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Race fans in North Carolina and Virginia will have plenty of options next March with two of the nation's top series set to race within a couple-hour drive of each venue.

Officials from ZMax Dragway in Concord announced Tuesday they'll get a second NHRA event next year. The first date will be March 25-28 in 2010. That's expected to be the same weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup series races at Martinsville.

NASCAR's 2010 schedule is expected to be released in early September, but indications are that Martinsville's spring date will again be held in late March.

Bruton Smith, who owns the dragway, says he's not worried about an overlap of racing in the region.

"Drag racing is primarily a different audience," he said. "We're far enough from Martinsville, we won't adversely affect either. We'll just be sports fans at two locations. What we both need is good weather."

The second NHRA date in 2010 for Smith's dragway will be Sept. 16-19.

The dragway's one NHRA weekend this year will be Sept. 17-20.

EVEN STRONGER?: Jimmie Johnson has led more laps than any other driver this season at 1,235. That's more laps led than he's ever had at this point just before the title Chase begins.

"I really feel that this is the strongest year that we've had from a technical, car standpoint," he said. "We have had speed in the car since the first race. We haven't had a big drop over any long period of time. Unfortunately, my mistakes, team mistakes, circumstances, fuel, freak deals with lugnuts like last weekend, we haven't closed on as many opportunities as we've had."

Johnson notes those four races he could have won were both Michigans, when he ran out of fuel in the final laps in the lead, last weekend's Bristol race when a lug nut problem forced him to go from first to 21st, and Pocono earlier this month when a spark plug issue caused him to lose three laps after having led or run second in the first half of the race.

FITTING IN: Marcos Ambrose's third-place finish Saturday at Bristol gave him top-10 finishes in two career starts in Cup at the track. That's good for anyone, let alone someone who spent more of the early part of their career in road racing.

"I don't know why I've run so well," he said. "I don't do anything but rely on my instincts. I just love Bristol."

Despite the performance — his second top-three finish in the last three races — Ambrose says he still has much to learn in Cup.

"I don't feel like I'm comfortable," he said. "I don't feel like I'm safe in the sport. I don't. Consistency is an issue for me. I have good runs like this and then I'll back it up like (the previous race) and run 35th."

RATINGS UP: ESPN reports that its ratings for the Bristol race on Saturday were up from last year — the second consecutive week a Cup race has seen improved ratings. The Bristol race drew a 3.8 national household rating, up from 3.5 from the year before. Michigan also saw a ratings increase from the previous year.

SPONSOR NEWS: Bristol's night race next year will have a new sponsor. Irwin Tools will replace Sharpie, a sister company that had sponsored the race since 2001, as the race sponsor. ... Fastenal will sponsor Carl Edwards for 15 races in the Nationwide series next season. ... Kimberly-Clark products will be the primary sponsor in five Cup races next year for Marcos Ambrose. It will be an associate sponsor the other races.

PIT STOPS: The Cup series is off this weekend. It returns Sept. 6 at Atlanta for the night race there. ... The Nationwide series is in Montreal and the trucks race at Chicagoland Speedway this weekend.

Contact Dustin Long at 373-7062 or dustin.long@news-record.com