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NASCAR plans to keep all-star race in Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. -- The Winston, NASCAR's annual all-star race, will return to Lowe's Motor Speedway next season for a 16th straight year, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

The location of the race has been debated, with NASCAR wanting to move the event to other tracks to make it more like all-star events in other major sports. Since RJR's contract with Lowe's expired this year, NASCAR thought it was the perfect time to try a new venue.

But many teams and drivers, most of whom live and work in the Charlotte area, wanted the event to stay at Lowe's.

COPE REPLACES ROBINSON: Shawna Robinson's on-again, off-again status as driver of the No. 49 BAM Racing Dodge is off again. After saying for weeks that Robinson, who has been replaced in several races by Ron Hornaday, would be back in the car this weekend at Michigan, team officials said that Derrike Cope will drive the No. 49 in the Pepsi 400. Team officials said Robinson will return in two weeks at Darlington.

PRIESTLEY DOING BETTER: Actor Jason Priestley was stable in serious condition after surgery on his broken feet and back. Priestley was recovering "nicely" from the six-hour procedure in Indianapolis, Methodist Hospital spokesman Jon Mills said. Doctors say he is expected to recover. The 32-year-old former Beverly Hills 90210 star was hurt when his open-wheel car hit the wall nearly head-on in practice Sunday for the Infiniti Pro Series, a developmental circuit for the IRL. His team, Kelley Racing, pulled out of the Infiniti series out of respect for the injured driver.

LEGAL SETTLEMENT: Twelve people injured when a walkway at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., collapsed after a NASCAR race two years ago settled lawsuits. Terms were confidential. More than 100 were hurt.

F1: Turkey has a "99.9 percent" chance of hosting a grand prix race by 2005, Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone said.

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