Texas Odds & Ends: AAA Texas 500

At Texas Motor Speedway:

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 21 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 21 Texas 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.

·         15 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. Denny Hamlin and Jeff Burton each have two wins.

·         15 of 21 races have been won from a top-10 starting position. Only one has been won from the pole (Kasey Kahne in 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. Kenseth started fourth and won earlier this season at Texas.

·         Both Jeff Burton (1999) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000) scored their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Texas, and 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne made his first series start at Texas (11/07/10). Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup competitor Brad Keselowski also made his first career start at Texas (11/2/08).        

·         Martin Truex Jr. (11/04/07)and David Ragan (04/09/11) scored their first series poles at Texas.

·         Matt Kenseth (9.0), Denny Hamlin (9.3) and Jimmie Johnson (9.9) are the only three active drivers to average a top-10 finish.

·         Roush Fenway Racing leads all owners in victories, with eight. Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have three wins each.

·         There has been two season sweeps, by Carl Edwards in 2008 and Denny Hamlin in 2010.

 

Texas Motor Speedway Data

Race #: 34 of 36 (10-30-11)

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
Matt Kenseth
105.2
Tony Stewart
102.9
Greg Biffle
100.3
Jimmie Johnson
98.8
Carl Edwards
98.3
Denny Hamlin
97.8
Kyle Busch
97.5
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
93.1
Clint Bowyer
92.4
Kurt Busch
92.0

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (13 total) at Texas.

Qualifying/Race Data

2010 pole winner: Elliott Sadler (195.397 mph, 27.636 seconds)

2010 race winner: Denny Hamlin, 140.456 mph, 11-07-10)

Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers (196.235 mph, 27.518 seconds,

11-03-06)

Track race record: Carl Edwards (151.055 mph, 11-06-05)

NASCAR in Texas

• There have been 30 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Texas.
• 74 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