A RIDE: Alex Tagliani will drive the No. 34 Conquest Racing entry during the month of May at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Pole Day qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 is Saturday, May 8 at the historic 2.5-mile superspeedway.

SUSPENDED BAN: McLaren has been given a three-race ban for bringing the sport into disrepute by deceiving race stewards at the Australian and Malaysian Grands Prix, but the sentence has been suspended.

Fans Injured: While Brad Keselowski scored his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in only his fifth start in the series, eight fans were injured when Carl Edwards’ Ford flipped into the catch fence in the tri-oval area at Talladega (Alabama) Superspeedway Sunday. None of the injuries was life threatening.

Landing Rides: Nelson Philippe has landed a ride in the second HVM Racing entry for the Indianapolis 500, while Buddy Lazier will return to Hemelgarn Racing, the team with which he won the 1996 Indy 500.

HE’S BACK: IndyCar Series driver Helio Castroneves was acquitted on five of the six charges facing him in his highly-publicized tax evasion case. The sixth charge (conspiracy) ended in a hung jury. Thus Castroneves was back in a Team Penske Indy car at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He finished seventh. Dario Franchitti claimed the victory.

A RIDE: Ryan Hunter-Reay has landed a ride in the second Vision Racing IndyCar Series entry beginning with Sunday’s season opener in St. Petersburg, Florida.

BIG WINNER: Earl Pearson Jr. claimed $50,000 for winning the Colossal 100 dirt-late-model race at The Dirt Track @ Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

SECOND CHANGE: A new owner’s group is bringing the USAR Pro Cup Series (formerly Hooters Pro Cup) back to life. The revived series opens its season this Saturday at Concord (North Carolina) Speedway.

REVERSE FIELD: The FIA, governing body for Formula One, changed the points system for the series twice in a couple of days. After first announcing that the driver winning the most races will be the series champion, it changed course and said that the current system, which produced a one-point winner in Lewis Hamilton in 2008, will remain for 2009.

TESTING CROWD: More than 10,000 showed up for an IndyCar Series test session Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama.

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