the latest news from around the world, courtesy of press snoop Lynne Huntting.

Veteran stock car racer TOM BALDWIN was killed late Thursday night after a crash in a NASCAR Featherlite Modified race at Thompson International Speedway in Connecticut. Baldwin, 57, went evasive of a crash on lap ten into the wet, slick infield and was hit by another out of 🌃control driver, RONALD SILK. Baldwin went into the three cement blocks around a light post. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The rain-delayed, 150-lap race was 💞postponed, with no new date scheduled. The Con🌊necticut police are investigating the accident.

Baldwin had been racing for the past 40 years, with six victories in the Modified Series and was last year's 'most popular driver'. He has perhaps more than 250 stock car💯 victories.

Baldwin Sr is the father of TO♕MMY BALDWIN Jr, crew chief for KASEY KAHNE's #9 Dodge Dealers Dodge. Junior was at Michigan International Speedway on Friday for NASCAR Nextel Cup qualifying with the Evernham Motorsports team. EMS competition direc♈tor, SAMMY JOHNS, is coming to the track to stand in for Junior should the need arise, and team owner, RAY EVERNHAM, has made his airplane available for Baldwin.

Bald🔯win Sr. is survived by Tommy Jr and dauꦬghter Tammy.

Evernham Motorsports will run a full time Busch Series team next year, with the driver not yet selected. Evernham will have 'tryouts' for four drivers - TRACY HINES, SCOTT LYNCH, MARK McFARLAND, and PAUL WOLFE, by giving each driver three Busch races this year. Unilever Foods sponsorship is credited by Evernham for allowing the 'farm club' approach to training new NASCAR drivers. Hines is the first driver to have a run at it, starting 𒁃this weekend at MIS. He will start 41st, taking a provisional.

NASCAR Nextel Cup qualifying was rained out for the second weekend in a row, so the field will be gridded accor💝ding to owner points for Sunday's GFS Marketplace 400 race. This means the Hendrick team-mates, JIMMIE JOHNSON and JEFF GORDON will start on the front row.

Thirty-eight Cup drivers will start based on points, with five using provisionals - DERRIKE COPE, MORGAN SHEPHERD, BOBBY HAMILTON Jr, HERMIE SAD🐲LER and CARL LONG.

Eight drivers lost out, having no owner points: KEVIN LEPAGE, KERRY EARNHARDT, KYLE BUSCH, KENNY WALLACE, JJ YEL﷽EY, MIKE WALLACE, STAN BOYD and 🐲STANTON BARRETT Jr.

I guess SBC isn't considered a 🔥competitor of Nextel and therefore is allowed as a s🎀ponsor in a Cup race.

The Busch Series field for Saturday's Cabela 250 race was likewise set by owner points, with MARTIN TRUEX Jr and rookie KYLE BUSCH starting on the front row. T⭕ruex was fastest in the only track session held before the rains came. Busch was rained out of a chance at qualifying for the Cup race. Kahne holds the Busch qualifying track record of 186.490mph, set last August.

Eight Busch drivers made the field other than on owner points: JEFF FULLER, JUSTIN LABONTE, JAMIE McMURRAY, ERIC McCLUR❀E, STANTON BARRETT, TRACY HINES, RUSTY WALLACE and MARK MARTIN.

Seven Busch drivers failed to make the cut due to lack of owner points: KEVIN LEPAGE - his second rain out of the day - TONY STEWART, rookie PAUL MENARD, CW SMITH, SHELBY HOWARD, TODD S🍌ZEGEDY and BOBBY LABONTE.

ANTONI🅰O PIZZONIA will replace RALF SCHUMACHER in the #Williams BMW F1 car for the third time next weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix Formula One race, while the German continues to recover from his accident at the United States Grand Prix in June. Schumacher has not yet been cleared to drive by the Formula One medical delegate, Dr SID WATKINS, and may not get into the car until the Monza test at the end of this month.

Pizzonia has prior experience at the track, in other f꧑ormula series including F3000.

🧸The FIM MotoGP pre-calendar was announced by DORNA Communications on Friday. The new United States event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, which will run MotoGP only, is shown as 10 July 2005. It is one of 17 races, on a schedule which begins i🍷n mid-April and runs through the first weekend in November. The second date of 17 April 2005 is to be confirmed - it is shown as either Jacarepagua in Rio or Welkom in South Africa.

Open-wheel Indy car racing will run after all at Portland International Raceway, and not just on a year to year basis. Champ Car announced it has "reached agreement with officials of the city of Portland to a memorandum of understanding for🐻 races over the next three years." Portl🐲and city officials and business leaders held a press conference on Friday to break the news.

Champ Car president, DICK EIDSWICK, said "It has always been our position that we wanted to continue racing in Portland. The Portland market is very important to the series, our drivers enjoy the track and this past year's r🐬ace showed the p🎃otential that this event has."