- NASCAR released the official start times and networks for all three of their National-level series on Wednesday. 20 of the NASCAR Cup Series races, plus the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum, will be aired on over-the-air television, the most since 2009. Five NASCAR Xfinity Series races will be on network TV (one (Darlington) on FOX and four races on NBC). One NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, the series' first race at North Wilkesboro since 1996, will air on FOX as well.

There are some airtime changes as well. The Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum start time has been pushed back to 8 p.m. ET, which will mean that the race will start at twilight and end at night. The spring race at Martinsville is now a Sunday afternoon race and will start at 3 p.m. ET. The Chicago Street Race has a 5:30 p.m. ET start time on July 2.

- In Bahrain, Peugeot TotalEnergies' Jean-Eric Vergne was fastest overall with a lap at 109.528 mph in Free Practice No. 1 for this weekend's BAPCO 8 Hours of Bahrain. His lap was .877 seconds faster than teammate Nico Mueller. Toyota GAZOO Racing's Kamui Kobayashi was third fastest, then Signatech Alpine's Nicolas Lapierre. Sebastien Buemi in the second Toyota was fifth.

In LMP2, AF Corse's Pro-Am entry driven by Nicklas Nielsen was fastest in class with a lap at 107.958 mph, good for sixth overall. Nielsen's lap was .191 seconds faster than Richard Mille Racing Team's Charles Milesi. JOTA Sport's Will Stevens was third, then Prema's Louis Deletraz and RealTeam by WRT's Norman Nato.

Porsche GT Team's Michael Christensen was fastest in GTE-Pro with a lap at 102.578 mph, .236 seconds quicker than AF Corse's Antonio Fuoco. Alessandro Pier Guidi was third in the second Ferrari, then Gianmaria Bruni in the second Porsche. Corvette Racing's Nick Tandy was another second back in fifth.

In GTE-Am, the Porsche of Team Project 1's Ben Barnicoat was fastest with a lap at 101.197 mph. Barnicoat was .238 seconds quicker than AF Corse's Am entry with Toni Vilander driving. GR Racing's Ben Barker was third in his Porsche, then Francesco Castellacci. Dempsey-Proton Racing's Sebastian Priaulx rounded out the top five.

- Free Practice No. 2 saw Paul di Resta once again put Peugeot on top of the chart with a lap at 113.558 mph. Di Resta's lap was just .045 seconds faster than Toyota GAZOO Racing's Brendon Hartley. Signatech Alpine's Matthieu Vaxiviere was close by in third, then Mike Conway in the No. 7 Toyota. Gustavo Menezes was a distant fifth in the second Peugeot.

AF-Corse's Pro-Am LMP2 entry topped LMP2 once again, this time with Alessio Rovera setting a lap at 108.302 mph. Rovera's lap was .206 seconds quicker than United Autosports' Filipe Albuquerque. Team WRT's Robin Frijns was third, then Alex Lynn in the second United Autosports entry. Inter Europol Competition's Alex Brundle was fifth.

Christensen was once again fastest in GTE-Pro with a lap at 103.307 mph. He was just over eight-tenths of a second quicker than AF Corse's James Calado. Teammate Miguel Molina was third, then Richard Lietz and Tandy.

Team Project 1's Matteo Cairoli was fastest in GTE-Am with a lap at 101.128 mph, .142 seconds quicker than Dempsey-Proton Racing's Harry Tincknell. Tincknell's teammate Jan Heylen was third fastest, then AF Corse's Nick Cassidy. Vilander was fifth. 

Photos are courtesy of Nigel Kinrade Photography.

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Frontstretch Line of the Week

From Harrison Burton Brings Family Legacy, Hopes to Continue to Build With Wood Brothers

"There’s so many differences in this car and how you race compared to what I just spent two years in the Xfinity Series [doing]. It’s taking me longer than maybe what I expected to learn. I felt like I was going to come in and, as a rookie, have an advantage because no one else had driven this car, but that’s really not been the case.

"I feel like it’s been pretty challenging for me. But now, I feel like I finally have a grasp on the car and go to the racetrack with a lot of confidence, so it’s been a good change in that direction." - Harrison Burton, on adjusting to the Next Gen car and how it's taken him nearly all year to get up to speed.