compiled by Mike Forde
NASCAR Media Services
History
· Construction began in 1995.
· The first NASCAR race was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on April 5, 1997.
· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was on April 6, 1997.
Notebook
· There have been 19 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one per season from 1997 through 2004 and two races per year since 2005.
· Four drivers have competed in all 19 races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.
· Jeremy Mayfield was the first pole winner, in 1998. Qualifying for the inaugural race in 1997 was canceled.
· Jeff Burton won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
· 13 drivers have scored poles, led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon with two.
· 16 drivers have won races, led by Carl Edwards, with three. Jeff Gordon won at Texas for the first time, last season. Gordon has won at every track he has run except Homestead-Miami Speedway.
· 14 of 19 races have been won from a top-10 starting position. Only one has been won from the pole (Kasey Kahnein 2006).
· Matt Kenseth started 31st en route to his victory at Texas in 2002, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started. Denny Hamlin started 29th in his win earlier this season.
· Both Jeff Burton (1999) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000) scored their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Texas.
· Six of the last eight races have had a margin of victory under one second. Last November’s race had an MOV of 25.686 seconds, the largest since the inception of electronic timing and scoring in 1993.
· Denny Hamlin (9.6) and Matt Kenseth (9.9) are the only active drivers to average a top-10 finish.
· Roush Fenway Racing leads all owners in victories, with seven.
· There has been one season sweep, by Carl Edwards in 2008. Edwards is looking to break a 69-race winless drought. Jeff Gordon’s last win came at Texas, 62 races ago.
Track Size: 1.5 miles
Race Length: 501 miles
· Banking/corners: 24 degrees
· Banking/straights: 5 degrees
· Frontstretch: 2,250 feet
· Backstretch: 1,330 feet
Driver Rating at Texas Tony Stewart 105.7
Matt Kenseth 101.6
Jimmie Johnson 99.0
Kyle Busch 98.3
Carl Edwards 97.8
Denny Hamlin 97.2
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 96.4
Greg Biffle 95.5
Kurt Busch 94.5
Jeff Gordon 93.7
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2010 races (11 total) at Texas.
Qualifying/Race Data
2009 pole winner: Jeff Gordon (191.117 mph, 28.255 secs.)
2009 race winner: Kurt Busch, 146.372 mph, 11-8-09)
Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers (196.235 mph, 27.518 seconds, 11-3-06)
Track race record: Carl Edwards (151.055 mph, 11-6-05)
Pit Window: Every 50-55 laps, depending on fuel mileage.
NASCAR in Texas
· There have been 28 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Texas.
· 73 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Texas.
· There have been eight race winners from Texas in NASCAR’s three national series:
Driver | NSCS | NNS | NCWTS |
Terry Labonte | 22 | 11 | 1 |
Bobby Labonte | 21 | 10 | 1 |
A.J. Foyt | 7 | 0 | 0 |
Billy Wade | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Bobby Hillin Jr. | 1 | 2 | 0 |
Johnny Rutherford | 1 | 0 | 0 |
David Starr | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Colin Braun | 0 | 0 | 1 |
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