Kyle Busch wins for second consecutive weekend

Kyle Busch has swept the last two weekends of races. Lookout NASCAR, Kyle is getting hot. 

Duck Commander 500 Final Results

Kyle Busch won the Duck Commander 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway for his 2nd win of the season, 2nd win at Texas and 36th career win. He led 34 of 334 laps. Busch also won the XFINITY Series race on Friday night. It is the 9th time he has swept both races at a track during the same weekend.
* Earnhardt, Jr. finished second, followed by Logano, Johnson, Elliott, Truex, Jr., Edwards, Kahne, Busch, and Harvick.
* Pole winner, Edwards led 124 laps but had to pit under green with a loose wheel, lost a lap, and couldn't get back to the front before the end of the race.
* Truex, Jr. led 141 laps, the most of any driver, but did not pit under the last caution and lost the lead to Busch with 32 laps to go.
* There was a large wreck late in the race when Johnson got into the back of #3-Dillon, who was on old tires, and sent him into a spin. 13 cars received some damage in the incident.
* The start of the race was delayed by nearly 2 hours after light rain hit the track.
* There were 17 lead changes among 8 drivers and 7 cautions for 41 yellow flag laps.
* The average speed was 138.355 mph.

Texas Fast Facts
* Kyle Busch won the 20th Annual Duck Commander 500, his 36th victory in 397 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
* This is his second victory and sixth top-10 finish in 2016.
* This is his second victory and 11th top-10 finish in 21 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
* Dale Earnhardt Jr. (second) posted his 17th top-10 finish in 28 races at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his fourth top-10 finish in 2016.
* Joey Logano (third) posted his sixth top-10 finish in 16 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
* Chase Elliott (fifth) was the highest finishing rookie.
* Kyle Busch leads the point standings by 6 points over Jimmie Johnson.

-Jayski

Duck Commander 500 Betting Notes

Kyle Busch might be a good bet Saturday at Texas.

LAS VEGAS -- Martin Truex Jr. had the fastest single lap in both of the practice sessions at Texas Motor Speedway in preparation for Saturday's Duck Commander 500, but he's got a major uphill to climb to erase the edge Jimmie Johnson has on the high-banked 1.5-mile layout.

What makes Johnson so great despite not having times this weekend close to Truex Jr.? How about owning a track record six wins, which include wins in the past three Texas races, four of the last five and five of the last seven. He's also led a track record 1,023 laps.

Johnson is on a completely different level from everyone else and if your questioning this being a new year, think again. On the three tracks that figured prominently with the new low downforce package, he won twice (Atlanta and Fontana) and was third at Las Vegas while leading the most laps. He truly is Superman and there has been no cryptonite for any of his competitors lately.

Kyle Busch on fire
Kyle Busch is one of the few drivers to break Johnon's Texas roll with a win in the spring of 2013, and he's on quite a roll lately dating back to the end of his 2015 championship season. He's finished fifth or better in nine of his last 10 starts, which include wins at Homestead's 1.5-mile layout and last week at Martinsville's half-mile. One of those top-fives was a fourth-place finish at Texas last fall, which made him fourth or better there in five of his past six starts. If your looking for the top contender to beat Johnson, the Las Vegan is it.

Dillon creeping closer
A Richard Childress Racing driver hasn't won at Texas since Jeff Burton in 2007, the teams only win there, but Childress' grandson Austin Dillon looks to be really close and his 30-to-1 odds look enticing. In Friday's final practice session, Dillon has the best 10-consecutive lap average which means he's going to be very fast on long runs. When cars start to slow, Dillon's car is going to be passing. He looks like a great play in driver match-ups, such as getting +110 at the Westgate against Chase Elliott.

Mr. Consistency
If your looking for a driver you can almost guarantee will have a top-10 finish this week, Brad Keselowski is your guy. For match-up bettors, they love consistency on a certain type of track and Keselowski's crew has it figured out on 1.5-mile layouts. He finished ninth or better in all 11 races on 1.5-mile tracks last season and has started the trend again this season by finishing ninth at Atlanta and winning at Las Vegas. The Westgate had -140 in a match-up against Dale Earnhardt Jr. and -130 against Carl Edwards. As for the possibility of winning his first Texas race, he's a good candidate at 8-to-1 to do so. He's finished fifth or better in his last three Texas starts and led 312 of 334 laps there last fall before Johnson passed him with four laps to go. Crazy! Even when Johnson doesn't have the best car he wins.

Roush duo worth a shot?
Roush Fenway Racing drivers Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Greg Biffle are each 300-to-1 to win and while they're not quite in the win mode yet, they are showing signs of rapid improvement on the big horsepower tracks that a long shot play may be justified soon. Roush has a track best nine wins, two won by Biffle, but the last came in 2012. Biffle had the sixth fastest lap during Thursday's practice. Stenhouse Jr. has showed the best on these type of tracks and has gotten better with each chance. He was 17th at Atlanta, 12th at Las Vegas and fifth at Fontana, and will start fifth tonight.

Final Texas driver ratings following all practices: 2016 Duck Commander 500

Carl Edwards is a 3-time winner at Texas and is 12/1 to win Saturday.

LAS VEGAS -- Martin Truex Jr. was fastest in both practice sessions at Texas Motor Speedway in preparation for Saturday night's Duck Commander 500, but Jimmie Johnson is still the driver to beat based on past history on the high-banked 1.5-mile layout and also what he's done this season on similar tracks where the low downforce package figures prominently.



Micah Roberts' Top-10 Rated NASCAR Drivers
Duck Commander 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Saturday, April 9, 2016 - 4:46 pm (PT)  
 
Rating     Driver       Odds     Practice 1   Qualified  Practice 2   Atlanta*
 1. Jimmie Johnson 9/2              6th               11th             7th              1st    
Track-best six-time winner, including last three, four of last five and five of last seven.
 2. Brad Keselowski 8/1             2nd                8th            14th             9th
Led 312 of the 334 lap in fall Texas race. Third best 10-consecutive lap average in practice 2.
 3. Martin Truex Jr. 15/1             1st                 3rd              1st              7th
An 8.5 average finish last season, 14.7 over 21 races. Super-fast in both practice sessions.
 4. Joey Logano 7/1                      3rd                2nd              5th            12th
Top-five in four of past six starts, including 2014 win; runner-up at Las Vegas bodes well.
 5. Kevin Harvick 9/2                  24th              22nd           11th             6th
No wins in 26 starts, six top-fives; one more runner-up and he'll tie Johnson for 10th all-time.
 6. Matt Kenseth 8/1                  11th                9th            22nd           19th
Two-time winner with track-record tying 13 top-five finishes in 26 starts; 9.4 average finish.
 7. Kurt Busch 15/1                      25th               21st              6th             4th
2009 winner with 15.5 average finish in 26 starts; using pole sitting chassis from Las Vegas.
 8. Austin Dillon 30/1                    4th              10th            13th           11th  
He just keeps plugging along with career year; best 10-consecutive lap average in practice 2.
 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 15/1         26th             16th            17th             2nd
Won first career race here (2000), but none since in 26 starts; sixth or better past three starts.
10. Carl Edwards 12/1                  21st               1st               2nd             5th
Three-time winner, but none since sweep of 2008; finished fifth in the fall last season.

* Results from Feb. 28 race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which is the most similar high-banked 1.5-mile track to Texas run in 2016 so far.

Odds courtesy of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.

Micah Roberts, a former Las Vegas sports book director, has been setting NASCAR odds since 1994. Follow him on twitter @MicahRoberts7

FYI......Kyle Busch was actually fourth and didn't come through on the final equation for some reason. Sorry for the error 

Martin Truex Jr. fastest in first Texas practice Thursday

Martin Truex Jr. is 15/1 to win at Texas Saturday night.

MARTIN TRUEX JR., No. 78 Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER Boats Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing

How was your Camry in practice?
“It was good, we ended first. It was a good practice for our Bass Pro Shops Camry. We stayed in qualifying trim just so we could use our tires better for tomorrow. It went good. We were off a little bit at the start and got better each run and on our last run, felt really good about it. It’s been a while since I’ve had a pole. I’ve had a few poles here at Texas and we’re going to be going for another tomorrow. I feel like we have a good shot at it.”

How do you think the low downforce package will perform at this track with the aged surface?
“I think it’s going to be a lot of fun. It’s similar to what we’ve seen in Atlanta and California. The tires really wear out on the long run and the pace gets really slow and you get moving around searching for grip and all over the place. It’s my favorite kind of racing to do and I think it’s going to be a really good one.”

Do you enjoy racing at Texas?
“I love it, it’s great – Texas is a great track. Just because of the older surface with a lot of character and it has bumps, the tires wear out and you search around for grip. The cars slide a lot. You can find lanes to pass people in, it’s just fun to drive the car when the tires give out and it starts sliding all over the place.”

What is your impression with the early qualifying and later practice planned for Friday?
“It’s going to be good to actually have a night practice, or an evening practice for a night race which is something that we don’t normally have. That’s a good change. The schedule is kind of odd, coming in for one practice today and then qualifying in the morning and then switch the car over after qualifying is going to be a big chore because we’re not going to have a lot of time. It’s going to be tough on the crews, but having the practice later, after XFINITY cars practice and having the rubber on the race track is going to help us – all the teams on the Cup side to have a good idea of what the track will be like at night. Typically a lot of our night races we practice in the heat of the day and just really have to take a guess to setup for the night time. It will be interesting to see how that changes things.”

How do you feel your team has performed so far this season?
“I feel really good about where we’re at. Obviously there were a lot of changes during the offseason going to Toyota and starting to work with JGR (Joe Gibbs Racing), using their chassis and things like that. We’ve had a lot of new things to figure out and I’ve been really pleased with the speed we’ve had, the job the team has done and feel like we’ve done a good job at those things. I’m disappointed in where we are in points and our finishes. We’ve run better consistently every single race than we finish and that’s something we need to turn around. Last year, we were really good at consistently finishing as good or better than we ran and this year we just haven’t. We’ve had a few hiccups here and there, a few mistakes on my part, a few problems on pit road. Just little, tiny issues here and there. Last week, it was a loose wheel and a speeding penalty. Half my fault, half my team. Those little things have been biting us. At Atlanta, I felt like we had a shot to win and we got in the wrong lane on the restart. California we got in the wall and I felt like we had a shot at the win. Just little things have been disappointing, but I’ve been really pleased with the team and the speed of our Camry race cars and how things have gone for all the things we had to do in the off season, it’s a tremendous job by the guys.”

- GOLIN PR for Toyota Racing


Texas Practice 1 Results
Martin Truex Jr., with a fast lap at 192.892 mph was the quickest early Thursday evening during the first practice session in preparation for Saturday night’s Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). Truex Jr. used qualifying trim to get his top lap in during the session, as did most of the drivers.

Second quickest at 192.164 mph was Brad Keselowski, followed by fellow Team Penske teammate, 2014 Texas winner Joey Logano (192.143 MPH), Austin Dillon (191.612) and Brian Vickers (191.578).

Rounding out the top-10 quickest drivers in the session were six-time winner Jimmie Johnson (191.360), AJ Allmendinger (191.238), two-time winner Greg Biffle (191.232), Kyle Larson (191.225) and series Rookie of the Year candidate, Ryan Blaney (191.184).

The teams return to the track Friday afternoon at 2:45 p.m. (ET) for qualifying to determine the starting lineup for Saturday night’s race, and it is Tony Stewart who is the current series qualifying track record holder at TMS with a lap speed of 200.111 MPH – which he set last October (31st).

Texas Practice 1 Results
#78-Truex, Jr. 192.892 mph
#2-Keselowski 192.162
#22-Logano 192.143
#3-Dillon 191.612
#14-Vickers 191.578
slowest: #55-Sorenson 179.253, #30-Wise 179.164.
most laps run: #24-Elliott, 28 & #22-Logano, 24
Qualifying is scheduled for Friday at 2:45pm/et, followed by final practice at 6:30pm/et.

Jimmie Johnson talks with Texas media Thursday

Jimmie Johnson is 9/2 favorite to win Saturday night at Texas.

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS met with media and discussed his success at Texas Motor Speedway, what he expects with the new downforce package on Saturday night, and more.

YOU ARE BRINGING BACK THE YELLOW NUMBERS ON YOUR CAR THIS WEEK AND YOU ALSO HAVE SOMETHING GOING ON WITH THE ROCKETS TO RACECARS. WHAT’S THAT ALL ABOUT?
“We’ve got a lot going on this weekend and I’m very excited to have the yellow back on the car. We ran it once last year in honor of Jeff Gordon’s final race, and the fans have been speaking loudly through the social media channels. And the message was heard, so this is just another example of how social media really drives things that exist in our world today. So, I’m excited to have the yellow #48 back on the car.

“And then changing things up with our Jimmie Johnson ticket package here at the speedway, we’re excited to really call on the school district in the area to bring the students and teachers and build a program that I really feel fits our Rockets to Racecars program that we do in conjunction with NASA. So, I’m excited to have educators involved, more students attending, the school district here in the area, and multiple schools participating. So, all in all, it’s just an exciting time at one of my best race tracks, especially of late, so I’m just fired up to be here and get to work.”

YOUR RECORD HERE HAS BEEN AMAZING LATELY. THE CARS CHANGE AND A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS CHANGE, BUT YOU KEEP DOING WELL HERE AT TEXAS. WHAT’S BEHIND ALL THAT?
“It’s just this race track. I think tracks with an older surface; the bumpier it is, the more tire wear, it’s just a condition that plays into our wheelhouse. And we’ve hit on some things here over the last few trips and it consistently works for us and it continues to put speed and longevity in the car. We weren’t necessarily the best car in all those races, but we were in the top 3, top 5; and I truly believe if you run there long enough, you’ll have opportunities to win. And we’ve been able to win on speed and then when being at the right place and being able to take advantage of things, too.”

CHASE ELLIOTT DOESN’T HAVE A FAVORITE TRACK. HE THINKS OF THEM ALL THE SAME. YOU’RE SO GOOD AT MOST TRACKS AND YOU’RE GOOD HERE. DO YOU THINK, OH GOOD, I’M GOING TO TEXAS, OR DO YOU TRY TO HAVE THAT VIEW OF ALL TRACKS BEING THE SAME TO MASTER?
“For me, I’ve definitely had favorite tracks, and then tracks that I didn’t like so much. One in my early years in Cup that I loved and desperately wanted to race at was Bristol. And then when I went there, I couldn’t get out of my own way. I think one of my first trips there I left pit road and went thru (Turns) 1 and 2, and crashed. And not after, I had another car out there and crashed it. So, for me, I have had a different approach. I don’t know how Chase is able to keep it in that same box all the time, but I’ve now been doing this long enough where I’ve seen my best tracks turn into not very good tracks; and bad tracks turn into good tracks. And Texas is one, I think, that was very difficult for me to get going in the beginning and then of late, has been our best track. Richmond has come and gone maybe once or twice for us so if you do it long enough I think you can see things come and go.”

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER ABOUT THE 2007 RACE THAT YOU WON HERE? DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THE NEW PACKAGE WILL ALLOW DUELS, LIKE THE ONE YOU HAD WITH MATT KENSETH, TO PRESENT THEMSELVES AGAIN HERE?
“From my standpoint, that race was a lot of fun; I’m not sure Matt found it to be as much fun, but late in the season, racing for the championship and having a car that I knew was capable of winning, and trying to find a clean way by Matt in a delicate way by him with all that we had on the line. Knowing it was Matt, I knew we were going to race hard and I didn’t have anything to worry about. And we put on a great show for the fans. I think tracks with high tire wear create so much lap time fall-off that it allows us to run side-by-side. It allows there to be comers and goers on the race track. So, I think that Atlanta and Texas and the old Darlington; there are some tracks that really play out, as we would hope. And as drivers continue to talk about taking downforce off the cars and putting on a softer tire, we’re just trying to create tire wear. And this track naturally does that. Atlanta naturally does that. We all feel, as the guys sitting in the seats, that’s what makes it entertaining and fun. So yes, I think the rules package is going to be another great step in the right direction here. But, we’re fortunate that this is a track already builds that into it. I’m sure everybody keeps hearing the drivers banging this drum, but we want to keep going with it. We want to continue to take more grip away from the cars and create more off-throttle time, and more tire wear.”

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT WITH THE LOWER DOWNFORCE PACKAGE THIS WEEKEND AND AT NIGHT?
“It’s warm during the day. I’m not sure how much it’s going to cool off. But the less grip, I think the happier we’re going to be, as competitors. If that’s through the slick track conditions, the tire wearing out, or lack of downforce, that’s going to continue to make good racing.”

SINCE THE START OF THE 2014 SEASON, KEVIN HARVICK HAS FINISHED SECOND TO YOU EIGHT TIMES. WHEN IT HAPPENS WITH THE FREQUENCY OF ONE GUY, DO YOU START PAYING ATTENTION OR DOES HE KNOW YOUR THOUGHT PROCESS AND DOES IT EVERY BECOME A ONE-ON-ONE CONTEST?
“Oh gosh, since he’s sat in that No. 4 car, he’s been at the top of everybody’s conscious thought and radar. They’ve rolled out in December of 2013, I guess it was, at the Charlotte test session and I wasn’t at that test session, but all I heard about was how much faster they were than the field. And they continue to do that through 2014 and ’15. We’ve all been essentially chasing the No. 4 in a lot of situations.

‘When somebody has an advantage on the field, everybody is using every resource possible to try to understand why. We don’t have many, but we all have photographers that take pictures and try to look at the attitude of the car and maybe how long the side skirts are and develop opinions of what they might be doing. And then through all of they, we’ve had an association with Stewart-Haas and we could look at the database and see what they were doing. We just couldn’t make it go like they did. So, it’s always one of the mysteries in our sport how the same equipment with different flavors of driver and crew chief produce different speeds. It’s always been a big mystery.”


About Chevrolet:
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 115 countries and selling more than 4.0 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature engaging performance, design that makes the heart beat, passive and active safety features and easy-to-use technology, all at a value. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

- Team Chevy

Johnson and Harvick posted at 9/2 co-favorites at Texas

Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick are 9/2 co-favorites at Texas.

LAS VEGAS -- To say Jimmie Johnson is good at Texas Motor Speedway would be a complete understatement. His exploits on the 1.5-mile high-banked layout deserve to be called "great" or even the "best ever" and that might not even do him justice.

All he's done is win the past three races there, four of the last five and five of the last seven. He's got six wins overall and has led 1,023 laps over 25 career starts, which are both track records. Those numbers sound more like complete domination.

"It’s crazy to think that we have won all those races in a row," said Johnson. "Why? I don’t know, really (laughs). I think part of it is the surface at Texas is seasoned. It's older, so it just fits my driving style and the No. 48 Lowe’s team. Plus, it’s such a long race and we have all that time to make the right adjustments. It’s fun – they always put on a good show at Texas.”

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook thinks high enough of Johnson at Texas that they've made him the 9-to-2 co-favorite to win along with Kevin Harvick. Let's take a look at all the odds and how each driver might fare in Saturday's Duck Commander 500:

NASCAR at Texas betting preview
Saturday, April 9, 7:46 p.m. ET

JIMMIE JOHNSON 9/2 - In addition to all his accomplishments at Texas, which includes a track-best 8.4 average finish, his team has also got the low downforce package figured out the best this season. There have been three races this season where the package figured prominently and Johnson won on two of them (Atlanta and Fontana) and was third in the other at Las Vegas where he led the most laps. His excellence this year on these type of tracks and his past Texas history makes it tough to bet someone else this week. The silver lining if betting someone else is that he didn't win in 19 of his starts — he also holds the track record with five runner-ups.

KEVIN HARVICK 9/2 - He doesn't have any wins in 26 career starts and finished second last year while leading 96 laps. He's considered the co-favorite just because he's expected to be running near the front for most of the race and leading lots of laps. The tough thing about betting on him to win is that he's finishes second so much. He had 13 last year and if he gets one more he'll tie Johnson for 10th all-time in NASCAR history with 46. He'll be using a brand new chassis this weekend.

Read More Here....complete list of odds at TheLinemakers.com

Denny Hamlin goes for third Texas win

Denny Hamlin is 15/1 to win Saturday at Texas.

Denny Hamlin
#11 FedEx Office Toyota
Joe Gibbs Racing

Race Info:
Race: Duck Commander 500
Date/Time: April 9/6:30 p.m. CT
Distance: 334 laps/501 miles
Track Length: 1.5 miles
Track Shape: Quad-oval
Banking: 24 degrees
2015 Winner: Jimmie Johnson

Express Notes:

Martinsville Recap: Denny Hamlin spun and hit the wall on Lap 220 of Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway, causing extensive damage to the #11 FedEx Express Toyota and relegating the team to a 39th-place finish in the event won by Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch. Hamlin overcame an early-race pit road speeding penalty to drive from the tail end of the field up into the top-five nearing the halfway mark. Shortly after passing Brian Vickers for fifth-place and chasing down Jimmie Johnson, Hamlin lost control in Turn 1 and backed into the outside retaining wall. Hamlin started eighth and ran among the top-10 throughout the early going. During the team’s first pit stop near Lap 100, Hamlin was caught speeding leaving pit road, and forced to restart at the back of the pack. He quickly worked through traffic to move back into contention before the spin. The finish dropped Hamlin five spots to ninth in the NASCAR standings following Martinsville, 48 points behind leader Kevin Harvick after six of 36 regular season races.

Texas Preview: The Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s 500-mile race on the fast, 1.5-mile Fort Worth oval, with Hamlin driving the #11 FedEx Office Toyota. Hamlin is a two-time Texas winner, sweeping both races at the track during his eight-win 2010 campaign. He owns 10 top-10 finishes in 20 career races at Texas, and has led 154 laps at the track. He finished 11th in this race one year ago.

Hamlin Statistics:
Track: Texas Motor Speedway
Races: 20
Wins: 2
Top-5: 5
Top-10: 10
Average Start: 16.1
Average Finish: 12.2
Laps Led: 154

Hamlin Conversation — TEXAS:

Where does the team’s intermediate track program stack up heading into Texas this weekend?
“We have been a little up and down on the bigger tracks to start this season, but I think we have found some speed in the #11 FedEx Toyota. Texas is a big, fast track and racing under the lights will mean a lot of grip and the drivers asking for a lot of horsepower. It’s a long race, but we have to make sure we minimize mistakes to keep our track position for the end.”

Southern California Sales Team Along for the Ride in Texas: The FedEx Office sales team in southern California, a leading team in the company’s President’s Club program, will be recognized with its “7387” code numbers on the b-post of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota this weekend at Texas.

FedEx Office – Closest to Texas Motor Speedway: 8509 Davis Blvd., North Richland Hills, TX 76180, (817) 281-9014

DATE	EVENT	LOCATION	START	FINISH	LAPS	STATUS	LED	PTS	TREND
Feb. 21	Daytona 500	Daytona	11	1	200/200	Running	95	1st	▬
Feb. 28	Folds of Honor 500	Atlanta	12	16	328/330	Running		4th	▼
March 6	Kobalt Tools 400	Las Vegas	9	19	267/267	Running	10	8th	▼
March 13	Good Sam 500	Phoenix	3	3	313/313	Running		6th	▲
March 20	Auto Club 400	Fontana	3	3	205/205	Running	2	4th	▲
April 3	STP 500	Martinsville	8	39	221/500	Crash		9th	▼
Averages/Totals			7.7	13.5	84.5%		107

- Weber Shandwick Worldwide for FedEx Racing

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Notes heading to Texas

Who can stop Jimmie Johnson this week at Texas?

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

Busch Clocks In First At Martinsville, Readies For Texas

Kyle Busch earned his first win of the season and his first career checkered flag at Martinsville Speedway when he led 352 of 500 laps on his way to Victory Lane in Sunday’s STP 500. Busch virtually guarantees himself a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup as the fifth different driver to win this season (Jimmie Johnson, 2; Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, Denny Hamlin).

The only current NSCS tracks where Busch hasn’t won are Kansas, Pocono and Charlotte. He has visited Victory Lane at every current XFINITY Series track at which he has at least one start except Watkins Glen. The Las Vegas native has 35 career NSCS wins.

Busch leads all drivers with five top-five finishes this season. He ranks tied with Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards for the most top 10s with five.

The No. 18 Toyota driver will go for his second straight win in Saturday’s Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m. on FOX). In the last four races at TMS, he has the best average finish (3.7).

In case you missed it, check out this viral video of Kyle Busch signing a hat for a fan while leaving the race track.

Johnson Texas Ranger: No. 48 Chevrolet Driver Goes For Fourth Straight Win In Lone Star State
Chuck Norris wears Jimmie Johnson pajamas.

The No. 48 Chevrolet driver is the real Texas Ranger.

Johnson boasts the track records at Texas Motor Speedway in wins (6) top 10s (19), average finish (8.4), laps led (1,023) and driver rating (108.0). He ranks tied with Matt Kenseth for the most top fives with 13.

In Saturday’s Duck Commander 500, Johnson will go for his fourth consecutive victory in the Lone Star State. He has won five of the last seven races at Texas Motor Speedway, including four of the last five.

Winning again will be a tough task for Johnson. In the Texas race last fall, he had to run down a dominant Brad Keselowski car with four laps remaining. He also has to contend with Kevin Harvick, who leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with 18 top-two finishes at intermediate tracks since 2015 (Johnson ranks second with 10).

Through the first six races of this season, Johnson is the only two-time winner (Atlanta, Auto Club).

Click here for an infographic on Johnson’s performance at TMS.


Dallas Star: Kenseth Can Turn Around Season At Fort Worth

By Matt Kenseth’s standards, the 2016 season hasn’t started very well.

In the first six races he only has one top 10 (seventh at Phoenix), despite leading laps in five of the six races this season (for a total of 144).

Luckily for Kenseth, his panacea has arrived – Texas Motor Speedway.

In 26 starts at the 1.5-mile track, Kenseth owns two wins, 13 top fives (tied for first in course history with Jimmie Johnson) and 17 top 10s.

Loop data indicates Kenseth has been the victim of bad luck and his performance will improve. Though he ranks 14th in points, his 97.9 driver rating and 10.4 average running position rank sixth in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.


Cowboy Up: Dillon Leads RCR Into Texas

Austin Dillon continued his strong start last Sunday to what looks like will be a career season.

He placed fourth in the STP 500 after starting 29th. Dillon now has a career-high two top fives on the season. His four top 10s are one less than his career-best mark of five set last year.

And the NASCAR season is only six races old.

Dillon wasn’t the only bright spot for his Richard Childress Racing team at “The Paperclip.” His teammates Paul Menard and Ryan Newman finished eighth and 10th, respectively, for their first top 10s of the season.

Dillon leads the RCR contingent to Texas Motor Speedway where he finished a track career-best 11th last fall. He will attempt to improve on his eighth-place position on the Chase Grid.


Team Penske Tries To Continue Texas Success

The Team Penske tandem of Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano will try to continue its strong performance at Texas Motor Speedway in Saturday’s Duck Commander 500.

Keselowski led a record 312 of 334 laps in last year’s fall race at TMS, but he was passed by Jimmie Johnson with four go-arounds remaining, and finished second.

In his last seven starts at the 1.5-mile track, Keselowski claims six top-10 finishes, including a top-five showing in each of his last three races there.

Logano visited Victory Lane at Texas in the 2014 spring race and is the only driver not named Jimmie Johnson to take the checkered flag there since Kyle Busch in spring of 2013.

If Saturday’s contest comes down to a late caution, don’t be surprised to see Logano in the mix again. He is the fastest active driver on restarts at Texas (180.190 mph).


’Dinger Zings To Top Finish At Martinsville

AJ Allmendinger scored his best finish since his 2014 win at Watkins Glen when he placed second on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. The No. 47 Chevrolet driver trailed winner Kyle Busch by a mere 0.663 seconds.

“Well, I was hoping for one more spot, but man that was a lot of fun,” Allmendinger said. “I passed Jimmie Johnson like five times at Martinsville. That is pretty freaking cool. I just can’t thank everybody on this team enough.”

The result marked the fourth time in his career Allmendinger has finished in the top 10 in two consecutive races. He has never placed in the top 10 three times in a row – a feat he will attempt to achieve in Sunday’s Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Allmendinger jumped seven spots from 19th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings to 12th following the race.


Right On Target: Larson Logs Third-Place Paperclip Finish

Kyle Larson did at Martinsville what the North Carolina basketball team struggled to do on Monday night.

He rebounded.

Two weeks after placing 39th at Auto Club due to a wreck, Larson finished third at Martinsville, moving up 14 spots from his 17th starting position.

Prior to Sunday, the NASCAR Next and Drive for Diversity (operated by Rev Racing) alumnus never finished higher than 19th at Martinsville in four previous starts there. His Sunday showing was his top effort this year since finishing seventh in the Daytona 500.

“In the past it's been my worst race track on the schedule, so to get a top-three finish here feels great, feels like a win to be honest, and hopefully this is a good momentum shift that we need,” Larson said. “We've been struggling all year long so far and been working hard, but it hasn't paid off.”

The No. 42 Chevrolet driver will attempt to build momentum at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. He struggled at TMS last season with finishes of 25th and 37th, respectively, but placed fifth and seventh at the 1.5-mile oval in 2014.


NASCAR Hall of Fame Fan Vote Now Open

NASCAR fans are invited to cast their votes for the NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2017 by participating in the annual Fan Vote on NASCAR.com/halloffame.

Fans are encouraged to vote for five of the 20 nominees for the Class of 2017. The top-five vote-getters, as voted upon by the fans, will make up one of the ballots from the Voting Panel that will be used to tabulate the results for the NHOF Class of 2017 on Voting Day, Wednesday, May 25.

Voting is open now and closes at 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, May 23.


NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Etc.

Back In Texas: Buescher Readies For Second Start At Hometown Track

Chris Buescher, a native of Prosper, Texas, returns to his hometown track for his first start there as a full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Buescher placed 30th at Texas last spring, moving up 10 spots from his 40th starting position in only his third NSCS start. The 2015 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion currently ranks fourth in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings.

Six Texans have won a NSCS race: Terry Labonte (22), Bobby Labonte (21), A.J. Foyt (7), Billy Wade (4), Bobby Hillin Jr. (1) and Johnny Rutherford (1).

Did You Know?

In its infield, Texas Motor Speedway can fit the stadiums of both of the Lone Star State’s NFL Football teams (Cowboys, Texans), its two MLB teams, its three NBA squads, and Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. The infield spans 84 acres and houses the Guinness World Record-recognized world’s largest TV – “Big Hoss.”

- NASCAR

2016 Duck Commander 500 Preview

Jimmie Johnson is a straight badass at Texas.

LAS VEGAS -- We're already six races into the season and have had five different winners as the series shifts back to a 1.5-mile track at Texas Motor Speedway which means the low downforce package comes back into the equation and Jimmie Johnson will most likely win again.

It may sound presumptuous to assume Johnson is going to win again, but let's be real with what we've seen far this season and also in Texas history. He's the only driver with multiple wins this year and they both came on tracks (Atlanta and Fontana) where the low downforce set-up figured prominently. On the other track where the package was a big deal -- Las Vegas, Johnson finished third and led the most laps.

And that's just this year.

How about the fact that Johnson has won the past three races at Texas and has won a track record six times while leading a track record 1,023 laps?

He's so good at Texas that he even wins there when he doesn't have the best car like was the case last fall. Brad Keselowski led 312 of the 334 laps. He had the dominant car on the day, but Johnson stayed close and when it was money time he put pressure on Keselowski. With four laps to go Johnson would make the pass and Keselowski would finish just over a second behind as runner-up.

I guess that's what champions do, but when you add in all his continued history there, his crew chief, and how the season is going so far, it's easy to see why he's the 9/2 favorite (Bet $100 to win $45) to win Saturday night's Duck Commander 500. The only reason he isn't favored by more is because there are several drivers right near his level with the low downforce package, and that's kind of the angle I'm going to roll with this week.

By no means will I be looking to bet against Johnson in any match-ups, but I'm not thrilled about taking 9/2 odds even though Johnson has burned me several times in his career because I didn't want to back his short prices. And really, let's face it, there have been 19 races Johnson didn't win at Texas -- track record five runner-up finishes.

Read More Here.....Top-5 Finish Prediction on VegasInsider.com

Texas Motor Speedway Track Facts: 2016 Duck Commander 500

More Superman exploits expected at Texas where he's won six times, including last three.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2016 Top 16 at Texas Motor Speedway

Rank	Driver	Races	Poles	Wins	Top Fives	Top 10s	DNFs	Average Finish	Driver Rating
1	Kevin Harvick	26	0	0	6	14	1	12.3	88.8
2	Jimmie Johnson	25	1	6	13	19	1	8.4	108.0
3	Kyle Busch	20	1	1	9	10	0	12.4	101.9
4	Carl Edwards	22	1	3	7	11	4	14.5	96.4
5	Joey Logano	15	0	1	5	5	1	18.5	78.9
6	Brad Keselowski	15	1	0	4	6	0	16.3	86.9
7	Austin Dillon	6	0	0	0	0	0	21.3	67.1
8	Kurt Busch	26	1	1	3	14	2	15.5	88.7
9	Denny Hamlin	20	0	2	5	10	0	12.2	90.6
10	Dale Earnhardt Jr	27	2	1	5	16	3	13.9	92.2
11	Martin Truex Jr	21	2	0	2	10	3	14.7	89.7
12	AJ Allmendinger	14	0	0	0	2	2	20.8	68.6
13	Jamie McMurray	24	0	0	4	9	1	16.9	78.3
14	Matt Kenseth	26	1	2	13	17	1	9.5	104.7
15	Chase Elliott	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.0	0.0
16	Ryan Blaney	2	0	0	0	0	2	42.5	38.7

* – Based on last 22 races at Texas Motor Speedway (2005 – 2015).

Texas Motor Speedway Data Season Race #: 07 of 36 (04-09-16) Track Size: 1.5-mile Banking/Turn 1 & 2: 24 degrees Banking/Turn 3 & 4: 24 degrees Banking/Frontstretch: 5 degrees Banking/Backstretch: 5 degrees Frontstretch Length:  2,250 feet Backstretch Length:  1,330 feet Race Length: 334 laps / 501 miles Top 10 Active Driver Ratings at Texas Jimmie Johnson........................ 108.0 Matt Kenseth............................. 104.7 Kyle Busch............................... 101.9 Greg Biffle.................................. 98.1 Carl Edwards.............................. 96.4 Dale Earnhardt Jr........................ 92.2 Denny Hamlin............................. 90.6 Martin Truex Jr............................ 89.7 Clint Bowyer............................... 89.1 Kevin Harvick.............................. 88.8 Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2015 races (22 total) among active drivers at Texas Motor Speedway. Qualifying/Race Data 2015 pole winner: Kurt Busch, Chevrolet 193.847 mph, 27.857 secs. 04-09-15 2015 race winner: Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet 140.500 mph, (03:33:57), 04-11-15 Track qualifying record: Tony Stewart, Chevrolet 200.111 mph, 26.985 secs. 10-31-14 Set in Round 2 of 3 Track race record: Greg Biffle, Ford 160.577 mph, (3:07:12), 11-14-12

Texas Motor Speedway:

History

·         Construction on Texas Motor Speedway began in 1995.

·         The first NASCAR national series race at TMS was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on April 5, 1997 – won by Mark Martin.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was on April 6, 1997 – won by Jeff Burton.

·         The track underwent a repave between the 2001 and 2002 seasons.

·         In 2011, the spring NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was moved from Sunday to Saturday night under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway.

·         Texas Motor Speedway hosted its first Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race on November 6, 2005 – won by Carl Edwards.

Starts

·         There have been 30 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one NSCS event from 1997 - 2004 and two races per year since 2005.

·         148 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas; 118 in more than one.

·         Jeff Gordon is the only driver to have made all 30 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway. Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads all active drivers with 27 Texas starts.

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Texas Motor Speedway with an 8.400. Johnson is the only active driver with an average starting position at Texas inside the top 10.

·         Six drivers have made their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career start at Texas Motor Speedway: Adam Petty (2000), Jay Sauter (2002), Brad Keselowski (2008), Trevor Bayne (2010), David Starr (2011) and Parker Kligerman (2013).

Poles

·         Jeremy Mayfield was the first Coors Light pole winner, in 1998 at Texas with a speed of 185.906 mph. The inaugural Coors Light pole at Texas Motor Speedway in 1997 was cancelled due to weather conditions.

·         22 drivers have Coors Light poles at Texas, led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Ryan Newman, Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte and Martin Truex Jr. with two each.

·         Two drivers have won consecutive Coors Light poles at Texas Motor Speedway: Bobby Labonte (2003 and 2004) and Ryan Newman (2005 sweep).

·         Youngest Texas Coors Light pole winner: Brian Vickers (11/05/2006 – 23 years, 0 months, 12 days).

·         Oldest Texas Coors Light pole winner: Bill Elliott (4/08/2002 – 46 years, 6 months, 0 days).

·         David Ragan (4/09/2011) and Martin Truex Jr. (11/04/2007) posted their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coors Light poles at Texas Motor Speedway.    

Wins

·         18 different drivers have won at Texas Motor Speedway, led by Jimmie Johnson with six victories; including five of the last seven races.

·         Seven drivers have multiple wins at Texas Motor Speedway:  Jimmie Johnson (six), Carl Edwards (three),Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Tony Stewart each have two.

·         Roush Fenway Racing leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in wins at Texas Motor Speedway with nine; followed by Hendrick Motorsports with eight and Joe Gibbs Racing has four. 

·         Four different manufacturers have won a NSCS race at Texas, led by Ford and Chevrolet (12 each); followed by Toyota (three) and Dodge (three).

·         One NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver has won at Texas Motor Speedway in two different manufacturers: Jeff Burton (1997 – Ford; 2007 – Chevrolet)

·         Youngest Texas winner: Joey Logano (03/30/2003 – 23 years, 10 months, 14 days).

·         Oldest Texas winner: Dale Jarrett (04/01/2001 – 44 years, 4 months, 6 days).

·         Three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers have posted consecutive wins at Texas Motor Speedway: Jimmie Johnson (2014 Chase race and 2015 sweep), Carl Edwards (2008 sweep) and Denny Hamlin (2010 sweep).

·         Three of the 30 (10%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway have been won from the Coors Light pole; Kasey Kahne (2006), Jimmie Johnson (2012) and Kyle Busch (2013). 

·         Six of the 30 (20%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway have been won from the front row: three from the pole and three from second-place.

·         The third-place starting position is the most proficient starting spot in the field at Texas Motor Speedway, producing more wins than any other starting position (six) – most recent: Jimmie Johnson (fall of 2014).

·         24 of the 30 (80%) NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Texas Motor Speedway have been won from a top-10 starting position. Below is a breakdown of the number of wins by starting position in the top 10.

·         Four of the 30 (13.3%) NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway have been won from a starting position outside the top 20.

·         The deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Texas Motor Speedway is 31st, by Matt Kenseth in 2002.

·         Jeff Burton (4/06/1997) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (4/02/2000) won their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career race at Texas Motor Speedway.

·         11 of the 12 active NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers who have won at Texas Motor Speedway participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Texas in his first appearance;Carl Edwards and Ryan Newman won in their second appearance at TMS. 

·         Only two of the 12 winning drivers have made 10 or more attempts before their first win at Texas Motor Speedway: Kyle Busch (15) and Kurt Busch (13).

·         Kevin Harvick leads the series among active drivers with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway without visiting Victory Lane at 26.

Additional Finishing Positions

·         Jimmie Johnson leads the series in runner-up finishes at Texas Motor Speedway with five; followed by Matt Kenseth with four and Jeff Gordon with three. 

·         Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson lead the series in top-five finishes at Texas Motor Speedway with 13 each; followed by Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch with nine each.  

·         Jimmie Johnson leads the series in top-10 finishes at Texas Motor Speedway with 19; followed by Matt Kenseth (17) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (16).

·         Two active drivers have a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series average finish inside the top 10 at Texas: Jimmie Johnson (8.440) and Matt Kenseth (9.462).

·         Casey Mears has participated in the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway without posting a DNF (23).

Track / Event Specific Stats

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Texas is the (4/4/2004) race won by Elliott Sadler with an MOV of .028 seconds over Kasey Kahne.

·         Jimmie Johnson leads the series in laps led at Texas with 1,017 laps led in 24 starts.

·         Qualifying has been cancelled due to weather conditions twice in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway; the inaugural event in 1997 and the spring race of 2007. The actual race has never been rain shortened, but was postponed to Monday in 2014 due to weather. 

·         Jimmie Johnson leads all active NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers in laps led at Texas Motor Speedway with 1,023 laps.

Female Competitor Stats

·         Two female drivers have made NSCS starts at Texas Motor Speedway: Shawna Robinson and Danica Patrick

Date	Driver	Starting Position	Finishing Position	Driver Rating
11/8/2015	Danica Patrick	11	16	69.6
4/11/2015	Danica Patrick	21	16	74.9
11/2/2014	Danica Patrick	27	36	42.4
4/7/2014	Danica Patrick	24	27	53.2
11/3/2013	Danica Patrick	30	25	49.2
4/13/2013	Danica Patrick	42	28	42.9
11/4/2012	Danica Patrick	32	24	61.4
Averages		26.7	24.6	56.2
Date	Driver	Starting Position	Finishing Position
4/8/2002	Shawna Robinson	16	36

NASCAR in Texas

·         There have been 39 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races among three tracks in the state of Texas.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth	30
Texas World Speedway	College Station	8
Meyer Speedway	Houston	1

·         81 drivers in NASCAR national series history have their home state recorded as Texas.

·         10 drivers from Texas have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series. Six of the 10 Texas native NASCAR winners have won in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Driver	NSCS	NXS	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
Chris Buescher	0	3	0
James Buescher	0	1	6
David Starr	0	0	4
Colin Braun	0	0	1

NASCAR Pre-Race Loop Data Leaders At Texas Motor Speedway
Driver Rating	Jimmie Johnson	108.0
Average Running Position	Matt Kenseth	9.363
Closers	Jimmie Johnson	2.4 avg. spots gained
Fastest Driver Early In The Run	Kyle Busch	177.633 mph
Fastest Driver Late In The Run	Kyle Larson	171.884 mph
Fastest Laps Run	Jimmie Johnson	8.6% (637 laps)
Fastest On Restarts	Joey Logano	180.190 mph
Green Flag Passes	Jamie McMurray	1,841
Quality Passes	Dale Earnhardt Jr	922
Green Flag Speed	Jimmie Johnson	173.820 mph
Laps Led	Jimmie Johnson	13.9% (1,023 laps)
Laps In The Top 15	Jimmie Johnson	76.8% (5,660 laps)
*Loop Data was established in 2005

Average Finishing Positions at Texas Motor Speedway

Last four races (2014-2015).

Driver	Average Finishing Position
Kyle Busch	3.667
Brad Keselowski	6.250
Jimmie Johnson	7.000
Carl Edwards	9.500
Jamie McMurray	9.500
Brian Vickers	10.000
Jeff Gordon	11.750
Kevin Harvick	12.250
Martin Truex Jr	13.500
Greg Biffle	13.750

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Milestones
Drivers	Has	Needs	Milestones
Matt Kenseth	36	1	Tie Bobby Isaac and Tim Flock for 18th on all-time wins list
Kyle Busch	35	1	Tie Matt Kenseth for 20th on the all-time wins list
Kevin Harvick	32	1	Tie Fireball Roberts for 22nd on all-time wins list
Denny Hamlin	27	1	Tie Rex White for 25th on all-time wins list
Kurt Busch	27	1	Tie Rex White for 25th on all-time wins list
Jimmie Johnson	34	1	Tie Ned Jarrett for 19th on all-time poles list
Denny Hamlin	23	1	Tie Alan Kulwicki for 28th on all-time poles list
Kevin Harvick	45	1	Tie Jimmie Johnson for 10th on all-time 2nd-place finishes list
Jimmie Johnson	318	1	Tie Cale Yarborough for 13th on all-time top-10 finishes list
Dale Earnhardt Jr	249	1	Tie Lee Petty for 23rd on all-time top-10 finishes list
Ryan Newman	215	1	Tie Sterling Marlin for 29th on all-time top-10 finishes list
Jimmie Johnson	17,880	120	To become ninth NSCS driver all-time to lead 18,000 laps
Kyle Busch	11,464	536	To become 14th NSCS driver all-time to lead 12,000 laps
Track Specific Milestones
Drivers	Has	Needs	Milestones
Dale Earnhardt Jr	2	1	Break seven driver tie and become the sole series leader in poles at Texas Motor Speedway.
Ryan Newman	2	1	Break seven driver tie and become the sole series leader in poles at Texas Motor Speedway.
Martin Truex Jr.	2	1	Break seven driver tie and become the sole series leader in poles at Texas Motor Speedway.
Greg Biffle	2	1	Tie Carl Edwards for the second most wins at Texas Motor Speedway
Denny Hamlin	2	1	Tie Carl Edwards for the second most wins at Texas Motor Speedway
Matt Kenseth	2	1	Tie Carl Edwards for the second most wins at Texas Motor Speedway
Hendrick Motorsports	8	1	Tie Roush Fenway Racing for the series most wins at Texas Motor Speedway