Kyle Busch Sweeps Texas Weekend from the Pole

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Kyle Busch was just trying to maintain the pace behind Martin Truex Jr. while waiting for his chance.

The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing team pounced when the yellow flag came out with 21 laps to go at Texas Motor Speedway.

Busch finally regained the lead on pit road during that caution then held on for the final 16 laps after the last restart Saturday night in the Sprint Cup race, completing a NASCAR weekend sweep.

"As soon as that caution came, my boys stepped up the plate and hit a grand slam," said Busch, who got his 26th career cup win in his 300th start.

After following Truex lap after lap, Busch came off pit road first and charged his Toyota forward in a strong restart.

It was the second time this season, and a NASCAR-record seventh time in his career, that Busch won Cup and Nationwide races in the same weekend. He was the polesitter Saturday night, and won the Nationwide race on Friday night on the 1½-mile, high-banked track.

Busch, who also won both races at Fontana last month, led eight times for 171-of-334 laps. He is the first driver to win in all three series at Texas, with six Nationwide wins and two in trucks.

"To be in Victory Lane in Texas, there's nothing better," Busch said. "If it wasn't for my pit crew, which is the most awesome group ever. ... Man, those guys were just awesome. They put together a heck of a stop to give us that lead. These cars are amazing to drive. They're fast. They're fun."

Truex was trying to win for the first time since June 2007, but his winless streak reached 210 races when he finished a half-second behind Busch. Truex came into the race 25th in points with no laps led this season, but had his Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota in front for 142 laps at Texas.

"Debris huh????" Truex tweeted about the caution that cost him the lead.

Truex had more than a 4-second lead over Busch soon before pulling in for a green-flag stop on lap 281 just before two cars spun on the backstretch bringing out a caution. Truex had pushed back to a 1.3-second lead just before that last yellow flag that determined the race.

Read More Here.....

NRA 500 Results

Texas NRA 500 Post-Practice Notes and Final Driver Ratings

Keselowski was good in practice Friday

By Micah Roberts

Martin Truex Jr. and Marcos Ambrose were the fastest during Friday's two 90-minute practice sessions at Texas Motor Speedway in preparation for Saturday's NRA 500. However, Friday's practices might not tell the entire story of what we'll see Saturday night under the lights, when the temperature is much cooler. Both of Friday's sessions were run under the sun in conditions that won't be relative to Saturday's 7:46 p.m. (ET) start time.

In each of the sessions, there were some strange occurrences that kind of let everyone know that the irregular practice schedule -- in relation to being a night race run on Saturday -- had teams trying several different things other than simply trying to maximize speed under the sun.

For instance, in the final session, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all finished with single lap speeds 32nd or worse, which is almost unheard of collectively. On normal race weekends, the final session is about maximizing speed and getting a last chance to be fast on race day. However, when looking at the 10-consecutive lap averages from the same session, all five of those drivers placed in the top 10, which shows they were placing a premium on being good in long runs.

Brad Keselowski ended up with the best 10-consecutive lap average during happy hour, and Paul Menard was tops in the early session.

Read More Here......Final Driver Ratings

Updated LVH Super Book NASCAR Odds: 2013 NRA 500 at Texas

Kyle Busch is on the Pole and has been dropped down to 9/2 odds

NRA 500
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2013

JIMMIE JOHNSON 9-2
KYLE BUSCH 9-2
BRAD KESELOWSKI 8
GREG BIFFLE 15
CARL EDWARDS 8
MATT KENSETH 10
KASEY KAHNE 10
JEFF GORDON 10
TONY STEWART 15
DALE EARNHARDT JR 12
CLINT BOWYER 25
KEVIN HARVICK 30
MARTIN TRUEX JR 15
BRIAN VICKERS 25
MARK MARTIN 50
JOEY LOGANO 30
RYAN NEWMAN 100
RICKY STENHOUSE JR 60
KURT BUSCH 25
PAUL MENARD 100
MARCOS AMBROSE 75
JUAN MONTOYA 100
JAMIE McMURRAY 75
ARIC ALMIROLA 75
JEFF BURTON 200
TREVOR BAYNE 300
AJ ALLMENDINGER xxxx
DANICA PATRICK 1000
CASEY MEARS 1000
FIELD 100

2013 Texas NRA 500 Practice Notes: Referencing Las Vegas and Fontana still looks to be best move

Matt Kenseth looks good this week

By Micah Roberts

Martin Truex Jr. and Marcos Ambrose were the fastest during Friday’s two 90-minute practice sessions at Texas Motor Speedway in preparation for Saturday’s NRA 500. However, Friday’s practices might not tell the entire story to what we’ll see Saturday night under the lights, when the temperature is much cooler. Both of Friday’s sessions were run under the sun, conditions that won’t be relative to Saturday’s 7:46 p.m. (ET) start time.

In each of the sessions, there were some strange occurrences that kind of let everyone know that the irregular practice schedule -- in relation to being a night race run on Saturday -- had teams trying several different things other than simply trying to maximize speed under the sun.

For instance, in the final session, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. all finished with single lap speeds 32nd or worse, which is almost unheard of collectively. On normal race weekends, the final session is about maximizing speed and getting a last chance to be fast on race day. However, when looking at the 10-consecutive lap averages from the same session, all five of those drivers placed in the top-10, which shows they were placing a premium on being good in long runs.

Brad Keselowski ended up with the best 10-consecutive lap average during happy hour while Paul Menard was tops in the early session.

Coming into this race -- before Thursday’s testing and Friday’s practices, the top candidates considered to win were mostly based on what happened at the two down-force tracks the new Gen-6 car had already seen this season at Las Vegas and Fontana. The drivers who did well on those tracks didn’t necessarily have fast single laps times Friday, but they were at the top of the 10-consecutive lap averages, which looks to be the best angle to play when trying to identify Saturday’s winner.

Matt Kenseth won at Las Vegas and Kyle Busch won at Fontana -- with an assist going to Joey Logano for knocking Denny Hamlin out. You’ll notice that three of the four names are all from Joe Gibbs Racing, which is kind of why we elevated Kenseth to the top of our charts this week. The Gibbs cars seem to have an edge on these tracks.

Kenseth’s past history also helps get him to the top of the list. A track best 8.3 average finish with two wins is pretty strong. He’s also currently on a run of five straight top-5 Texas finishes. During the final practice session, he had the third fastest 10-consecutive lap average.

Five drivers -- Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Busch and Menard -- had top-10 finishes at both Las Vegas and Fontana. Two of them -- Busch and Edwards -- had top-5 finishes at each. Menard, with odds this week at 75-to-1, looks to be a driver that is going to break through in one of these type of races soon. We waited all last season for Martin Truex Jr., who was in a similar situation, but it never happened.

While we like Menard to do well -- maybe more hopeful because of the odds, the best value on the board may be Earnhardt Jr. at 15-to-1. However, the top three cars look to be driven by Kenseth, Johnson and Keselowski. It should also be noted that Kahne is using the same chassis this week that he led six times for 114 laps at Las Vegas.

Read More Here for Top-10 Driver Ratings

Truex Jr. Fastest in First Texas NRA 500 Practice Session

Truex captured the fastest lap in the final stages of practice

Martin Truex, Jr., with a lap at 192.143 mph, posted the quickest speed in Friday's first practice session at Texas Motor Speedway in preparation for Saturday night's NRA 500. Truex Jr. captured the top speed late in the 90-minute session on his 36th, and final lap, while in qualifying trim.

Prior to Truex Jr.'s run, Dale Earnhardt Jr. had the fastest lap at 192.123 mph, which he gained on his very first run around the 1.5-mile high banked track. For Junior, it's a great sign that he might able to do some good things on Saturday night, maybe even possibly win his first race at Texas since 2000, the site of his first win of his career.

If previous races run on the two down-force tracks this season are any indication of how Junior might run, he should be in good shape. He was runner-up at Fontana and seventh at Las Vegas, the best average among his Hendrick teammates, including Jimmie Johnson.

Johnson was third fastest in the session (191.510 mph) followed by Jamie McMurray (191.347) and Kevin Harvick (190.853). In Thursday's testing at Texas, Jimmie Johnson had the fastest 10-consecutive lap average in both sessions, but didn't run 10-consecutive laps in Friday's early practice.

Paul Menard had the best 10-consecutive lap average among the 13 that ran that many in a row. Menard is definitely a driver to take notice this week if looking at Las Vegas -- where he finished 10th, and Fontana -- where he was eighth. Texas figures to run most similar to Las Vegas.

Ryan Newman ran the most laps (59), but couldn't do better than 29th fastest on any single lap run. Kyle Busch ran 55 laps and had the 20th fastest lap.

The surprisingly slow driver on the day was Kasey Kahne, who is using the same chassis this week that he led the most laps with at Las Vegas, finishing second. Kahne was mired in 29th position for most of the session and became 18th quickest in the later stages.

The teams final practice session will be from 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. (ET) this afternoon, and qualifying will be at 6:40 p.m. (ET) this evening.

It's hard to put a true gauge on how relative these sessions are to race day, or night, because the Saturday's race will be at night under the lights, where everything the teams are working on now may not produce the same results.

Practice 1 Speeds

Greg Biffle Posts Fastest Speed in Thursday Texas Test Session

Jimmie Johnson wasn't the fastest on Thursday, but he did have the fastest 10-consecutive lap average in both sessions

Records crumbled, numbers skyrocketed and emotions flared during the Gen-6 race car’s debut on the first two intermediate tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule – Las Vegas Motor Speedway and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. And according to those who spoke today, expect more of the same during Saturday night’s race at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.

On Thursday, drivers tested the Gen-6 car at Texas Motor Speedway in preparation for the third intermediate installment, set for Saturday night (7:30 p.m. ET on FOX, FOX Deportes, Motor Racing Network Radio, SiriusXM Satellite Radio). Kurt Busch, a 2009 Texas winner, turned the fastest lap in the first session at 191.225 mph. Greg Biffle, a two-time winner at Texas, was fastest in the second session (192.864 mph).

“I honestly think we've had some of the best racing we've had in a decade,” said Robin Pemberton, NASCAR vice president of competition, during the break between the two two-hour long test sessions. “I mean, they're really hard racing. …Vegas was an outstanding race. Best race we've had there. [Auto Club] Speedway, best race we've had there. It was an opportunity for us to start over in many ways, shapes or forms because we had everyone working together, so everyone started at a higher level when we handed this car off, very different than what we've done in the last decade.”

A well-worn Texas racing surface, combined with previous intermediate track performances of the Gen-6 Chevrolet SS, Toyota Camry and Ford Fusion, had driver’s predicting a similar race to those held at Las Vegas and Auto Club Speedway. There were a track-record 31 green flag passes for the lead at Las Vegas, and a record-matching 41 at Auto Club Speedway.

“The car's definitely been different than we expected at some places and they put on a good race at the big tracks where we thought passing was going to be more difficult than we had last year,” said Martin Truex Jr., driver of the No. 56 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota. “So far so good and hopefully it will be more of the same this weekend."

Biffle and Paul Menard both currently reside in the top 10 in series points, and both have had success at Texas. Biffle won last year’s spring race, and Menard collected one of his seven career top fives at Texas in 2011.

“The last time I drove this car was last year here and it has come so far since then,” said Biffle, driver of the No. 16 3M Ford. “It was definitely a handful then to drive and now the first few laps on the race track it has a lot of grip and is really fun to drive. You know, it is the same old Texas. We are sliding and a little loose and then tight and it is going to be a fun race.”

“So far, so good,” said Menard, driver of the No. 27 Quaker State / Menards Chevrolet. “We put a big emphasis on just making sure we unload good today and do all the right things with preparation to unload good. It’s hard if you’re looking for a half a second, it’s hard to make that up. But right now we’re just looking for a couple tenths. I feel good about how our speed is. We’ve got a lot of things left to try for these couple of hours in the afternoon session and try to get a little bit better.”

- NASCAR Media Services

Texas Test Session 1

Texas Test Session 2 

Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about Texas, NRA, Jimmie Johnson, and Gen-6 car

Junior won his first career race at Texas

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONAL GUARDCHEVROLET SS – met with media and discussed last week’s race at Martinsville, his expectations of on-track testing at Texas, classic cars, team reactions to disappointment, and more.

WHAT MAKES TEXAS SO SPECIAL FOR YOU AND YOUR TEAM?
“It’s just the fact that you got a win here; won your first race here. That’s what makes it so special.”

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LAS VEGAS TRACK AND THE TEXAS TRACK?
“Well, the asphalt is a little bit newer in Vegas. There are a lot of different bumps. Vegas has got a lot of bad bumps going into Turn 1 and this place has got a pretty bad bump in the middle of (Turns) 1 and 2; and 3 and 4 as well, where the tunnels are.”

HOW IS THIS TRACK GOING TO BE FOR THE NEW RACE CARS?
“I think it’ll be just fine. It’s not a whole lot different than what we’ve brought here in the past. There are a couple of things different on the aero and the chassis is pretty much the same as last year. So, we’re not going to have to really go scratching our heads trying to figure anything out.”

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH YOUR RACE CAR LAST WEEK AT MARTINSVILLE? WAS IT THE TRACK BAR?
“Yeah, the track bar came loose on the left side and was moving all over the place. We just had, what (crew chief) Steve (Letarte) labeled as ‘improper installation’. There’s a key in the back that holds the sway bar in place on the mount and that key came out and got turned. And so when they tightened the sway bar up in the morning, the key wasn’t in place to hold the sway bar tight and the bowl was able to back-out rather easily with just the general forces that it sees in the corner and laterally and on the load.

“So, it came loose and it dropped down and when you move the track bar down, that really tightens the car up. The left side seems to tighten the center of the corner up at the majority of the race tracks. It moved an inch, which is a big major change and it really affected the handling of the car. The car just wasn’t driving very well, especially at the end of the race.”

UNDER THOSE CIRCUMSTANCES, ARE YOU SURPRISED YOU RAN AS WELL AS YOU DID?
“No. I’m surprised I didn’t get run over sooner.”

THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK ABOUT JIMMIE JOHNSON LAPPING YOU WHILE THE CAUTION WAS OUT; AND THAT MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE LET YOU STAY IN FRONT OF HIM. IS THERE ANY SORT OF PROTOCOL IN THAT SITUATION? WERE YOU UPSET AT ALL ABOUT IT?
“No, Jimmie couldn’t slow down. If you slow down, the guy behind you has the rights to take your position. I lost a position to Hamlin under caution at Phoenix, so I know all about that too well. Jimmie, leading the race, couldn’t take the chance.

“He did actually try to slow down and I think that he saw that I had two left-side flat tires and it was pretty pointless for him to wait. If he stopped at all, the guys behind him would have been able to pass him for that position. He couldn’t give up that opportunity or take that chance or that risk. I would have done the same thing Jimmie did. I’m leading the race. I’ve got to think about my team and my car and what I’m trying to do. I don’t think he did it out of spite or anything like that. He just was driving is race.

“We shouldn’t have been back there in the first place and been in that position to be run over. But unfortunately it was just a bad day for us and it just seemed to get worse. But he wasn’t doing anything that he wasn’t supposed to be doing. The guy is leading the race, you know? He’s got to take care of what he’s doing. He’s got a race to win.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT RICK HENDRICK BEING NOMINATED AS ONE OF THE FINALISTS? DO YOU THINK THIS MIGHT BE THE YEAR THAT HE GETS IN?
“Yeah, I think Rick gets in. He’s accomplished a lot. The other thing that might keep him out is that he is technically still an active owner. There are a lot of guys that aren’t with us anymore that started this sport back in the ‘50’s and ‘60’s, that maybe should go in before him because of that reason. But I think he’s got a great chance.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BRUTON SMITH FINALLY MAKING THE TOP 25? HE’S BEEN LEFT OFF THE LIST THE WHOLE TIME?
“Yeah, I think he deserves to be in there. I think that he probably has a real good shot, too. He’s going to get a lot of exposure, probably more exposure than some of the other names on the list, through the press and through the media, building up to the voting for the five. So, I think he’s got a good shot.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE NRA AND THEIR SPONSORSHIP OF THIS RACE?
“I think it’s a good fit for Texas. I think it’s obviously a decision the track made; they partnered with them. I think that our opinion is if we get an opportunity to win the race, we’re going to treat Victory Lane just like any other race and we’ll be happy to celebrate just like everybody else has celebrated here in the past.”

DO YOU HAVE A MESSAGE FOR YOUR FANS REGARDING THE NRA SPONSORSHIP?
“I own guns. I like to hunt. When I’m not hunting I keep my guns in a safe, (where they are) out of reach from my younger family members and my nieces and nephews. I like to hunt and I believe in ownership, but I also believe in responsibility. You can’t ever be safe enough in regards to that, especially with gun ownership.”

CAN YOU TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOUR AGENDA ON THE TRACK TODAY VERSUS TOMORROW?
“It’s kind of the same. I’m going to treat this like it’s part of the race weekend. I’m not really looking at this like a test. I’m looking at this like this is us preparing for the race.

“It’s not going to but it could rain tomorrow so you’ve got to anticipate anything happening that might not get you on the race track tomorrow. We are just going to work toward getting our car ready to race and getting our car fast enough to try to win the race on Saturday night.”

DO YOU LIKE THE HANDS OFF APPROACH NASCAR IS USING THE PUSHING AND SHOVING AND SO FORTH?
“I think there is a way to manage it. I think being able to get out there and show raw emotion and race hard is real important. The fans need to see that, the fans want to see that. I think you’ve got to also carry yourself with respect and treat people the way you want to be treated.”

YOU TALKED LAST WEEK ABOUT SOME OF THE FAVORITE CARS YOU OWN AS A KID WHAT WAS THE FIRST CAR YOU REALLY REVERED WHAT CAUGHT THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE?
“I don’t really know. I didn’t really have a favorite car growing up when I was a kid. My favorite car was the one I drove. It was a 1986 single cab short bed (Chevrolet) S10 pickup truck 4×4. I got that when I was 16 (years old). I wish I still had it.”

HOW MANY CLASSIC CARS DO YOU HAVE?
“I don’t own a lot of cars.”

IT SEEMED LIKE SOME OF THE STORIES YOU HAD KIND OF HAVE A MEMORY WITH EACH ONE?
“No, not really I don’t own a lot of cars, but I have a few that I appreciate. I like the 70’s era cars the way that I perceive how the world was back then. So the cars the Camaro’s and stuff like that from ’73 and the Oldsmobile 442 from ’77 stuff like that is pretty cool to me.”

IT’S EASY TO TEST A RACE TEAM WHEN THINGS ARE GOING GREAT, BUT WHEN YOU HAVE A ROUGH WEEKEND HOW IS YOUR TEAM HANDLING THAT?
“Everybody handles that kind of stuff differently. I really didn’t get over that run last week until we touched down today in Texas. I wanted to get to the race track as soon as I could just to get that behind me and put a good result on the board and just forget about that run. You can’t really do that until you can get to the race track.

“Steve’s (Letarte, crew chief) got kids. Kids seem to get you over thing like that a little faster. You get home and you see what they are doing and get involved in their lives and you kind of forget about all the bad things happening in your life. I did spend some time with my nephew this week that helped out a little bit. It’s just everybody handles it differently. It’s hard for me to get over stuff like that. It takes me until I can get to the race track and redeem myself really to be able to get over it.”

DENNY HAMLIN LAST WEEK SAID THE HARDEST PART FOR HIM AT THAT RACE AND HE DIDN’T THINK IT WOULD BE THAT WAY WAS THE START. DID YOU FIND THAT? WAS THAT THE SAME FOR YOU OR DID YOU FIND SOMETHING ELSE TOUGHER ABOUT HAVING TO SIT OUT?
“I can definitely understand where Denny (Hamlin) is coming from. I think that was the way I felt when I first started watching them practice. Practice was televised on television it was tough to watch; just sitting at home being so far away and not being able to be in there working and grinding. You get so used to working with those guys, working with the group you are with and then you are not there and they are moving on they are doing what they are supposed to do and you are not a part of it. It’s a really tough, odd feeling.”

CAN HE (DENNY HAMLIN) MAKE THE CHASE?
“Absolutely, they have a good enough team to win races and get into a wild card spot.”

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT GOING TO KANSAS NEXT WEEKEND?
“I haven’t raced there, missed the race last year with the reconfigure so I’m really anxious to get out there and see what kind of speed we have. See how I can get ahold of the race track really quick and those guys that I’m going to be racing against have a race on me there. I feel a little bit behind the eight ball with that deal, but looking forward to getting there and seeing what kind of speed we have. I think we tested really well before we had the crash. I thought we had good speed. I was enjoying the race.”

About Chevrolet
Founded in 1911 in Detroit, Chevrolet is now one of the world’s largest car brands, doing business in more than 140 countries and selling more than 4.5 million cars and trucks a year. Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality. More information on Chevrolet models can be found at www.chevrolet.com.

- Team Chevy

2013 Texas NRA 500 Chassis Selections: Kahne Using His Strong Vegas Ride This Week

Kahne is using the same chassis he led the most laps with at Las Vegas

#2-Brad Keselowski: Primary Chassis: PRS-849. Last Raced: New chassis. Backup Chassis: PRS-847. Last Raced: Backup chassis from Fontana (not used)

#5-Kasey Kahne: Crew chief Kenny Francis will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-779 for Saturday night's event at Texas. Most recently, Kahne lined up fourth in this car at the March 10 Las Vegas event, led a race-high 114 laps and crossed the finish line second.

#9-Marcos Ambrose: The No. 9 team has prepared chassis No. 847 for Texas. The team built the chassis in the off-season.

#10-Danica Patrick Chassis No. 10-723: This car debuted in May 2012 at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway, where Patrick started 40th and finished 30th in just her third Sprint Cup Series start. Patrick then tested the car in October at Kansas Speedway as part of the Sprint Cup Series open test prior to that weekend's Hollywood Casino 400. Chassis 10-723's next on-track activity came in November 2012 at Texas Motor Speedway, where Patrick started 32nd and finished 24th. Since the end of the 2012 season, it was updated to the sixth-generation (Gen-6) Chevrolet SS configuration.

#14-Tony Stewart: Chassis for the NRA 500 is 14-754. Basckup chassis No. 14-707: This car made its first start in May 2012 in the non-points NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. It was an unassuming debut, as Chassis No. 14-707 started ninth and finished a quiet 17th. The car sat idle until returning to action for the Labor Day weekend event at Atlanta Motor Speedway. It won the pole and led eight laps early in the 327-lap race, but as day turned to night, the handling of the car deteriorated, leaving Tony Stewart one lap down in 22nd when the race ended. It has since been totally rebuilt with 2013 Chevrolet SS sheetmetal, and was most recently used for the open test March 7 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway before serving as the No. 14 team's backup racecar for the remainder of the weekend. After Thursday's open test at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, it will serve as the backup racecar for the NRA 500.

#15-Clint Bowyer: Primary chassis No. 764 is new. In 2012 backup chassis (No. 724) raced a fourth place finish at Bristol in March, fifth at Dover in June and finished seventh at Bristol in August. In 2013 it has tested at Charlotte in January and served as the backup at Las Vegas and California.

#16-Greg Biffle: The primary chassis RK-849 is a brand new chassis. Biffle won this race a year ago with a new chassis. The backup chassis RK-809 is the same car that won at Texas a year ago. Since then it's finished fourth in the Coca-Cola 600, fourth in Michigan, 16th at Dover and finished up 2012 with a 10th-place finish at Texas in November.

#17-Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: Primary Chassis: RK- 827 2012 No. 99 chassis -last ran at Homestead - finished 12th. Backup Chassis: RK-811 - 2012 No. 99 chassis

#22-Joey Logano: Primary Chassis:PRS-848. Last Raced: New chassis. Backup Chassis: PRS-844. Last Raced: Backup chassis from Fontana (not used).

#27-Paul Menard will pilot chassis No. 418 at Texas Motor Speedway. This No. 27 Chevrolet SS is a new addition to the Richard Childress Racing stable this season.

#29-Kevin Harvick: will pilot chassis No. 404 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable in the NRA 500. Harvick drove this Chevrolet twice during the 2012 season, earning a 16th-place finish at Charlotte Motor Speedway in October and a ninth-place result at Texas Motor Speedway in November.

#31-Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 416 this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. This No. 31 Chevrolet finished 17th at Auto Club Speedway in March after Burton started from the 22nd position.

#39-Ryan Newman Chassis No. 39-748: Newman will pilot Chassis No. 39-748 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth this weekend. This chassis debuted at Texas last November, when Newman was able to overcome his starting position of 36th and a loose right-front wheel that dropped him from the top-10 to 25th with just 110 laps remaining to record a 12th-place finish. Since then, Chassis No. 39-748 was outfitted with a new front clip and a Chevrolet SS body, and saw its first laps of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season last month at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. There, Newman overcame a late-race pit road speeding penalty to finish 10th, earning his third top-10 finish of the season.

#43-Aric Almirola: The No. 43 team has prepared chassis No. 843 for Texas. The team built the chassis in the off-season.

#48-Jimmie Johnson: will drive chassis No. 728, at Texas. Chassis No. 720 serves as the backup.

#55-Mark Martin: Primary 765. Backup 720.

#88-Dale Earnhardt Jr.: This weekend at Texas, crew chief Steve Letarte will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-726. Earnhardt last raced this chassis to a seventh-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway in November 2012.

#99-Carl Edwards The No. 99 Fastenal Blue Team will unload RK-826 for the weekend, which last ran in Homestead 2012. Backup chassis: RK 831

- compiled by Jayski.com

Greg Biffle Texas Preview: Going for 10th Straight Top-10 Finish

Greg Biffle won this race last season; he's 7-to-1 to win Saturday

Greg Biffle – Texas Advance
Team: No. 16 3M Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Matt Puccia
Primary chassis: RK-849 Brand new chassis
Backup Chassis: RK-809 Last ran Texas – finished 10th

ADVANCE NOTES
* Defending Winner: One year ago Biffle started third, led 90 laps and ultimately took home the checkered flag under thelights at Texas Motor Speedway. He’ll once again hit the track with a brand new 3M Ford Fusion at Texas to see if he can race his way to another victory.

* To the Dogs: Biffle visited Texas Motor Speedway a few weeks ago, participating in an event with the Fort Worth K-9 Police Department and the local SPCA. He even tried out the K-9 bite suite. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6nsHqcUgBA

* Biffle at Texas: Biffle has led a total of 732 laps at Texas Motor Speedway, making Texas his best track for laps led. He ranks second overall in laps led at Texas Motor Speedway. In his 18 career Cup Series starts at the 1.5-mile track, Biffle has two wins, seven top-five and 11 top-10 finishes. His average starting position is 11.2 with an average finishing position of 15.9.

* The Car: The primary chassis RK-849 is a brand new chassis. Biffle won this race a year ago with a new chassis. The backup chassis RK-809 is the same car that won at Texas a year ago. Since then it’s finished fourth in the Coca-Cola 600, fourth in Michigan, 16th at Dover and finished up 2012 with a 10th-place finish at Texas in November.

* Texas Connection: Robert Best, the person responsible for building the rear suspension on the 3M Ford Fusion hails from Arlington, TX.

Biffle on Texas: “We are really excited to go back to Texas as the defending race winner. It takes a good balanced car to be able to win at Texas. We test Thursday afternoon which will help get us dialed in. Our team is excited; the car we are taking just came out of the wind tunnel with really good numbers. I’m ready to get on the track and defend our win.”

Puccia on Texas: “Texas has been a good race track for us. We’ve been working on our 1.5-mile program pretty hard to get it to where it was last year and I feel pretty good about what we’ve got. Texas is an important track position race. Not only is maintaining track position important but, tires are also important since the track surface is getting worn out. We’ve got Filtrete featured on our car this weekend and not only is getting a new Filtrete filter important for having clean air, but clean air will be very important for us to race.”

- Roush Fenway Racing

Matt Kenseth Texas Preview: Five Straight Top-5 Finishes on the Line

Matt Kenseth has the best average finish (8.3) all-time at Texas

Matt Kenseth 
NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway 

No. 20 Dollar General Toyota News and Notes:

TEXAS BY THE NUMBERS: Kenseth is the top active driver in the Sprint Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway with the best average finish (8.3), the most laps led (772), most top five (12) and top-ten (15) finishes. Kenseth has completed 6,973 of 7,025 (99.3 percent) career laps at Texas in the Sprint Cup Series and has won twice at the 1.5-mile track (April 2002 and 2011).

DG TEAMS SHOW SUPPORT FOR AUTISM AWARENESS: For the month of April, Dollar General and Joe Gibbs Racing will recognize National Autism Awareness Month by sporting the Autism Speaks blue puzzle piece logo on the c-posts of their Dollar General Toyotas. In their efforts to raise awareness, Dollar General is offering customers the opportunity to make donations to Autism Speaks during store check-out throughout the month of April.

THIS WEEK ON THE NO. 20 DOLLAR GENERAL TOYOTA: Dollar General vendor partners Hefty, Clorox, Vidal Sassoon, Angel Soft and Betty Crocker will be featured on Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 Toyota Camry this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.

RACE INFO: The NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (1.5-mile) begins at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 13. The race will be broadcast live on FOX, Sirius XM Channel 90 and PRN Radio.

QUOTES FROM THE NO. 20 TEAM:

Matt Kenseth: “Texas is one of my favorite places to race at, and historically, we’ve had a lot of success there in the past so I’m looking forward to my first race there with JGR and this new 2013 Toyota Camry. I’m looking for to getting on the track this week and I think that the extra day of testing will help us to try out a few things as we prepare for Saturday night’s race. Texas is a track where you can run either the high or low line, and it’s a pretty fast track, so I’m looking forward to a great weekend there.”

Crew Chief Jason Ratcliff: “Texas is one of the fastest tracks that we go to on the circuit, which typically you don’t always think about, but the entry speeds are so fast there. With it being a Saturday night race, I think it’s going to be one of the faster more action-packed races so far this year. For our No. 20 team, hopefully we can take what we had at Vegas and be successful this weekend at Texas. We have testing on Thursday so we’re looking forward to building upon our intermediate program which we’ve been pleased with so far this year.”

- Joe Gibbs Racing

Jimmie Johnson Texas Preview: No. 48 Looking for Back-to-Back Wins

Johnson won the fall race last season; he is 6-to-1 to win Saturday

HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. (April 10, 2013) – Jimmie Johnson enters the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth as the defending winner – from the pole position – on the heels of last weekend’s race win at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway – also from the pole position. Johnson is first in the driver standings, six points ahead of second-place Brad Keselowski.

Another first from first this weekend would certainly add to a season that has already produced the latest handful of career highlights for Johnson, who started the year with his second victory in the Daytona 500, the sport’s biggest race. And after Sunday’s win at Martinsville, he may need to take out a deed on the track as he now owns the record for most wins among active drivers at the .526- mile oval.

Texas has been good to the five-time Sprint Cup champion. He owns the sport’s second-best driver rating at the 1.5-mile oval (103.5 average of a possible 150 points) and has two wins (November 2012 and 2007). However, the track has certainly produced its share of drama for Johnson and Team Lowe’s Racing. A lap-three accident in 2009 nearly took him out of the running for the championship but was averted thanks to an incredible repair job by the No. 48 crew to get him back on track and on his way to the title. Last year’s dramatic battle to the finish with Keselowski provided a thrilling end to Johnson’s race win, but Keselowski eventually won the championship trophy two weeks later.

There’s sure to be more drama in this weekend’s 334-lap event as everything is big in Texas, as the saying goes. Johnson and his team just hope the drama is another first from first that leaves him in first place in the standings.

Johnson’s Texas Quick Stats:
· Two wins (November 2012 and 2007) in 19 starts.
· One pole (November 2012).
· Nine top-five finishes (47.4 percent) and 14 top-10s (73.7 percent) in 19 starts.
· Average start is 8.8 and average finish is 9.3.
· One DNF (Did Not Finish) – April 2007.
· Has completed 6,153 of 6,357 laps (96.8 percent) and led 443.
· Sprint Cup’s second-best driver rating (103.5 average of a possible 150 points).
· Sprint Cup’s second-best in fastest laps run (370).

Driver, Team and Sponsor Notes
* Jimmie Johnson will drive the Lowe’s “Dover White” Chevrolet SS at Texas. He last raced the paint scheme at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway in August. It is part of the special racing-striped paint schemes that are a tribute to the American muscle car.
* The color “Dover White” was used by Chevrolet for one model year in 1969.
* Jimmie Johnson will draw the first two charities Friday for the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope at Texas.
* This year’s campaign runs during six Sprint Cup race weekends, beginning this weekend at Texas and culminating May 26 at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway.
* Johnson draws two charities each week to be included on the helmet, for a total of 13 charities. (At the kick-off announcement, Make-A-Wish Iowa was selected as the first charity.)
* The Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope program, which began in 2008, allows fans, consumers and media members across the country to nominate their favorite charity to receive a $10,000 grant, a Blue Bunny ice cream party, and special recognition on Johnson’s race helmet. Nominations are currently being accepted at www.HelmetOfHope.org.
* To date, the program has contributed more than $430,000 to 61 different charities.

JIMMIE JOHNSON QUOTES:

Do you feel good about where you are going into Texas?
“Yeah, I feel good about it. We ran really well at Vegas, and California didn’t go as well as we wanted, but it’s a much different racetrack than what we have at Texas. I would say that Texas and Vegas are closer together than Texas and California. We’ll go there and see. We’re still learning this car on the big tracks. At Fontana, we were certainly trying some things, and are smarter leaving there, and I know that these guys will work hard and give me a great car this coming race.”

How does Texas rank for you compared to the other 1.5-mile tracks?
“Well, the surface is a little bit older than places like Charlotte, Michigan and Kansas. I think you will see a lot of four-tire calls and that could make a difference in the race. It’s a fast track and it’s going to be challenging to keep the car underneath you and not get yourself in trouble. I really like the track. I think it’s really going to be another great race.”

- True Speed Communication for Team Lowe’s Racing

Carl Edwards Texas Preview: Looking for Fourth Texas Win

Edwards has won 3 times at Texas; top-5's in both 2013 downforce tracks

Carl Edwards – NRA 500
Team: No. 99 Fastenal Ford Fusion
Crew Chief: Jimmy Fennig
Chassis: Primary: RK- 826 last ran in Homestead; Backup: RK – 831

ADVANCE NOTES
· Edwards at Texas: Edwards has accumulated three wins at the 1.5-mile Texas track, the most of any active Sprint Cup driver. Edwards’ average start at Texas is 14.4 and his average finish is 15.1. He is one of only two drivers to win both the spring & fall events in the same year at Texas.

· In the Loop: According to NASCAR’s Loop Statistics, Edwards ranks fifth in laps led with 493 in the past 16 races. He has also turned 342 of the track’s fastest laps, which is fourth best. He has a driver rating of 98.3, sixth best among active drivers, and spent 4,043 laps in the top 15 (75.5%) which is third best.

· The Car: The No. 99 Fastenal Blue Team will unload RK-826 for the weekend, which last ran in Homestead 2012. 

· Primary Sponsor Note: Fastenal returns to the spotlight again featuring supplier brands JET, Norton, Milwaukee and Port-a-Cool.

QUOTE WORTHY
Edwards quotes on the NRA 500: “I love racing at Texas because everything about the race track is fun; the crowd is amazing every time we go, Eddie Gossage and all the Texas Motor Speedway staff always put on an exciting prerace event. It’s one of the fastest race tracks we go to and our No. 99 team has had huge successes there. It’s one of the most fun victory lanes in NASCAR. It just seems like everybody’s having a blast at Texas. We’re hoping for our second win of the season and fourth at Texas Motor Speedway. It’s going to be an awesome 500 laps under the lights of Texas. It’s an awesome race, it’s a dynamic race. It’s going to be a tough one on the crew chiefs and engineers to get these cars perfect in the nighttime conditions because we don’t get to practice like that. It’s going to be a tough race from start to finish but I’ve got a great crew and crew chief so hopefully we can perform the way we want to.”

- Roush Fenway Racing

Texas NRA 500 Preview: Look to Las Vegas For Insight This Week

Vegas is a great barometer for Texas this week

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series has run six races thus far as we head into Texas for some Saturday night racing on a fast high banked 1 1/2-mile track. Following Jimmie Johnson’s win last week at Martinsville, coupled with a poor run by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Johnson finds himself perched at the top of the standings heading to a track where he’s won twice over his career, including last fall.

Johnson is still the 3/1 favorite (Bet $100 to win $300) over the LVH Super Book (Las Vegas Hotel and Casino) to win the Sprint Cup championship, but for the first time since his rookie season, we might not be considering him one of the drivers to beat on these type of tracks. The 1 1/2-mile tracks have been Johnson’s bread and butter over his career, but the change to the Gen-6 car may have given away some of Johnson’s edge over his competitors.

We’ve seen two races on high speed down force tracks -- Las Vegas and California -- with Johnson coming in with his best effort at Las Vegas in sixth-place. At Las Vegas he led three times for 66 laps, but at California -- a place he typically dominates, he didn’t lead a lap and finished a very un-Johnson-like 12th.

Read More Here.....Top 5 Prediction

Kenseth, Busch and Johnson 6-to-1 co-favorites to win Texas NRA 500

Johnson 6/1 to win his 3rd Texas race, Gordon is 15/1 to win his 2nd

LAS VEGAS -- Throughout the history of the sister tracks at Texas and Las Vegas, we’ve routinely seen drivers who excel at one do the same at the other, even when Las Vegas had a much flatter banking. Roush drivers Jeff Burton, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth were early winners at both tracks when the facilities were relatively new.

When Las Vegas changed its layout to a progressive banking prior to the 2007 season, the tracks became very similar to each other. Jimmie Johnson won at both tracks immediately after the changes in 2007, then Carl Edwards hit the triple jackpot in 2008 by winning at Las Vegas and both Texas races. Tony Stewart won the fall Texas race in 2011 and came right back early in the 2012 season to win at Vegas.

So since Matt Kenseth won at Las Vegas in early March, and Kyle Busch finished fourth, it’s easy to see why the LVH SuperBook has placed those two along with Johnson as co-favorites to win Saturday night’s NRA 500 at 6-to-1 odds

The odds reflect a change in how the books feel about Johnson in his new Gen-6 car on the downforce tracks. Johnson is generally the lone favorite at most downforce tracks, but after finishing sixth at Las Vegas and 12th at California — those races were won by Gibbs drivers Kenseth and Busch, respectively — the perception of Johnson having an edge over everyone else isn’t as prevalent as it used to be.

Read More Here.....LVH NRA 500 Odds

Texas Motor Speedway Track Facts: 2013 NRA 500

Kenseth has won twice at Texas; he's 6/1 co-favorite to win Saturday

At 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 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.

Notebook

·         There have been 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one NSCS event from 1997 - 2004 and two races per year since 2005.

·         129 drivers have competed in at least one NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas; 105 in more than one.

·         Four drivers have made all 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway – Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Jeff Burton and Mark Martin.

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

·         17 drivers have Coors Light poles at Texas, led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman 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 pole winner: Brian Vickers (11/5/2006 – 23 years, 0 months, 12 days).

·         Oldest Texas pole winner: Bill Elliott (4/8/2002 – 46 years, 6 months, 0 days).

·         16 different drivers have won at Texas Motor Speedway, led by Carl Edwards (three).

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

·         Roush Fenway Racing leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in the most wins at Texas Motor Speedway (nine); followed by Hendrick Motorsports (four).  

·         Two of the 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Texas Motor Speedway have been won from the Coors Light pole;Kasey Kahne (2006) and Jimmie Johnson (2012).

·         The third-place starting position is the most proficient starting spot in the field at Texas Motor Speedway producing four wins - more wins than any other starting position in the field.

·         Five NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Texas Motor Speedway have been won from the front row: two from the pole and three from second-place.

·         18 of the 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup races at Texas Motor Speedway have been won from a top 10 starting position.

·         Four of the 24 NASCAR Sprint Cup 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 was 31st, by Matt Kenseth in 2002.

·         Youngest Texas winner: Ryan Newman (3/30/2003 – 25 years, 3 months, 22 days).

·         Oldest Texas winner: Dale Jarrett (4/1/2001 – 44 years, 4 months, 6 days).

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

·         Matt Kenseth leads the series in top-five finishes at Texas Motor Speedway with 12; followed by Jimmie Johnson with nine.

·         Matt Kenseth leads the series in top-10 finishes at Texas Motor Speedway with 15; followed by Jimmie Johnson (14) and Mark Martin (13).

·         Jimmie Johnson leads active drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in average starting position at Texas Motor Speedway with an 8.842. Jimmie Johnson is the only active driver with an average starting position at Texas in the top 10.

·         Two active drivers have a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series average finish in the top 10 at Texas: Matt Kenseth (8.333) and Jimmie Johnson (9.263).

·         There have been three NSCS green-white-checkered finishes at Texas Motor Speedway: fall 2006 (334/339), spring 2008 (334/339), and fall 2012 (334/335).

·         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 spring 2007. The race has never been rain shortened.

·         Kevin Harvick has participated in the most NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway without posting a DNF (20).

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

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

·         2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski (11/02/2008) and Trevor Bayne (11/07/2010) made their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career starts at Texas Motor Speedway.

·         Two NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers have posted consecutive wins at Texas Motor Speedway: Carl Edwards (2008 sweep) and Denny Hamlin (2010 sweep).

·         Nine of the 14 active NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers who have won at Texas Motor Speedway participated in at least two or more races before visiting Victory Lane. Jeff Burton and Dale Earnhardt Jr. won at Texas in their first appearance; Carl Edwards, Mark Martin and Ryan Newman all won in their second appearance at TMS.

·         Jeff Gordon competed at Texas Motor Speedway 16 times before winning in the spring of 2009; the longest span of any the 14 active NASCAR Sprint Cup winners.

·         Only two of the 14 winning drivers have made 10 or more attempts before their first win at Texas: Jeff Gordon(16) and Kurt Busch (13).

·         Bobby Labonte leads the series with the most NASCAR Sprint Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway without visiting Victory Lane at 24.

·         Since the advent of electronic scoring the closest margin of victory in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing at Texas was the (4/4/2004) race won by Elliott Sadler with a MOV of 0.028 second.

·         Two female drivers have made starts at Texas Motor Speedway (each only making one start): Shawna Robinson (4/08/2002) – starting 16th and finishing 36th; Danica Patrick (11/4/2012) – starting 32nd and finishing 24th.

·         Only one car number has produced three or more Texas Motor Speedway NSCS wins:

Car Number – Drivers – (Years)

o    No. 99  – Jeff Burton (1997); Carl Edwards (2005 and 2008 sweep)

·         Matt Kenseth leads the NASCAR Sprint Cup in laps led at Texas with 772 laps led in 21 starts.

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

 

Texas Motor Speedway Data

Season Race #: 7 of 36 (04-13-13)

Track Size: 1.5-miles

Banking/Turns 1 & 2: 24 degrees

Banking/Turns 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 / 500 miles

 

Top 12 Driver Rating at Texas

Matt Kenseth............................ 106.6

Jimmie Johnson........................ 103.5

Greg Biffle................................ 103.4

Tony Stewart............................ 101.4

Kyle Busch................................ 98.7

Carl Edwards............................. 98.3

Denny Hamlin............................ 93.3

Dale Earnhardt Jr....................... 92.7

Clint Bowyer.............................. 92.5

Jeff Gordon................................ 91.9

Kurt Busch................................ 89.0

Mark Martin............................... 88.6

Note: Driver Ratings compiled from 2005-2012 races (16 total) among active drivers at Texas Motor Speedway

 

Qualifying/Race Data

2012 pole winner: Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 190.369 mph, 28.366 secs. 4-12-12

2012 race winner: Greg Biffle, Ford, 160.577 mph, (03:07:12), 4-14-12

Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 196.235 mph, 27.518 secs. 11-3-06

Track race record: Greg Biffle, Ford, 160.577 mph, (03:07:12), 4-14-12

 

NASCAR in Texas

·         There have been 33 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Texas.

Track Name	City	NSCS
Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth	24
Meyer Speedway	Houston	1
Texas World Speedway	College Station	8

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

·         Nine drivers from Texas have won at least one race in NASCAR’s three national series. Six of the nine Texas native NASCAR winners have won in the NASCAR Sprint Cup 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	4
David Starr	0	0	4
Colin Braun	0	0	1