Monday, April 9, 2012

Texas Motor Speedway Odds & Ends

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 22 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 22 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.
·         16 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, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton each have two wins.
·         16 of 22 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.
·         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).
·         Martin Truex Jr. (11/04/07) and David Ragan (04/09/11) scored their first series poles at Texas.
·         Matt Kenseth (8.7) is the only active driver to average a top-10 finish at Texas.
·         Jimmie Johnson (9.2) is the only active driver to average a top-10 starting position at Texas.
·         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.
·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway winner: Ryan Newman (03/30/2003 – 25 years, 3 months, 22 days).
·         Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway winner: Dale Jarrett (04/01/2001 – 44 years, 4 months, 6 days).
 
Texas Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 7 of 36 (04-09-12)
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

Top 12 Driver Rating at Texas
Matt Kenseth 106.5
Tony Stewart 105.8
Greg Biffle 100.8
Carl Edwards 100.0
Jimmie Johnson 98.4
Kyle Busch 97.5
Denny Hamlin 95.2
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 92.7
Clint Bowyer 92.1
Jeff Gordon 90.3
Kurt Busch 89.6
Mark Martin 87.1
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (14 total) at Texas.

Qualifying/Race Data
2011 pole winner: David Ragan, 189.820 mph, 28.448 seconds
2011 race winner: Matt Kenseth, 149.231 mph, 4-9-11)
Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers, (196.235 mph, 27.518 seconds, 10-21-05)
Track race record: Tony Stewart, (152.705 mph, 11-6-11)

Driver Ratings for Winners
Driver Year Driver Rating Series Driver Rating Rank
Matt Kenseth 2011 Spring 101.9 2nd
Denny Hamlin 2010 Spring 95.6 6th
Jeff Gordon 2009 Spring 86.9 12th
Carl Edwards 2008 Spring 88.7 10th
Jeff Burton 2007 Spring 68.6 24th
Kasey Kahne 2006 Spring 69.7 23rd
* Pre-Race Driver Ratings of the year the driver won at Texas Motor Speedway (past 6 spring races).

NASCAR in Texas
  • There have been 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Texas.
Track Name City NSCS Races
Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth 22
Meyer Speedway Houston 1
Texas World Speedway College Station 8
TOTAL   31
  • 74 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Texas.
  • There have been nine 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
James Buescher 0 1 0
David Starr 0 0 4
Colin Braun 0 0 1

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