Jim Peltz

LOS ANGELES -- Drag racing's best return to Pomona, Calif., this weekend to kick off their season with the NHRA Winternationals.

In the sport's two elite divisions, top fuel and funny car, the racing is expected to be just as close as when it ended at the same track, Auto Club Raceway, last November.

LOS ANGELES -- The sharp drop in attendance at Dodger Stadium this year is likely to cost the Dodgers at least $27 million in reduced ticket sales, concession and parking revenue for the 2011 season.

Based on the Dodgers' $286 million of total revenue in 2009, the most recent year for which public figures are available, this season's attendance-related declines would amount to at least a 9.4 percent drop in the Dodgers' total annual revenue.

LOS ANGELES -- Is a sequel in store for Ricky Bobby?

NASCAR stock-car racing might well have reached its apex on a July night in 2006, not at a superspeedway but at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.

It was the movie premiere of "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," a comedy producers had greenlighted after hearing a pitch of only six words: "Will Ferrell as a NASCAR driver."

PHOENIX -- Jamey Carroll is seldom given to hyperbole. He answers questions in a thoughtful, measured manner, including a recent one about whether his age could be a liability this year.

"I don't feel like I'm 37, I don't feel like I play like I'm 37," the veteran utility player said. "So I just keep plugging away until something happens where I can't do it."

When and where he'll play? Now those are entirely different questions.

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Kyle Busch lost the victory to Jeff Gordon but left Phoenix International Raceway with the championship points lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Busch leads his older brother Kurt Busch -- who finished eighth Sunday -- by three points, Tony Stewart and A.J. Allmendinger by 11 points and Gordon and Mark Martin by 15 points.

Kyle Busch also took the blame for starting an early race collision that ruined the day for pole-sitter Carl Edwards.

LOS ANGELES -- With two-time champions James Stewart and Chad Reed sidelined with injuries, rookie Ryan Dungey won the nation's top-tier supercross championship last year.

But Stewart and Reed are back as the new season opens Saturday night in Anaheim, and the challenge for Dungey and other riders to stay up front is again much tougher.

The Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series kicks off its 17-race schedule at Angel Stadium, and three of its first five races are in Southern California.

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Already known for his signature celebratory back flip, NASCAR driver Carl Edwards has added a new bit of revelry after taking the checkered flag: climbing into the grandstands to rejoice with fans.