SCHEDULE UPDATE: The 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule is slowly coming together. What is known so far is that Atlanta Motor Speedway has lost one of its races in favor of a race at Kentucky Speedway, Kansas Speedway has gained a second race and Auto Club Speedway in California will host only one race.

As the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series prepares for its final stop of the regular season this weekend at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, many drivers are hoping to pick up last-minute points before the start of the Countdown to 1 playoffs.

Dover Motorsports, owner of Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Ill., has told NASCAR it will not ask for events to be sanctioned at the track in 2011 and that it is seeking a buyer for the 1.25-mile facility.

CAPPS GETS FIRST WIN OF THE SEASON; DIXON GRABS EIGHTH AT SECOND STOP ON WESTERN SWING IN SONOMA: Ron Capps showed that it was only a matter of time before he and newly added crew chief John Medlen would click when he held off the Funny Car field to earn his first win of the season Sunday at the FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. Capps drove his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger past teammate Jack Beckman in the final round to get his first win of the season in just his third race being paired with newly appointed crew chief John Medlen.

Dallara has been selected by the IZOD IndyCar Series to serve as the chassis supplier for the series beginning in 2012; World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series veteran Steve Kinser won his seventh Kings Royal sprint-car classic and its $50,000 payday; Daniel Hemric bagged $250,000 for winning the inaugural Legends Million held Saturday at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina; and more.

Racing News: Mark Niver, 60, of Scottsdale, Arizona, died during a top-end accident during the semifinal round of eliminations for the Top Alcohol Dragster class during the NHRA Northwest Nationals at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington; NASCAR and most of the sport's top teams have come together to form the NASCAR Teams Licensing Trust; Audie Swartz, a pioneer racer who finished second in the first Knoxville Nationals in 1961, died on June 30; Adam Parr was promoted from his role as CEO of the Williams F-1 team to chairman; and more.

The 2010 Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will make its 14th stop on the schedule this weekend in Seattle, the first stop of the famed Western Swing, a grueling stretch of three-races-in-three weeks.

Racing news: The NASCAR Hall of Fame has revealed the 25 nominees for the 2011 class, of which 20 are repeats from 2010; Earnhardt Childress Racing Engines has worked out an agreement to supply engines to the No. 99 Gainsco Daytona Prototype Grand Am Rolex Series team; Will Power put an end to the “Penske Curse” at Watkins Glen (New York) International Sunday, giving car owner Roger Penske his first IZOD IndyCar Series triumph at the historic facility; and more.

NATIONWIDE DEBUT: The next generation NASCAR Nationwide Series cars will make their debut this Friday during the Subway Jalapeno 250 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

KING OF SPRINT WEEK: Tim Shaffer may have won three events during the 28th annual O’Reilly All Star Circuit of Champions Ohio Sprint Speedweek, but 18-year-old David Gravel walked away with the overall crown Sunday at Fremont Speedway.

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN: Nobuhiro Tajima claimed the overall and unlimited class titles for the fifth-straight year during the 88th annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Racing news: The IZOD IndyCar Series is expected to formally announce later this week that it will return to New Hampshire Motor Speedway to race in 2011 for the first time since the 1998 season when Tony Stewart was the winner at the one-mile oval; Former Funny Car racer Ed “Ace” McCulloch, who has tuned the Flopper steered by Ron Capps for many years, will be replaced by former John Force Racing crew chief John Medlen, beginning this weekend in Norwalk, Ohio. Medlen joined the Don Schumacher Racing team several months ago. McCulloch will remain with the team in another capacity; and more.