhardt clinched the championship. Speaking of Earnhardt, many know about the rivalry he had with Jeff Gordon in the 90s. The two had their moments even before Gordon was winning races.
Aired on TNN, Neil Bonnett made his final call for the network before joining Richard Childress Racing for the next race at Atlanta in what turned out to be his final career start.
Race replay
1999 Sam's Town 250
Series: Busch
Besides being a holiday, October 31 seems to be the date that tracks like to host their inaugural NASCAR races, considering what we saw with the Rock. Memphis Motorsports Park is another track to see its first NASCAR action on the day, hosting a Busch Series race. On a more tragic note, October 31, 1999 was also the day IndyCar driver Greg Moore was killed in a crash at Fontana.
In the Sam's Town 250, Jeff Green recorded his 3rd win of the season from the pole. The late Adam Petty finished 5th, his final top five in the Busch Series. Meanwhile, a young driver by the name of Jimmie Johnson led his first laps of the year, leading 22 of them. He would finish 12th.
Nowadays, people bring up the concern of small entry lists. When looking at the DNQs for this race alone, it adds up to a whopping 59 cars, including the likes of Jimmy Spencer, Ricky Hendrick, Kevin Lepage and Kenny Wallace.
2003 Chevy Silverado 150
Series: Truck
The Truck Series isn't going to be left out of the Halloween races!
Held in Phoenix, there's a reason why we call Kevin Harvick the Cactus King. He led 80 laps en route to his 2nd straight Phoenix Truck win. For the race, he ran a Taz scheme to promote the movie Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Yes, the same one featuring Jeff Gordon.
Race replay
2004 Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500
Series: Cup
2004 Atlanta race weekend was a somber one for Hendrick Motorsports. It had been a week since the plane crash that claimed ten team members.
With those ten in their hearts, the 48 team showed poise in Atlanta. Jimmie Johnson held off a charging Mark Martin to win an emotional 3rd straight race.
As he described it: "6 car was coming, but I had ten angels riding on this race car."
Race replay
2008 Chevy Silverado 350K
Series: Truck
The Truck Series' next Halloween date took place in Texas.
Most of us may know about Ron Hornaday and Kyle Busch's unamiable relationship at Texas. Three years before that incident, the two were battling it out for the win. Hornaday came out on top as Busch finished 2nd despite leading the most laps. The win moved Hornaday closer to Johnny Benson in their fight for the Truck title with 2 races to go, though Benson would hold him off for the championship.
2009 Fred's 250
Series: Truck
The Truck Series got another Halloween race a year later, this time at the infamous Talladega Superspeedway, a fitting venue considering the so-called Talladega jinx and rumors of it being built on an Indian burial ground.
Kyle Busch and teammate Aric Almirola were able to get past Todd Bodine to record a Billy Ballew Motorsports 1–2 finish. In other news, start-and-parker Justin Hobgood finished 9th, his only career top 10. Also of interesting note is Austin Dillon failing to qualify for the race.
Talk about spooky.
2010 Amp Energy Juice 500
Series: Cup
Talladega in 2010 was crazy. In the spring, there were 88 lead changes. In the fall, 87 on Halloween.
In this race, plenty of drivers sniffed the lead, including Joe Nemechek and Sam Hornish Jr. In the end, Clint Bowyer scored his 4th win under caution as A. J. Allmendinger went for a wild ride entering the final lap.
Race replay
2014 WinStar World Casino & Resort 350
Series: Truck
Well, Kyle Busch won this race, his 42nd win in the Trucks. That's really it. Jeb! Burton finished 2nd. Ron Hornaday ran his final Truck race to date, finishing 12th.
Race replay
2015 Kroger 200
Series: Truck
Last year's Halloween race weekend was at Martinsville, just like this year. Unlike 2016, however, there was racing on October 31. In this case, it's the Trucks once again.
At Martinsville, one can expect plenty of beating and banging, and the Trucks offered that.... a lot. There were 12 separate cautions for accidents but Matt Crafton was able to survive to take the victory, his 10th career win in the CWTS.
Race replay
As one can see, there have been 12 NASCAR national series races, five of which were Cup, two Xfinity and five Truck.
Should be interesting to see what the 13th race would be. It'll certainly be a spooky one.

Being in the offseason, whether it's a time between new anime releases or racing seasons, sucks. There's barely anything to talk about and subreddits don't really have much to pass the time. When you're a fan of SAO and NASCAR, this time period where both are off feels like an eternity. So to pass the time, here I am with probably the oddest post I've written on this subreddit.
This was originally a Trivia Thursday post on /NASCAR, but I thought it'd be fun to share with this subreddit as well. I looked up the air dates of each SAO episode from both seasons in both Japanese and the English dub. After that, I looked up which NASCAR race was held on the same weekend as each episode's air date. With the results, I produced the following tables:
Season 1 (Japanese)

Ep.	Air Date	Race	Winner
1	July 8, 2012	Coke Zero 400	Tony Stewart
2	July 15	Lenox Industrial Tools 301	Kasey Kahne
3	July 22	No race	No race
4	July 29	Brickyard 400	Jimmie Johnson
5	August 5	Pennsylvania 400	Jeff Gordon
6	August 12	Finger Lakes 355 at The Glen	Marcos Ambrose
7	August 19	Pure Michigan 400	Greg Biffle
8	August 26	Irwin Tools Night Race	Denny Hamlin
9	September 2	AdvoCare 500	Denny Hamlin
10	September 9	Federated Auto Parts 400	Clint Bowyer
11	September 16	GEICO 400	Brad Keselowski
12	September 23	Sylvania 300	Denny Hamlin
13	September 30	AAA 400	Brad Keselowski
14	October 7	Good Sam Roadside Assistance 500	Matt Kenseth
15	October 14	Bank of America 500	Clint Bowyer
16	October 21	Hollywood Casino 400	Matt Kenseth
17	October 28	Tums Fast Relief 500	Jimmie Johnson
18	November 4	AAA Texas 500	Jimmie Johnson
19	November 11	AdvoCare 500	Kevin Harvick
20	November 18	Ford EcoBoost 400	Jeff Gordon

Season 1 (English)

Ep.	Air Date	Race	Winner
1	July 27, 2013	Crown Royal 400	Ryan Newman
2	August 3	Gobowling.com 400	Kasey Kahne
3	August 10	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen	Kyle Busch
4	August 17	Pure Michigan 400	Joey Logano
5	August 24	Irwin Tools Night Race	Matt Kenseth
6	September 7	Federated Auto Parts 400	Carl Edwards
7	September 14	GEICO 400	Matt Kenseth
8	September 21	Sylvania 300	Matt Kenseth
9	September 28	AAA 400	Jimmie Johnson
10	October 5	Hollywood Casino 400	Kevin Harvick
11	October 12	Bank of America 500	Brad Keselowski
12	October 19	Camping World RV Sales 500	Jamie McMurray
13	October 26	Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500	Jeff Gordon
14	November 2	AAA Texas 500	Jimmie Johnson
15	November 9	AdvoCare 500	Kevin Harvick
16	November 16	Ford EcoBoost 400	Denny Hamlin

Season 2 (Japanese)

Ep.	Air Date	Race	Winner
1	July 5, 2014	Coke Zero 400	Aric Almirola
2	July 12	Camping World RV Sales 301	Brad Keselowski
3	July 19	No race	No race
4	July 26	Crown Royal 400	Jeff Gordon
5	August 2	Gobowling.com 400	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
6	August 9	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen	A. J. Allmendinger
7	August 16	Pure Michigan 400	Jeff Gordon
8	August 23	Irwin Tools Night Race	Joey Logano
9	August 30	Oral-B USA 500	Kasey Kahne
10	September 6	Federated Auto Parts 400	Brad Keselowski
11	September 13	MyAFibStory.com 400	Brad Keselowski
12	September 20	Sylvania 300	Joey Logano
13	September 27	AAA 400	Jeff Gordon
14	October 4	Hollywood Casino 400	Joey Logano
14.5	October 11	Bank of America 500	Kevin Harvick
15	October 18	GEICO 500	Brad Keselowski
16	October 25	Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
17	November 1	AAA Texas 500	Jimmie Johnson
18	November 8	Quicken Loans Race for Heroes 500	Kevin Harvick
19	November 15	Ford EcoBoost 400	Kevin Harvick

Season 2 (English)

Ep.	Air Date	Race	Winner
1	March 28, 2015	STP 500	Denny Hamlin
2	April 4	No race	No race
3	April 11	Duck Commander 500	Jimmie Johnson
4	April 18	Food City 500	Matt Kenseth
5	April 25	Toyota Owners 400	Kurt Busch
6	May 2	GEICO 500	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
7	May 9	SpongeBob SquarePants 400	Jimmie Johnson
8	May 16	All-Star Race	Denny Hamlin
9	May 30	FedEx 400	Jimmie Johnson
10	June 6	Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400	Martin Truex Jr.
11	June 13	Quicken Loans 400	Kurt Busch
12	June 20	No race	No race
13	June 27	Toyota/Save Mart 350	Kyle Busch
14	July 11	Coke Zero 400	Dale Earnhardt Jr.
15	July 18	5-hour Energy 301	Kyle Busch
16	July 25	Crown Royal 400	Kyle Busch
17	August 1	Windows 10 400	Matt Kenseth
18	August 8	Cheez-It 355 at The Glen	Joey Logano
19	August 15	Pure Michigan 400	Matt Kenseth
20	August 22	Irwin Tools Night Race	Joey Logano
21	August 29	No race	No race
22	September 12	Federated Auto Parts 400	Matt Kenseth
23	September 19	myAfibRisk.com 400	Denny Hamlin
24	September 26	Sylvania 300	Matt Kenseth

If you skim the winners section, you might notice that in the Japanese version of Season 1, it's a tie between Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin with three, while Kenseth recorded the most in the English dub with three (and he ties Johnson for the most of Season 1 with five). In Japanese Season 2, Brad Keselowski led the way with four, though Kenseth continued his domination in the English dub with five. In total, Kenseth recorded the most wins with ten.
I suppose that means Kenseth would be the Black Swordsman of NASCAR, which is somewhat fitting in a way. Both Kirito and Kenseth are really good in their respective categories, but are known to be quiet personality-wise. Despite this, both can get fired up pretty easily, such as Kirito during his race to the World Tree in the Fairy Dance arc and Kenseth during his race to get back at Joey Logano for an incident earlier in the year.
So you're probably thinking, "If Kenseth is Kirito, then who would be the Asuna of NASCAR? Klein? Sinon?" I guess the closest to Asuna would be Johnson; prior to SAO, Asuna had little experience when it came to video games and yet she became the game's best player and a natural leader of the clearing party. Likewise, Johnson didn't have a great stock car career at first (as shown when he stuffed it in the foam at Watkins Glen), yet he is NASCAR's top driver today and the de facto leader of Hendrick Motorsports. To further add, both Asuna and Johnson are somewhat polarizing among the anime and racing communities, respectively; while they're loved by many, they're also disliked by others – in Asuna's case, the people who think she's a damsel in distress, while in Johnson's case, by those who think he's far too successful as a result of the Chase system and a cheater. Not to mention they're both pretty good-looking in their own regard.
As much as I hate to say it, Sinon would be Tony Stewart. Both of them were involved in a certain incident (Just take the first result on YouTube when you type in his name and make the connection to her. I'm not going to go into detail.) that have affected their images among the public. It is why Shino was bullied and why Stewart received a lot of flack on social media. On a more lighter note, they're the definition of don't give a fuck, and are both able to have some fun... at the expense of their friends.
Speaking of Hamlin, he's probably the Klein of SAO. While Klein has trouble getting women, Hamlin has trouble when it comes to keeping himself healthy. In an even more closer similarity, they can be considered foils to their respective buddies (Kirito and Kenseth). While Kirito is the cool sort of guy, Klein's more of the social type. While Kenseth is normally calm and collected, Hamlin is doing the dougie. Furthermore, both have proven to be reliable and successful teammates, such as Klein's work running a guild and Hamlin winning the Daytona 500.
I know he's not a driver, but Chad Knaus is probably the Lisbeth of NASCAR. Like how Liz works on weapons for her friend Asuna, Knaus works on cars for his friend Jimmie Johnson, and if you remember who I connected Johnson to earlier....
Anyway, both Liz and Knaus are considered the best in the business by their peers, but had their own starts through humble beginnings. Liz started her blacksmithing shop with just a mat, while Knaus was a crewman for Jeff Gordon before she bought a shop and he became a crew chief. While Liz doesn't have any cheating allegations and Knaus doesn't have pink hair, a good player is supported by a good blacksmith, like how a good driver is supported by a good crew chief. You don't become one of the best players in SAO without a good sword courtesy of a great blacksmith, and you don't win 7 championships without a good car courtesy of a great crew chief.
This is a dumber comparison than the others but this entire post is already pretty dumb so let's keep going: Silica and Chase Elliott. Both of them started playing SAO and driving in NASCAR's national series (respectively) at very young ages; in the former's case, she was younger than the recommended age to play the game. In the latter's case, he was only 18 when he won the NASCAR Nationwide (Xfinity) Series championship. Fast forward to about two years later in their respective timelines and Silica is now a popular figure among the SAO playerbase, while Elliott is a fan favorite. To further add to this comparison, Silica "lives in her more successful friend Asuna's shadow" like how Elliott "lives in his more successful friend/teammate Jimmie Johnson's shadow." He probably won't be doing so any longer this year since many expect him to get his first win in the Cup Series.
So there you have it. SAO and NASCAR have a lot more in common than you might have imagined. In other news, I'm questioning my life decisions and how they led to me writing this.

LEBANON, Tenn., Friday, July 20, 2001 - Greg Ray returned to his usual strong qualifying form, edging Indy Racing Northern Light Series points leader Sam Hornish Jr. to win the MBNA Pole for the Harrah's Indy 200 with a lap of 199.922 mph July 20 at Nashville Superspeedway.
It was the fourth MBNA Pole of the season for Ray in the No. 2 Johns Manville/Menards Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone and the 13th of his Indy Racing career, extending his series record. He qualified an uncharacteristic 10th at the last Indy Racing event, the Ameristar Casino Indy 200 on July 8 at Kansas Speedway. Ray has 22 front-row starts during his Indy Racing career.
Ray was one of five drivers to break the 200-mph barrier in the final practice this afternoon on the 1.33-mile concrete oval, but light rain that delayed the start of qualifying by 40 minutes changed conditions.
"The track didn't have quite the same grip," Ray said. "The air's a little muggier. We never got to top gear. We had a pretty good lap there at the end, but we could never get up to top gear.
"We thought we could do exactly what we did in practice if not a little better. The rain definitely changed things for us."
Hornish was second at 199.750 in the No. 4 Pennzoil Panther Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone, tying his career-best starting spot. Hornish led the afternoon practice at 201.037.
The Harrah's Indy 200 starts at 7 p.m. (CDT) Saturday. The race is sold out and will be televised live on ESPN.
Mark Dismore qualified third at 199.239 in the No. 28T Delphi Automotive Systems/Bryant Heating & Cooling Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone. Billy Boat was a season-best fourth at 199.175 in the No. 98T CURB Records Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone. In fact, it was Boat's best start since winning the pole in July 1999 at Atlanta.
Eddie Cheever Jr. rounded out the top five at 199.100 in the #51 Cheever Indy Racing Dallara/Infiniti/Firestone.
Defending series champion Buddy Lazier was sixth at 198.681 in the No. 91 Tae-Bo/Coors Light/Delta Faucet Dallara/Oldsmobile/Firestone. Lazier is second in the Northern Light Cup standings, 60 points behind Hornish.
Qualifying produced a tight field, as 14 drivers were within a half second of Ray.
Full race video
DETROIT--Michigan International Speedway, which has played host to two of the three closest finishes in Champ Car history during the past two years, will be primed for another this weekend as the FedEx Championship Series returns for the Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota (1:30 p.m. ET, live, ABC-TV).
The two-mile oval located in the Irish Hills of southeast Michigan has hosted some storied Champ Car events of late, beginning with Tony Kanaan's 0.032-second victory over Juan Montoya in 1999, which stands as the second-closest finish in Champ Car history. Kanaan had inherited the lead two turns from the checkered flag when Max Papis of Team Rahal, who had led a race-high 143 laps, ran out of fuel.
Montoya was again a principal in last year's FedEx Championship Series event at Michigan, as he and Michael Andretti waged a dazzling wheel-to-wheel duel over the final 20 laps before Montoya nudged ahead for a 0.040-second victory at the checkered flag. The race featured a whopping 52 lead changes at the start/finish line--third in CART history--and an unofficial 162 on the race track overall, and Montoya's margin of victory stands as the third-closest in Champ Car history.
As the series prepares for its final visit to Michigan, Andretti (Motorola Honda/Reynard) arrives looking to reverse last year's outcome. He claimed his record-41st CART victory in spectacular last-to-first fashion on the streets of Toronto last week, a triumph that moved him from sixth into second place in the FedEx Championship Series championship. With 73 points, Andretti trails championship leader Kenny Brack (84 points) of Team Rahal by 11 as the season approaches its midway point.
Andretti is a two-time winner at Michigan Speedway (1987, '89) and has led 705 laps in 20 career starts at the venue. He is one of four former Michigan winners in the field this weekend, and the only one among the top five contenders for the FedEx Championship Series championship.
Brack (Shell Ford-Cosworth/Lola) has built his championship lead on a pair of victories at Japan and Milwaukee--the first two of his FedEx Championship Series career--and a consistent record of finish that has seen him score championship points in seven of nine completed events this season. He leads the series in points scored on ovals, with 59, and has also collected 330 of his series-leading 359 laps led on oval circuits.
Brack qualified 10th and finished 22nd due to contact in his inaugural appearance at Michigan International Speedway as a rookie last year.
Andretti's victory at Toronto extended a run that has seen him finish among the top eight drivers in four of his past five starts, including a podium result of second at Milwaukee. Of the other three former Michigan winners in this year's field, two are currently driving for Mo Nunn Racing: Kanaan (Hollywood Honda/Reynard), whose 1999 Michigan victory came as a member of McDonald's Championship Racing; and Alex Zanardi (Pioneer Honda/Reynard), who won at Michigan in 1997 en route to his first of two consecutive FedEx Championship Series championships for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
The other former Michigan winner in this weekend's field is Jimmy Vasser (Patrick Racing Toyota/Reynard) of Patrick Racing, who won The Inaugural U.S. 500 in 1996.
The weekend's entry list also includes one driver who already has a 500-mile victory to his credit this season, reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves (Marlboro Honda/Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske. Castroneves stands third to Brack and Andretti in the FedEx Championship Series championship, with 70 points.
Rounding out the top five drivers in the championship chase are Dario Franchitti (KOOL Honda/Reynard) of Team KOOL Green, fourth with 65 points, and defending FedEx Championship Series champion Gil de Ferran (Marlboro Honda/Reynard) of Marlboro Team Penske, fifth with 58. Franchitti recorded a podium finish of third to Montoya and Andretti at Michigan last year, while de Ferran was runner-up to his Marlboro Team Penske teammate Castroneves at this year's Indianapolis 500 in May.
All FedEx Championship Series entries ride on Firestone Tires, the Official Tire of CART.
The Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota is Round 11 of 21 in the 2001 FedEx Championship Series. The series visits seven countries and four continents during the season and climaxes with the season-ending Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota on Sunday, Nov. 4, at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Thanks to a partnership between Marlboro, Toyota, CART and California Speedway, the winner of the season finale will collect $1 million, one of the richest paydays in all of motorsports. An additional $1 million, as well as the prestigious Vanderbilt Cup, will be awarded to the driver who wins the FedEx Championship Series championship.
Following the Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota, the FedEx Championship Series completes a run of six events in seven weeks with Round 12, the Target Grand Prix Presented by Energizer, July 27-29 at Chicago Motor Speedway in Cicero, Ill.
WHO'S HOT
• Michael Andretti (Motorola Honda/Reynard) of Team Motorola has finished eighth or better in four of his past five FedEx Championship Series starts, dating to a runner-up finish at Milwaukee and including a victory last weekend at Toronto. The run also includes finishes of fourth at Detroit and eighth at Portland, and has moved Andretti into second place in the FedEx Championship Series championship with 73 points, 11 behind championship leader Kenny Brack (Shell Ford-Cosworth/Lola) of Team Rahal, who leads with 84 points. Andretti's victory last Sunday was the 41st of his career, tops on CART's all-time list and gave him at least one win in 14 different seasons--also a CART record--including the past eight in a row.
• FedEx Championship Series championship leader Kenny Brack of Team Rahal has scored championship points in six of his past seven starts, dating to a runner-up result at Nazareth and including back-to-back victories at Japan and Milwaukee, the first of his FedEx Championship Series career. He also finished ninth at Detroit, 11th at Portland and sixth at Cleveland and enters this weekend's Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota as the FedEx Championship Series championship leader, with 84 points. Brack has also qualified third or better in six of 10 qualifying performances this season, with poles at Mexico, Texas and Milwaukee and outside poles at Long Beach and Nazareth.
• Christian Fittipaldi (Kmart Toyota/Lola) of Newman/Haas Racing finished 12th at Toronto to extend a run that has seen him score championship points in six of his past seven starts, dating to a fifth-place finish at Nazareth. He also finished fourth at Japan, fifth at Detroit, third at Portland and 11th at Cleveland. Fittipaldi has improved from 22nd when the run began to ninth in the FedEx Championship Series championship, with 49 points.
• Max Papis (Miller Lite Ford-Cosworth/Lola) of Team Rahal owns points-paying finishes in five of his past six FedEx Championship Series starts, including a victory from the pole at Portland. The run also includes finishes of sixth at Japan, eighth at Milwaukee and Toronto and 11th at Detroit. He stands 11th in the FedEx Championship Series championship, with 43 points.
• Roberto Moreno (Visteon Toyota/Reynard) of Patrick Racing has collected championship points with seven of his past eight FedEx Championship Series finishes, including podium results of second at Detroit and third at Portland. The run also includes finishes of eighth at Cleveland, 10th at Japan, 11th at Long Beach and Toronto and 12th at Nazareth. Moreno stands 12th in the FedEx Championship Series championship with 43 points.
• Mauricio Gugelmin (Nextel PacWest Toyota/Reynard) of the PacWest Racing Group has scored championship points in five of his past six FedEx Championship Series starts. He comes to this weekend's Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota off a season-best finish of seventh at Toronto last weekend. Gugelmin's current run also includes finishes of 10th at Milwaukee, Detroit and Cleveland and 12th at Japan. He also owns a pole position at Cleveland, his first since establishing a world closed-course speed record of 240.941 miles per hour in the 1997 season finale at California Speedway. Gugelmin stands 20th in the FedEx Championship Series championship, with 17 points.
• Alex Tagliani (Player's/Indeck Ford-Cosworth/Reynard) of Player's Forsythe Racing finished second to Michael Andretti at Toronto, the best result of his two-year FedEx Championship Series career. He has scored championship points in three of four of his past five FedEx Championship Series starts, dating to a 12th-place effort at Milwaukee and including finishes of 12th at Portland and ninth at Cleveland.
Full race video (240p)
Playlist of full race in 15 chunks (480p)
Entry, spotter's guide, practice, qualifying and race results
Articles, notes and press releases
What the hell is this?
In the long off-season we're rewatching the 2001 CART and IRL seasons, in chronological order. This is round 11 of the CART series and round 9 of the IRL, and you can discuss the races below. Enjoy!