The Indy Racing League is back at Kentucky Speedway this week for the Belterra Casino Indy 300, one year after a practice-lap crash at the speedway captured the nation's attention.

Jason Priestley, formerly of the television show Beverly Hills 90210, suffered a life-threatening crash before a race in the Infiniti Pro Series, a minor league of sorts for the IRL. Priestley endured severe head trauma and was life-flighted to University of Kentucky Medical Center and eventually underwent extensive rehabilitation in Indianapolis. He since has quit racing because another accident would put his life at risk.

The initial accident kept the racing spotlight firmly on Kentucky Speedway for a few days and on the speedway medical team's remarkable response to the accident. Overlooked in the media spotlight on Priestley was Sarah Fisher's qualifying win. She became the first female in open-wheel history to win a pole position.

Fisher is the IRL's most popular driver, and she's back this year as part of an autograph session at Newport on the Levee from 5-6 p.m. Thursday. Robby Buhl, Scott Sharp and Eddie Cheever will join her. The session is part of the Speedway's "Festival of Speed" at the Levee, which runs from noon-10 p.m. Thursday.

Qualifying for the race is at 4:30 p.m. Saturday with the race set to start at 2 p.m. Sunday and will be televised on ABC.

As usual, the IRL points championship is tight coming into Kentucky. Entering today's race in St. Louis, Scott Dixon held a one-point advantage ahead of Tony Kanaan and three points ahead of Indianapolis 500 winner Gil de Ferran.

RICHMOND GETS SAFER: Richmond International Speedway will become the first short track to install the Steel And Foam Energy Reduction barriers. Richmond is a .75-mile oval and has seen a number of violent NASCAR crashes in recent years, including Jerry Nadeau's life-threatening crash there earlier this season. The barrier should be in place by the Sept. 4 weekend when Richmond hosts all three NASCAR events: Winston Cup, Busch and Truck racing. The SAFER barriers were first installed at Indianapolis in May 2002 and have shown to be effective in reducing serious injuries.

F1 GAP CLOSE: There are still two races to go before Formula One comes to Indianapolis, and it looks like the race will mean something this year, with Michael Schumacher holding just a six-point lead in the standings. Schumacher already had won the points title last year by the time the league reached the United States. Next season, the United States' F1 race will take place June 20 instead of its traditional September date. That will ensure the race will matter in the points standing.

HOT RODS ROLL OUT: The National Hot Rod Association was at Edgewater last weekend, and Jeff Wilson won the Top Alcohol Dragster class with a time of 5.61 seconds. Funny Car victory went to Chuck Cheesman, Competition Eliminator to Jerry Arnold, Super Stock to Joe Covert, Stock Eliminator to Joey Wilkes, Super Comp to Mike Coughlin, Super Gas to Steven Bailey, Super Street to Bill Webb and Top Sportsman to Sandy Sandflea Wilkins.

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