The final European round of the Formula One season takes place this weekend at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. Sebastian Vettel enters leading the World Drivers' Championship by forty-six points over Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso. Vettel is coming off his fifth victory of the year after dominating the Belgian Grand Prix, leading every lap and scoring fastest lap but not completing the grand chelem due to starting second on the grid. Alonso has two wins in 2013 and looks to repeat his 2010 performance of winning the Italian Grand Prix in front of Ferrari's tifosi.
Lewis Hamilton is third in points and is the defending winner of the Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton has won four consecutive pole positions. Kimi Räikkönen has three podiums at Monza but has never stood on the top step. Mark Webber is fifth in the standings in what will be his final Italian Grand Prix for the meantime as he will move to Porsche's LMP1 program in 2014. Webber has yet to win in 2013 and has won the at least one race the last four seasons. Webber's best finish in the Italian Grand Prix is sixth. Nico Rosberg has two wins in 2013 and his best finish is fifth at Monza. Felipe Massa is seventh in the standings in what could be his final Italian Grand Prix driving for Ferrari. Romain Grosjean returns to race at Monza for the first time since GP2 in 2011. Grosjean was banned from last year's Italian Grand Prix after wreckless driving in the Belgian Grand Prix. Jenson Button and Paul di Resta round out the top ten in points. Five different manufactures have won the last five Italian Grand Prix.
The GP2 and GP3 championships you should keep an eye on. In GP2, Monegasque Stefano Coletti leads Brazilian Felipe Nasr by five points with three rounds, six races to go. In the last eight events, Coletti has only finished in the points once. Fabio Leimer is third, seven back of Coletti with Sam Bird fourth, fourteen back. Fellow Brit James Calado is fifth, twenty-four back of Coletti. Calado will also have the honor to drive for Force India in Formula One Friday first practice.
In GP3, Argentine Facu Regalia leads American Conor Daly by fourteen points with two rounds, four races to go. Cypriot Tio Ellinas is twenty points back in third with Estonian Kevin Korjus fourth, twenty-two back and Russian Daniil Kvyat fifth, twenty-seven back.
Friday second practice can be seen live at 8:00 a.m. ET on NBCSN with qualifying live Saturday at the same time and coverage for the Italian Grand Prix beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET Sunday. 1978 World Drivers' Champion Mario Andretti will join Leigh Diffey, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and Will Buxton on the broadcast this weekend.
Grand-Am at Laguna Seca
The Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series heads to Laguna Seca for the penultimate round of their season. Five points covers the top six teams in the Daytona Prototype standings. Max Angelelli and Jordan Taylor lead the DP standings by two points over Christian Fittipaldi with the Starworks pairing of Ryan Dalziel and Alex Popow third, three back. João Barbosa and two-time Daytona Prototype champions Alex Gurney and Jon Fogerty are tied for fourth, four back. Barbosa holds the tiebreaker with two wins to Gurney/Fogerty's one win. The winners of the last three Daytona Prototype championships Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas are sixth, five points back. Last year, the Spirit of Daytona team with Richard Westbrook and Antonio García won at Monterey.
Three points cover the top three teams in GT. Alessandro Balzan leads after picking up his first victory of 2013 at Kansas Speedway with Leh Keen his co-driver. Andy Lally and John Potter are second in GT, one point back despite not winning a race yet in 2013. John Edwards and Robin Liddell are three points back in third and have four wins in 2013. Liddell has finished second in the GT standings twice before, once in 2008 and again last year. Liddell has won the season finale the last three season.
This race at Laguna Seca features a handful of IndyCar drivers. Justin Wilson returns to Michael Shank Racing to team with Gustavo Yacaman while Sébastien Bourdais teams with Emilio DiGuida at 8Star Motorsports. Alex Tagliani returns to AIM Motorsports to team with Jeff Segal for the a second consecutive round. Tagliani won pole at his first race at Kansas Speedway. Tagliani will run the finale at Lime Rock Park as well. Ganassi Racing will field a second Daytona Prototype for Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon.
The race from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca can be seen live at 5:00 p.m. ET Sunday on Fox Sports 1.
The Final Race Before The Chase
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Richmond for the twenty-sixth and final race before the Chase. Jimmie Johnson, Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth have all clinched a spot in the top ten while Kasey Kahne has clinched at least a wild card. Four spots and one wild card remain open with eleven drivers competing for the final spots in the Chase. Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Joey Logano, Greg Biffle and Kurt Busch currently hold the top ten spots. Jeff Gordon is eleventh, six behind Busch. Gordon needs a win to get a wild card should he not make the top ten. Kasey Kahne currently holds one of the wild card spots but could end up in the top ten and qualify that way. Martin Truex, Jr. holds the second wild card positions with one win and five points above Ryan Newman, who also has one win. Defending NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski is fifteenth, twenty-eight back of tenth and a win and thirteen back of the second wild card position. Jamie McMurray and Paul Menard are the other two drivers who remain eligible for a Chase position. McMurray can still qualify for the top ten but needs to score at least forty points to do so. Menard must win and outscore both Truex, Jr. and Newman for the final wild card.
Coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series from Richmond begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on ABC.
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