Biffle Wins at Texas, Extends Points Lead

Associated Press

Greg Biffle paid out at 10/1 in Las Vegas sports books

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- Greg Biffle knew his only chance to get past Jimmie Johnson for good was at the end, and he finally figured out where to do it.

Biffle drove down into Turn 3 and charged under Johnson with 30 laps remaining Saturday night, then pulled away to end his 49-race winless streak while giving owner Jack Roush another NASCAR Sprint Cup victory in Texas.

"I just dug deep. I knew I had to do it and kept trying and trying and trying," Biffle said. "I knew the team would forgive me if I wrecked it trying to beat him so I just gave it all I had."

Once Biffle got his No. 16 Ford around Johnson, he went on to a 3.2-second victory in the fastest Cup race in Texas with an average speed of 160.577 mph.

"Catching the 48 at the end, it was all I had to be able to get to him," he said. "It seemed like when we got to him, it was too easy."

Biffle's 17th career victory was his first since an October 2010 race in Kansas, where the series goes next week.

Johnson led three times for 156 of the 334 laps while going for owner Rick Hendrick's 200th victory. But he never recovered, even scraping hard into the wall trying to catch up after Biffle drove under him and completed the pass before the start-finish line.

It was Roush's ninth win in 23 Cup races at Texas, and completed a Lone Star State weekend sweep. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the Nationwide race on Friday night for Roush's fourth Texas victory in a row and ninth overall in the second-tier series.

"I don't know if this is my last sweep," Roush said. "But I'm going to remember this one for a long time."

After starting third, season points leader Biffle was among the lead pack the entire race, leading 90 laps on a fast-paced and windy night.

There were only two cautions for 10 slowed-down laps, both for debris, and the race finished with a record 234 consecutive laps of green-flag racing.

Biffle said his hands were hurting from fighting the wheel through the wind. But he thought there were no major incidents because every driver was dealing with the same conditions and maybe more cautious because of them.

Mark Martin finished third in a Michael Waltrip-owned Toyota, followed by Jeff Gordon and Roush driver Matt Kenseth. Polesitter Martin Truex Jr., another Waltrip car, was sixth after leading 69 laps.

Biffle got his eighth consecutive top-10 finish at Texas, where he had a victory in 2005 even before that stretch.

He was surprised that it was so easy after the final pass gave him his seventh and last lead in the race.

"I thought he was going to be right there," Biffle said.

Said Johnson, who had led 119 laps combined his first 17 Texas races, "He got by me and I was chasing him from there. I didn't have anything left to go get him. I tried."

For Hendrick Motorsports, it was another close call for its first victory of the season and the owner's 200th in a career that began in 1984.

Johnson, Gordon and teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. were running in the top three at Martinsville two weeks ago before a late restart in the last race before the Easter weekend break. But Clint Bowyer's aggressive inside move took out Johnson and Gordon, and Earnhardt ended up third.

Biffle is no pretender to win the title after win (Getty)

"It's nice to be running well. It's nice to be in this position," Johnson said. "But I want to get back to our winning ways really soon."

Kasey Kahne, the first-year Hendrick driver, finished seventh ahead of another Roush driver, Carl Edwards. Harvick and Earnhardt rounded out the top 10.

The first lead change came on the 32nd lap when Biffle went around the top through Turns 1 and 2 and got past Truex on the backstretch.

Five laps later, Kenseth went around the outside of Truex through Turns 3 and 4 to take over second place.

The first caution flag came out on lap 67, when a cap was tumbling around near Turn 2 on a night when the wind was gusting more than 30 mph.

Gordon, who started 34th, was in the top 10 before the second caution after Trevor Bayne scraped the wall.

The race restarted on lap 100, with Truex in front of Biffle for only one lap. There were no more yellow flags after that.

Texas Results

Final 2012 Texas Samsung Mobile 500 Driver Ratings Following All Practice Sessions

Micah Roberts’ Top 10 Driver Ratings
Samsung Mobile 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Saturday, April 14, 2012 -  4:46 pm (PDT)

Rating    Driver     Odds      Practice 1   Practice 2   Qualified    Las Vegas*

 1. Denny Hamlin 12/1             9th              7th            13th            20th
Two-time winner, both coming in 2010; said his car this week is his fastest ever at Texas.
 2. Greg Biffle 10/1                  2nd             2nd              3rd              3rd
2005 spring winner; was the star of all practice sessions using a brand new chassis.
 3. Matt Kenseth 7/1                7th              3rd              2nd           22nd
Two-time winner with the best average finish (8.7) among all drivers; new car this week.
 4. Carl Edwards 7/1               10th            14th           20th             5th
Three-time winner, including a runner-up and third last year; using new chassis this week.
 5. Kevin Harvick 12/1             3rd               6th           15th            11th
Fifth best average finish (12.9) among all drivers; strong practice using Las Vegas chassis.
 6. Clint Bowyer 20/1               26th             4th           18th              6th
Runner-up in this race last year with average finish of 13th; using brand new car this week.
 7. Kasey Kahne 12/1             11th            24th             5th            19th  
2006 winner with three other top-5 finishes, including third last fall; using Fontana chassis.
 8. Jimmie Johnson 7/1           20th           22nd          10th              2nd
2007 winner with four other runner-up finishes; using brand new chassis this week.
 9. Martin Truex Jr 40/1           12th            9th              1st             17th
Consistent season (6th in points) and great practices suggests more of the same this week.
10. Tony Stewart 6/1               23rd           35th            29th             1st
Two-time winner; despite terrible practices and using back-up car, he’ll find his way near the front.

* Results from Las Vegas race held March 11, 2012, a sister track that is most similar to Texas among all 2012 races run thus far.

Note: Only two scheduled practice sessions: Thursday’s was 120 minutes and Friday’s was 90 minutes..

Odds courtesy of the LVH Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former sports book director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights and post-practice analysis on the race, go to VegasInsider.com, TheLinemakers.com or follow MicahRoberts7 on Twitter.



Betting Notes

Hamlin as a caddy last week for Bubba Watson

Based on the way the practices went, the top choices to win this race are Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. For all three, they have a combination of great cars for this weekend and great recent history at Texas. The next tier of drivers to consider would include the Michael Waltrip drivers, Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick.

Edwards had a great practice and we have seen him progress during races at tracks like Las Vegas and California this year with fifth-place finishes despite having poor practice sessions. He was fairly good and consistent during Friday’s final practice and should be well ahead of the game with little altering required, other than for the changes required during the race because of temperature change.

I really loved what Kevin Harvick came out and did in practice and believe he’ll be contending for a top-5 finish. The same goes for Clint Bowyer and Martin Truex Jr, both of whom are currently on a great run coming into this race. Both drivers should find themselves in the winner’s circle very soon.

The Hendrick drivers are kind of a mystery and they all have the look of being cars that will be very good in the later stages of each fuel run. None of them had a great single lap time, but they were able to maintain consistent speeds for a long duration.

Match-up of the Week: Denny Hamlin -130 vs. Kasey Kahne
Hamlin has the look of winner and it’s rather short price to lay with him going against a driver that is snake bit week after week. Kahne will eventually win, but before fully backing the No. 5 team, I’d like to see a few consistent runs in a row. Hamlin should be in contention to win the race.

You also can’t go wrong with Greg Biffle or Matt Kenseth in any of their match-ups as they’ll be in the top-5 for most of the day.

Kurt Busch won’t be matched up against any of the top drivers this week, but has the look of being somewhat reliable because of his final practice. He’s a bit of a gamble based on what he’s done this year, but will still look to lay or take a price on him against most of the drivers not listed above.

Another driver I will look to play is Tony Stewart despite his poor practices. His odds have been severely diminished because of using a back-up car and poor practices, but by 400 miles, I full expect to see Stewart within the top-10 battling for position. His pre-practice and post-practice prices will be about a $1.00 swing in the match-ups making some of them too hard to pass up.

Starting Lineup

Texas Practice Notes: Bayne Fastest in Happy Hour, Stewart Struggles

By Micah Roberts

Tony Stewart has had a very difficult two days of Texas practices (Getty)

Tony Stewart came into this week’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway as the Las Vegas favorite to win based on his recent excellence on the 1.5-mile tracks. But based on his final practice Friday afternoon, those odds are likely to change considerably for the worse.

Stewart slapped the wall with his primary car, the same chassis that had won at Chicago last fall and Las Vegas in March, on his second lap run in practice and was forced to go to a back-up car. Stewart had a terrible time of it during Thursday’s practice session as well and Friday’s run was a continuation of a set-up Stewart wasn’t comfortable with.

After the team got the back-up car set-up with all the notes transferred over from the primary car, Stewart had less than 30 minutes remaining of the 90 minute session to get things worked and it didn’t happen. Stewart finished with the 35th fastest lap and was slipping and sliding all over until the red flag came out signifying an end to the final practice.

With 15 minutes remaining in the session, Trevor Bayne came out in qualifying trim and laid down the fastest lap at 184.641 mph. Greg Biffle followed suit in a mock qualifying run with the second fastest lap at 184.370 mph. For Biffle, he was also fast while in race trim with the third fastest lap that stood for 75 minutes.

Matt Kenseth ran the majority of his 76 laps (tied with Jeff Gordon for the most) in race trim and was the fastest for the first 75 minutes with a speed of 184.351 mph which ended up being good enough for third best following Bayne and Biffle.

Clint Bowyer had the fourth fastest lap (184.269) of the session and captured it at the early stages of practice with Kenseth. AJ Allmendinger finished with the fifth fastest lap (184.005) in the final stages of practice while in qualifying trim.

Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin both had top-5 times while in race trim for the first 75 minutes, but settled for sixth and seventh, respectfully, when it was over. Hamlin noted before practice that his car is the fastest he’s ever had at Texas, which is saying a lot since he won both Texas races in 2010.

Biffle had the best average speeds (179.110) among all drivers that ran at least 35 laps. However, Biffle ran only 36 laps which doesn’t stand out in regards to many of the drivers that ran up 76 laps.

The driver that really stood out in the average lap category relative to the amount of laps he ran was Kurt Busch. The 2009 Texas winner ran 67 laps for an average of 177.364 mph, a good sign for a team that has struggled to find consistent speed on these type of tracks.

It was a little surprising to see the Hendrick cars finish the session 20th or worse with Dale Earnhardt Jr 20th, Jimmie Johnson 22nd, Kasey Kahne 24th and Jeff Gordon 30th. They all ran consistent laps throughout the session but seemed to be missing that extra something that would serve them well in a restart situation during the race.

As for Tony Stewart, you can never count him out, but his entire race will be a work in progress during each pit stop. His team will be hoping that race day will see lots of early cautions so they can get everything that needs to be fixed early on to give their driver a chance to win on another 1.5-mile track.

Top-5 Practice 2 (Final) Speeds:
1) Trevor Bayne 184.641
2) Greg Biffle 184.370
3) Matt Kenseth 184.351
4) Clint Bowyer 184.269
5) AJ Allmendinger 184.005

Practice 2 Speeds


Martin Fastest in First Practice Session

Mark Martin fastest on his first lap run Thursday (Getty)

The first practice session in preparation for Saturday night’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway was two hours long, but Mark Martin needed less than 29 seconds to lay down the fastest lap of the evening. Martin’s fast lap at 189.427 mph was captured on his first attempt and it wasn't until 25 minutes remained that anyone came close to his speed.

With about a half hour to go in the session, just about every team ran a mock qualifying lap, but it was still Martin who finished on top of the charts.

Greg Biffle finished second fastest (189.221), capturing his speed at the same time Martin did. Kevin Harvick was one of two drivers to crack the top-5 in speeds during the final 25 minutes with a speed of 189.208. A.J. Allmendinger was fourth fastest (188.930) with a lap ran at the same time as Martin and Biffle.

Regan Smith rounded out the top-5 with a speed of 188.877 in the final few minutes of the session. Allmendinger and Smith ran the most laps overall with 53.

The pre-race favorites, such as Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin and Carl Edwards all finished strong in the final 30 minutes to get a top-10 speed. Others, like Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon were 20th or worse.

This practice session will determine the qualifying order Friday night with Martin getting to go out last when the track would seem to be at its coolest. Friday night’s 90 minute final practice session, just prior to qualifying, will be the last chance for teams to get their cars set-up perfectly for race conditions.

Top-5 Practice 1 Speeds:
1) Mark Martin 189.427
2) Greg Biffle 189.221
3) Kevin Harvick 189.208
4) AJ Allmendinger 188.930
5) Regan Smith 188.877

Practice 1 Speeds

Texas Preview: Stewart the Easy Favorite This Week

By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

In an off week that seemed like an eternity for NASCAR fans, things got a little better for most when a guy named Bubba won an event on Sunday. It didn’t matter that the event was golf to NASCAR fans, because they’ve had a special love brewing for Bubba Watson, and not just because he’s a Georgia Bulldog, but rather because of the car he drives.

Watson bought the ‘General Lee’, the famed car from the Dukes of Hazzard television series. Watson not only owns the car, but he proudly drives it to tournaments despite the backlash he receives because the Confederate flag on the roof of the car isn‘t politically correct. Because Watson hasn’t conformed to what people think he ought to do, the fans that comprise of the powerful buying power of NASCAR nation has will soon be seen buying whatever product Bubba is pitching.

With the week off from racing, a big exciting race will be needed to satisfy the fans thirst for NASCAR and it’s something Texas always provides. The high banked 1.5-mile track should provide all the excitement every fan wants to see in a big Texas way on a big Texas starry Saturday night.

Coming into this week’s race, we have a little bit of data to go off of from the results of two tracks that require similar horsepower. Las Vegas is the sister track of Texas and while the baking in Vegas is a just a little flatter with speeds obtained a little slower, it serves as a great barometer for every team as far as set-ups go. Whatever worked well in Las Vegas should translate well in Texas. And whatever went bad at Las Vegas, don’t repeat at Texas.

California is a much flatter and bigger track than both Las Vegas and Texas, but still requires the same type of necessary horsepower needed at Texas.

Stewart is using winning Las Vegas car this week (Getty)

It doesn’t take long to see who the best driver was at Las Vegas and California, because Tony Stewart won them both which is why he is the 6-to-1 favorite this week according to odds posted by the LVH Super Book. If we take Stewart’s past history at Texas into the equation, you don’t have to sort through too many races because he won the last race held there last fall.

If past recent success at Texas and similar tracks isn't enough evidence that Stewart should be favored, consider that he's using the same car that won at Chicago last season and at Las Vegas in March.

It would almost seem foolish to bet any other driver to win this week, but we should at least try to make a case for a few other drivers.

Stewart may have led the most laps in Las Vegas, but it was Jimmie Johnson who was chasing him down but eventually settled for runner-up. Johnson won his six-guns and Cowboy hat at Texas in 2007 and also has four runner-up finishes to his credit. Johnson didn’t look like the driver to beat in Las Vegas, but his crew -- the best in the business -- worked hard to get the right set-up. It’s quite possible that the adjustments made in the crunch at Vegas will have Johnson’s car set ideally right off the hauler when they practice Thursday night.

Greg Biffle won at Texas in 2005, but more importantly, has finished in the top-5 of the last three races run there. The current points leader also has a third-place finish at Las Vegas and a sixth at California to suggest he’s got all the big Texas horsepower he’ll need this week.

“I’m jacked up going to Texas and I cannot wait," Biffle said earlier this week. "I love that race track and we have Filtrete on the car this weekend. Texas is a challenging place, coming off of turn two the track really flattens out, but getting into three and four it’s different on both ends, making for a kind of a long sweeping corner. Typically we run the bottom in three and four, and maybe run up the race track a little bit in one and two. Kind of a double dog leg down the frontstretch and it can be a little bit challenging getting to pit road for green-flag pit stops. We’ve run really really well there, I’ve had a lot of success at Texas, and I feel like it could be our first win of the season coming up.”

Matt Kenseth has the best Texas resume of any driver with an average finish of 8.7 in 19 starts that includes wins in 2002 and last spring. Kenseth was a driver who was expected to do well at Las Vegas and California, but it never materialized. Despite those poor runs, he’s still a driver that can be expected to find his way into the top-5 considering he‘s done it in five of his last six Texas starts. He'll be using a brand new chassis this week to try and get it done again.

Carl Edwards is a three-time winner at Texas and finished third and runner-up last season. Edwards still hasn’t given any indication during practice that he’s a driver to be contended with, but when the race is over, there is right in the mix. At Vegas and California, he looked to have no shot at a top-20 based on practices, but wound up fifth in both races. Texas should get him straight and he knows it.

“I love racing at Texas and it’s been one of our best race tracks," said Edwards, who will be using a brand new chassis this week. "I’ve got some great memories from that place and it’s a fun place to win a race. Martinsville is behind us and we have some really good tracks coming up this month with Texas and Kansas. Those mile-and-a-half tracks have been great for us from day one.”

It’s either hit or miss for Kyle Busch at Texas. He’s either going finish in the top-5 of finish outside the top-15. Busch has never won at Texas and missed last fall’s race due to bad behavior, but the California race showed Busch has some giddy-up under the hood. Busch led the most laps in that race and finished runner-up after the rain shortened the race.

Hamlin swept the 2010 season at Texas (Getty)

In that California race, Denny Hamlin had perhaps the best car and might have won if it weren’t for the rain. Beyond suggesting Hamlin’s progression from California will translate well this week, we also have past history that shows he had a big Texas sweep of the two races in 2010. Hamlin looks to be the best value on the board with most protential to take the race away from Stewart.

The big Texas wild card in this race is Kasey Kahne, who won there in 2006. Kahne also finished third in the fall race last season. The only thing going for Kahne right now is bad luck. He’s had great cars every week, but you would never know by simply looking at the results. It’s likely that Kahne will practice as one of the best this weekend again and we’ll have to see how it plays out from there, but he is going to win very soon, mark it down.

Top-5 Finish Prediction:
1) #11 Denny Hamlin (12/1)
2) #48 Jimmie Johnson (8/1)
3) #16 Greg Biffle (12/1)
4) #14 Tony Stewart (6/1)
5) #17 Matt Kenseth (7/1)

Driver Notes & Quotes for 2012 Texas Samsung Mobile 500

Matt Kenseth won at Texas for the second time last spring

MATT KENSETH ON TEXAS: “I really enjoy racing at Texas, and especially the added fun of it being a night race now, just adds some excitement to the weekend. It’s a place I’ve been fortunate to have had a lot of great finishes at, and it’s a track where Roush Fenway as an entire team seems to perform well at. Texas gives us several lines to race on, so it’s just turned into a place where drivers can take the high line or the low line when it comes to racing for position. Texas is just a great fast track with the challenge of relatively flat straightaways and high-banked turns so it’s a place that can be challenging, but I always look forward to racing there twice a year.”

KENSETH CREW CHIEF JIMMY FENNIG ON TEXAS: “We’ve had a lot of success at Texas over the years and had two great runs last season. Last November, our car got loose as the race went on and the track rubbered up so we’ll work on those similar situations this weekend in practice. We only have one practice Friday that will be around the same time as the race starts so we’ll spend time on race trim since track conditions should be similar to Saturday. I’m hoping that we can either get a win or a top five for our Best Buy team to start back up this next stretch of races.”

KENSETH CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-810 (brand new chassis)

CARL EDWARDS ON TEXAS: “I love racing at Texas and it’s been one of our best race tracks. I’ve got some great memories from that place and it’s a fun place to win a race. Martinsville is behind us and we have some really good tracks coming up this month with Texas and Kansas. Those mile-and-a-half tracks have been great for us from day one.”

EDWARDS CHASSIS CHOICE: The Fastenal Blue Team will be unloading chassis No.RK-811 at Texas this weekend. This is a new car.

GREG BIFFLE ON TEXAS: “I’m jacked up going to Texas and I cannot wait. I love that race track and we have Filtrete on the car this weekend. Texas is a challenging place, coming off of turn two the track really flattens out, but getting into three and four it’s different on both ends, making for a kind of a long sweeping corner. Typically we run the bottom in three and four, and maybe run up the race track a little bit in one and two. Kind of a double dog leg down the frontstretch and it can be a little bit challenging getting to pit road for green-flag pit stops. We’ve run really really well there, I’ve had a lot of success at Texas, and I feel like it could be our first win of the season coming up.”

BIFFLE CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary: RK-809 - Brand new chassis; Backup: RK-786 - Last ran Homestead – finished 35th

KEVIN HARVICK ON TEXAS: “Texas (Motor Speedway) was probably the worst track for us last year. We struggled with what we needed to get in the car to be able to have speed and race well. We’re going there with a different mindset this year to try to get some speed out of the car. In Las Vegas, we had a lot of speed, so our first mile-and-a-half race went really well and hopefully when we get to Texas we can have it all together.”

HARVICK CHASSIS CHOICE: Kevin Harvick will pilot Chassis No. 391 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. Harvick scored an 11th-place finish in this Chevrolet last month at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

JEFF BURTON ON RECENT RUNS AT TEXAS: “That just shows you how hard the sport is. I know that no matter how well we ran one week, it doesn’t mean we are going to run that poorly the following week. It’s a constant test of where you and your team are and this is a very demanding sport. Honestly, none of our performances last year looked very good and it was just a continuation of what had gone on for the entire season. I think we have run better than many of our finishes indicated. Texas Motor Speedway is different anytime we run there. That is why we have seen so many different winners. That track doesn’t have a personality. Every time you go there, it is something different. I think that is why you see so many drivers run well there one race and then terrible the next. I don’t know why, but it is different every time we go there.”

BURTON CHASSIS CHOICE: Jeff Burton will race chassis No. 385 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable this weekend. This is a brand new No. 31 Chevrolet that will turn its first laps this weekend.

PAUL MENARD CHASSIS CHOICE: Menard will pilot Chassis No. 386 from the Richard Childress Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stable. This No. 27 Chevrolet is a brand new addition to the RCR fleet and will log its first laps on the track during Thursday’s practice session.

KASEY KAHNE CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Kenny Francis has selected Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 5-713. This is the same car Kahne drove in March at Auto Club Speedway, where he started fifth and finished 14th.

JIMMIE JOHNSON CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis No. 714 is a new chassis and serves as the primary for Johnson at Texas. Chassis No. 669 serves as the backup and last ran at Las Vegas in March and finished 2nd.

DALE EARNHARDT JR CHASSIS CHOICE: Crew chief Steve Letarte and the #88 team will unload Hendrick Motorsports Chassis No. 88-668 at Texas Motor Speedway. Earnhardt last raced this chassis to a 10th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.

RYAN NEWMAN CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis No. 39-682 - This chassis made two runs last season, which resulted in two top-20 finishes. The car debuted at Atlanta Motor Speedway in September. Although Newman qualified in the top-10, he struggled with track position for most of the day and finished a disappointing 20th. Chassis No. 39-682 returned to action for last season’s finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. After qualifying 14th, Newman ran as high as second at Homestead. He ran in the top-10 for the most of the day but ended the race in 12th place. The chassis has been updated for the 2012 season and will make its first start this year at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

TONY STEWART CHASSIS: Chassis No. 14-640 - This car debuted in May 2011 at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway where it enjoyed a solid outing, qualifying ninth and leading six laps before finishing seventh. It spent time in the wind tunnel afterward and made its second career start at Pocono (Pa.) Raceway in June. There, it qualified 15th and moved its way into the top-five by lap 124, only to be felled two laps later when Stewart reported that he had lost third gear. The balky transmission prevented Stewart from getting up to speed quickly on restarts, which conspired to leave Chassis No. 14-640 in 21st place when the checkered flag dropped. The car returned to Pocono in August where it rallied from its 28th-place starting spot and a flat left-front tire on lap 92 that at one point had Stewart a lap down to finish on the lead lap in 11th.

Chassis No. 14-640 broke through in the first race of the 2011 Chase for the Sprint Cup at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill., when it started 26th and led four times for 35 laps en route to the win. The car received a new body during the offseason and participated in a Goodyear Tire Test Feb. 7-8 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. Its first race of 2012 and fifth overall came at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March, where Stewart drove from seventh to lead three times for a race-high 127 laps to score his first Sprint Cup win at Las Vegas. Now, Chassis No. 14-640 returns to another intermediate track, like Las Vegas and Chicagoland, for Saturday night’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. This will mark the car’s sixth career start, but first at Texas.

JAMIE McMURRAY CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis #1104 - Crew Chief Kevin “Bono” Manion and the No. 1 Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Boats team will bring Chassis #1104 to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. This chassis made its debut in last year’s All-Star race, finishing 17th. Since that time the chassis also raced in the spring race at Charlotte (37th), both races at Michigan (19th, 23rd) and in the fall race at Dover (15th).

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis #1119 - Crew Chief Chris Heroy and the No. 42 Target team will bring Chassis #1119 to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. This chassis saw track-time last year at Charlotte Motor Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway finishing 14th and 18th, respectively. This season, this chassis finished 17th at Fontana.

KURT BUSCH CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis No. 665 - Saturday night’s Samsung Mobile 500 will be the second race of the 2012 season for this chassis. This is the same car the No. 51 Phoenix Racing team competed with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March. The car was built in 2011 and used only once that season, which was the June race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, where driver Landon Cassill scored a 12th-place finish after starting 12th.

MARK MARTIN ON TEXAS: “Texas Motor Speedway is the site of a lot of great success for me. I think we’ve won a race and finished in the top five seven times. We blew up the first year leading the race and Jeff Burton went and got his first win. Then the next year (1998) we got the win. I’ve won three Nationwide races there. It’s an absolutely great place to race and man is it fast!”

MARTIN CHASSIS CHOICE: Primary 729 – Backup 708 – Neither has raced in 2012.

CLINT BOWYER CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 15 5-hour ENERGY team will race chassis No. 730 at Texas. Chassis No. 721 will serve as the backup. No. 730 is new and No. 721 has been on backup duty at Fontana and Vegas but never raced.

BOBBY LABONTE ON TEXAS: “We’re bringing the car we ran at Vegas (Las Vegas Motor Speedway). It’s a good car and I feel good about racing it at Texas.”

“Going home is always great and Texas is a state that has a lot to offer,” Labonte said. “The Dallas/Fort Worth area is beautiful. They are two great towns. There’s a lot of pride in the state of Texas. There’s so much to do. From a sports standpoint, you can come out to the races at Texas Motor Speedway, go to the world’s largest domed structure to watch a Dallas Cowboys football game or catch a Texas Rangers baseball game at their beautiful ballpark. Texas Motor Speedway is one of the biggest venues on our circuit and it’s just neat to be able to go and visit the great state of Texas a couple times a year for the races.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will race chassis PRS-820 during Saturday night’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). This is a new chassis to the No. 2 fleet.

AJ ALLMENDINGER CHASSIS CHOICE: AJ and his Todd Gordon-led Penske Racing #22 Team will be racing their new "PRS-821" Shell-Pennzoil Dodge Charger this weekend at Texas. The "PRS-814" is the backup Dodge Charger for the "Double-Deuce" team. It was in the transporter serving as the backup at Las Vegas and at Fontana, but has never seen any track time.

MARCOS AMBROSE CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 735 for this weekend’s race at Texas Motor Speedway This Stanley Ford was run last year in both Texas events.

ARIC ALMIROLA CHASSIS CHOICE: The #43 Smithfield Ford will be chassis number 783. This is the same chassis the team ran in Las Vegas earlier this year.

- FROM TEAM PR RELEASES

Texas Motor Speedway Odds & Ends

At Texas Motor Speedway:

History

·         Construction began in 1995.

·         The first NASCAR race was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on April 5, 1997.

·         The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was on April 6, 1997.

 

Notebook

·         There have been 22 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one per season from 1997 through 2004 and two races per year since 2005.

·         Four drivers have competed in all 22 Texas races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.

·         Jeremy Mayfield was the first pole winner, in 1998. Qualifying for the inaugural race in 1997 was canceled.

·         Jeff Burton won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

·         16 drivers have scored poles, led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon with two.

·         16 drivers have won races, led by Carl Edwards, with three. Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton each have two wins.

·         16 of 22 races have been won from a top 10 starting position. Only one has been won from the pole - Kasey Kahne in 2006.

·         Matt Kenseth started 31st en route to his victory at Texas in 2002, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.

·         Both Jeff Burton (1999) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000) scored their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Texas, and 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne made his first series start at Texas (11/07/10).

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

·         Matt Kenseth (8.7) is the only active driver to average a top-10 finish at Texas.

·         Jimmie Johnson (9.2) is the only active driver to average a top-10 starting position at Texas.

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

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

·         Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway winner: Ryan Newman (03/30/2003 – 25 years, 3 months, 22 days).

·         Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway winner: Dale Jarrett (04/01/2001 – 44 years, 4 months, 6 days).

 

Texas Motor Speedway Data

Race #: 7 of 36 (04-09-12)

Track Size: 1.5 miles

Race Length: 501 miles

·     Banking/corners: 24 degrees

·     Banking/straights: 5 degrees

·     Frontstretch: 2,250 feet

·     Backstretch: 1,330 feet

Top 12 Driver Rating at Texas
Matt Kenseth	106.5
Tony Stewart	105.8
Greg Biffle	100.8
Carl Edwards	100.0
Jimmie Johnson	98.4
Kyle Busch	97.5
Denny Hamlin	95.2
Dale Earnhardt Jr.	92.7
Clint Bowyer	92.1
Jeff Gordon	90.3
Kurt Busch	89.6
Mark Martin	87.1

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (14 total) at Texas.

Qualifying/Race Data

2011 pole winner: David Ragan, 189.820 mph, 28.448 seconds

2011 race winner: Matt Kenseth, 149.231 mph, 4-9-11)

Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers, (196.235 mph, 27.518 seconds, 10-21-05)

Track race record: Tony Stewart, (152.705 mph, 11-6-11)

Driver Ratings for Winners

Driver	Year	Driver Rating	Series Driver Rating Rank
Matt Kenseth	2011 Spring	101.9	2nd
Denny Hamlin	2010 Spring	95.6	6th
Jeff Gordon	2009 Spring	86.9	12th
Carl Edwards	2008 Spring	88.7	10th
Jeff Burton	2007 Spring	68.6	24th
Kasey Kahne	2006 Spring	69.7	23rd

* Pre-Race Driver Ratings of the year the driver won at Texas Motor Speedway (past 6 spring races).

NASCAR in Texas

• There have been 31 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Texas.

Track Name	City	NSCS Races
Texas Motor Speedway	Fort Worth	22
Meyer Speedway	Houston	1
Texas World Speedway	College Station	8
TOTAL		31

• 74 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Texas.
• There have been nine race winners from Texas in NASCAR’s three national series:

Driver	NSCS	NNS	NCWTS
Terry Labonte	22	11	1
Bobby Labonte	21	10	1
A.J. Foyt	7	0	0
Billy Wade	4	0	0
Bobby Hillin Jr.	1	2	0
Johnny Rutherford	1	0	0
James Buescher	0	1	0
David Starr	0	0	4
Colin Braun	0	0	1

Kenseth Wins at Texas; Ends 76-race Winless Streak

Associated Press

Kenseth had not won since February of 2009 at Fontana (Getty)

FORT WORTH — Matt Kenseth had a dominating run at Texas, breaking a 76-race NASCAR Sprint Cup winless streak Saturday night.

Kenseth led 169 of 334 laps at the 11/2-mile, high-banked track for his 19th career victory, his first since California in February 2009. Since his other win at Texas in 2002, Kenseth had four runner-up finishes, including last fall behind Denny Hamlin, and six other top-10 finishes at the track.

This time, the No. 17 Roush Fenway Ford was only trailing late behind Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch when both of those drivers were out of sequence on stops and trying to stretch fuel in hopes of catching a caution. Lucky for Kenseth, there were no yellow flags at the wrong time.

Kenseth went back ahead to stay with 13 laps to go when Busch had to make his final stop and give up a 8.2-second lead. Kenseth finished 8.315 seconds ahead of Clint Bowyer.

Texas Results

Final Texas Driver Ratings Following All Practice Sessions: Roush Should Lead The Way

Micah Roberts Top 10 Driver Ratings
Samsung Mobile 500
Texas Motor Speedway
Saturday, April 9, 2011 - 4:46 pm (PDT)

Rating    Driver     Odds       Practice 1    Practice 2     Qualified    Vegas 11*

 1. Carl Edwards 9/2                  15th            3rd             2nd            1st 
Three-time Texas winner; no top-fives in 9 other races. Using new chassis this week.
 2. Matt Kenseth 20/1                 8th            16th            4th            11th 
Since winning in 2002, has a track best 7.7 average finish; debuts new car this week.
 3. Tony Stewart 12/1                 2nd           12th             26th           2nd 
2006 winner is using a chassis that never finished outside of top-10 in four 2010 starts.
 4. Jimmie Johnson 6/1              7th            38th             6th            16th 
2007 winner; average finish of 10.1 in 15 starts. Using runner-up Fontana car this week.
 5. Clint Bowyer 25/1                  9th            11th            3rd            15th 
14.5 average finish in 10 starts, career best of 4th in 2008; new car this week.
 6. Kevin Harvick 8/1                 23rd           27th           29th           17th 
12.4 average finish in 16 starts; using chassis that finished fourth twice at Pocono in 2010.
 7. Greg Biffle 15/1                     5th            30th            9th             28th 
2005 winner; finished in the top-10 in last five Texas starts. Led 224 laps in the fall Texas race.
 8. Juan Montoya 30/1               3rd             14th           14th            3rd 
Fast average speeds in both practices; using third-place Las Vegas chassis this week.
 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 20/1        13th           13th            28th           8th 
2000 winner, his first career Cup victory; third fastest 10 consecutive lap average in final practice.
10. Denny Hamlin 8/1                20th            7th            23rd            7th        
Swept both races last season; leads all active drivers with an 8.8 average finish at Texas.
                    
* Results from the March 6, 2011 race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway are relevant because similar set-ups are required for Texas.

Note: Only two scheduled practice sessions with qualifying held on Friday night.

Odds courtesy of the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book.

Micah Roberts, a former race and sports Director, has been setting NASCAR lines in Las Vegas since 1995. For more Roberts insights and post-practice analysis on the race, go to VegasInsider.com. 



STARTING LINEUP


DRIVER QUOTES FROM FRIDAY AT TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY

Johnson using his runner-up Fontana chassis at Texas

JIMMIE JOHNSON ON HOW HE PRACTICED THURSDAY: “Yesterday was kind of tough with the tire allotment that we have — figuring out the best strategy. We elected to go with qualifying trim yesterday and worked on that through the entire session. We’ll see how today goes. In qualifying, it’s a little different because now today we’ll just focus on race runs and then in my head mentally I have to switch over to qualifying at the end of the day. It’s a challenge finding the right rhythm as a driver and trying to maximize the amount of tires you have and how the teams choose to use them with these split practice sessions and limited amount of tires we have. At the end of the day we’ll have learned a lot more. I think we’re off to a decent start.”

CLINT BOWYER ON QUALIFYING THIRD: “Actually, yesterday the air conditioner shorted out, ’bout burnt my head up (LAUGHS). Something happened, there was a little fire out of it. Real proud of Shane Wilson (crew chief) and all these guys on the Cheerios / Hamburger Chevrolet. Brought me a new hot rod. Fast. Looking forward to the race tomorrow night. I wasn’t expecting that in qualifying. Richard (Childress, team owner) came on the radio there and told me ‘Hey, Carl (Edwards) ran the outside, run right there in the middle. You need to try it.’ I did and it was a pretty good lap so pretty excited about it.”

“When I rolled down the back straightaway, I was surprised at how much sun was in turn three. Pretty excited about the lap. It was a good lap for us."

KYLE BUSCH THOUGHTS ON QUALIFYING 11TH: “It’s a far cry from where we were yesterday, but unfortunately it’s not going to be fast enough today to get us where we want to be, but overall we felt like the Interstate Batteries Camry was really good. We posted a good time. But apparently there are going to be guys that are going to go faster than us. Our draw hurt us a little bit. We weren’t fast yesterday, but we got a lot better today. Looking forward to the race. It’s great to be here in Texas in front of the hometown crowd with Interstate Batteries. I’m pumped about that.”

KASEY KAHNE ON STARTING 13TH AND HOW HE FEELS ABOUT SATURDAY'S RACE: “I just blew turn three. I actually had a really good lap going, I drove in too hard and gave up a lot of time. The car felt really good, the engine and everything felt really good. I just screwed up.”

“Hopefully practice was good enough today and we’ll be fast tomorrow — we’ll see.”

Gordon has Dupont on the hood

JEFF GORDON ON HAVING TO ADJUST THE CAR WITH CHANGING RACE CONDITIONS: "Yes, you just have to completely throw the dice at the setup and hope that you get it close. That’s kind of the box that we’re in when we don’t get to be on the track at the time of day that we’re going to be racing. It’s more of a guessing game. I still think the cars that are strong during the day are going to be strong at night. You just want to maybe have a few more adjustable components in the car to be able to change in case the conditions are much more different than you think they are.”

CARL EDWARDS ON WHAT IT WILL TAKE TO WIN SATURDAY: “We are going to have to keep doing what we have been doing. The car is good. We just got done with some qualifying trim runs and it seems pretty fast. Texas is fun. It is a fun place to race and they pay a ton if you win which is great (laughter). This afternoon we get to go for that shotgun which has definitely eluded us. We have been second in qualifying here but Bob and I want to win that shotgun so we can fight over it. I don’t know who would get it, me or him. That is the first step here, to qualify well and then 500 miles at night. It will be a little bit different racing in conditions we haven’t practiced in yet so that will be interesting. It is fun to race here. I am glad to go, ready to go, glad to be here.”

DENNY HAMLIN ON PRESSURE TO DO WELL THIS WEEK: “I’m pretty sure we’re going to run well. Finishing well is the part that we haven’t done as well this year as we’ve done in years past. It is so early and we are close to where we are last year. We’re not quite, because we won Martinsville last year at this point. For me, the panic level is not that high, but it is creeping there because ultimately it’s not about the number of points that you’re behind 10th at this point, it’s how many guys separate you from that. In my head, I know that we’re going to run well — I know that for a fact, it’s just whether we finish well is going to be the question mark. To do that, all the other aspects of the race team that we have to have together.”

Driver Chassis Selections For Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas

Note: Not all teams list their chassis information in their press releases

Busch not bringing one of his better cars this week 

1. Kyle Busch: Equaled best finish (third) in 12 starts in this event last year; 12.2 average finish and 286 laps led in six starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 283) that he last finished 32nd with in its last two starts (Texas and Homestead).

2. Carl Edwards: Three-time winner; Leads all drivers in laps led (344) in the six races with the COT; Crashes in two of the last three events have raised his finishing average to 17.7 in 12 starts; Won the first race of the season on a 1.5-mile track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway; Will debut a new chassis (No. 748) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

3. Jimmie Johnson: Finished second in last three spring events; Winner of the fall race in 2007; Led 39 laps in this event last year; Only finishes outside the top 15 in 15 starts is a pair of 38th-place finishes; 11.3 average finish in the six races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 650) that he finished second with last month at Auto Club Speedway.

4. Kurt Busch: Winner of the 2009 fall race; Finished fourth in this event last year; 24th-place finish last fall snapped a streak of three consecutive top-10s; Five top-10s in 10 starts with Penske Racing; 16.8 average finish and 92 laps led in the six races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. PRS-744) that he finished ninth with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Harvick going for 3 wins in a row using 2010 Pocono car

5. Kevin Harvick: Coming off third consecutive, and eighth overall, top 10 with a sixth-place finish last fall; Has only led five laps in 16 starts; Fourth-best average finish (10.5) in the six races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 309) that he posted fourth-places finishes with on both races at Pocono Raceway in 2010.

6. Ryan Newman: 14.5 average finish in four starts with Stewart-Haas; Posted one win and three top 10s in previous 11 starts with Penske Racing; Has yet to lead a lap in last six starts.

7. Juan Pablo Montoya: 25.1 average finish in eight starts; Last top 10 came in the 2009 spring race; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 1105) that he finished third with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

8. Dale Earnhardt Jr: Has one pole and an average finish of 17.0 in six starts with Hendrick Motorsports; Finished eighth in this event last year; Posted one win and seven top-10s in previous 11 starts with Dale Earnhardt, Inc; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 617) that he finished eighth with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

9. Matt Kenseth: Coming off 11th top 10 in 17 starts; 20th-place finish in this event last year snapped a streak of six consecutive top 10s; Third-best average finish (8.0) in the six races with the COT; Won the pole and finished 11th in the first race on 1.5-mile track (Las Vegas) this season; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 741) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

10. Mark Martin: 4.8 average finish in four starts with Hendrick Motorsports; Third-place finish last fall was 11th top 10 in 20 starts; Won the 1998 race with Roush Racing; Second-best average finish (6.5) in the six races with the COT.

Stewart was 2nd fastest in practice

11. Tony Stewart: Won the pole and led 74 laps in this event last year until a crash took him out of contention; 13.3 average finish in four starts with Stewart-Haas; Posted one win and eight top 10s in previous 14 starts with Joe Gibbs Racing; Led 163 laps and finished second in first race of the season on a 1.5-mile track (Las Vegas).

12. Jeff Gordon: Led a race-high 124 laps in this event last year before a crash relegated him to a 31st-place finish; Last of nine top 10s was a win in the 2009 spring race; 21.2 average finish in the six races with the COT.

13. Paul Menard: Coming off best finish in 10th; 23.6 average finish in nine starts; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 351) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

14. AJ Allmendinger: 22.7 average finish in six starts; Best finish came in the 2009 fall race in 10th; Will debut a new car (chassis No. 752) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

15. Kasey Kahne: Finished 13th last fall in first track start with Team Red Bull; Won the 2006 spring race with Evernham Motorsports; Last top 10 (fifth) came in this event last year with Richard Petty Motorsports.

16. Clint Bowyer: Coming off fifth top 10 in 10 starts; Finished 36th in this event last year after a crash took him out of contention; Will pilot a new car (chassis No. 350) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

17. Martin Truex Jr: Finished ninth in this event last year in first track start with Michael Waltrip Racing; Four previous top 10s came with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.

Ragan topped the charts in Thursday's practice

18. David Ragan: Coming off first top 10 in eight starts; 22.1 average finish; Will pilot a new car (chassis No. 750) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

19. Denny Hamlin: Won both races last season; 8.8 average finish in 11 starts; Best average finish (6.3) in the six races with the COT.

20. Greg Biffle: Coming off fifth consecutive top 10; Winner of the 2005 spring race; 612 laps led in 14 starts; Sixth-best average finish (11.7) in the six races with the COT; Will pilot a new car (chassis No. 749) in the Samsung Mobile 500.

Notable Drivers Outside the Top 20

Bobby Labonte: Last of five top-10s came in this event in 2006 with Petty Enterprises; 25.3 average finish in last 10 races; Will make track debut with JTG-Daugherty Racing.

Jamie McMurray: Last of six top 10s (third) came in the 2008 fall race with Roush Racing; 23.0 average finish in first two track starts behind the wheel of an Earnhardt-Ganassi Chevrolet in 2010; 20.2 average finish in the six races with the COT: Will return in the same car (chassis No. 1102) that he finished 27th with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Brian Vickers: Has yet to post a top 10 in 12 starts; 21.6 average finish in seven starts with Team Red Bull.

Brad Keselowski: Has yet to post a top 10 in five starts; Best finish came in this event last year in 14th; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 745) that he finished 26th with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

David Reutimann: Won the pole for the 2009 spring race; Engine problems in three races have raised his finishing average to 24.7 in seven starts; Best finish came in the 2008 fall race in 10th.

Joey Logano: Coming off first top 10 (fourth) in five starts after leading 30 laps; 24.2 average finish; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 297) that he finished 23rd with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway after a late-race tire violation.

Jeff Burton: Winner of the inaugural and 2007 spring race; Has posted six top-10s with Richard Childress Racing; 14.2 average finish in the six races with the COT; Will return in the same car (chassis No. 344) that he finished 21st with at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Texas Samsung Mobile 500 Preview: Kenseth Looks To Be Driver To Key On

By Micah Roberts
VegasInsider.com

Earnhardt Jr. is all smiles this year after five straight solid finishes

Everything is big in Texas except the NASCAR Sprint Cup point lead after six races that seems to shuffle to a new leader almost every week. Las Vegan Kyle Busch is mere five points ahead of Carl Edwards with the next seven drivers in line all within 19 points of Edwards. The changes to the point structure make the points appear smaller than they are, but it really has been a competitive season thus far with a legitimate case made for at least 12 drivers to win the Championship.

Because of the competitiveness, we’ve seen a fluctuation with the odds to win the season championship at the Las Vegas Hilton Super Book with quite a few drivers odds differing from what they opened with back in December.

Defending five-time champ Jimmie Johnson opened the season as the 5-to-2 favorite to win for the sixth straight year, but has been bumped to 7-to-2 in light of all the new serious contenders. Johnson moved up two positions in points last week and is 3-points ahead of Kevin Harvick, a driver that has made believers out of Las Vegas oddsmakers. Harvick opened at 8-to-1 and is now 9-to-2 as the second choice to win the title with Carl Edwards.

Last season Harvick made a drastic improvement on the tracks that rule the season, the 1.5-mile and 2-mile tracks which are essential to winning a championship. Already this season, Harvick has won on two tracks he has never won on before, including Martinsville, a track that he hadn’t gained a top-five on for his entire career until the fall of last season. When looking at all the other tracks, he’s got those covered too; Road courses, check! Restrictor-plate tracks, check! Short tracks, check! And intermediate tracks like Phoenix, New Hampshire and Richmond, check!

Harvick has the whole season covered. Then when adding in that X-factor of his team getting better in the later part of races like has happened the last two weeks, well, it’s not hard to see why Las Vegas sports books think he’s just as capable as the trendy pick of Edwards to unseat Johnson this year.

Perhaps the biggest mover in respectability with Las Vegas is Dale Earnhardt Jr. who moved up four positions in points with his runner-up finish last week. Junior sits eighth in points and has gone from 50-to-1 opening odds to 20-to-1. Through the six races run, his worst finish has come on what is typically his best type of track, a 24th-place finish at Daytona in the opener. Junior has finished 12th or better since then in the ensuing five races.

The driver to take a major tumble in odds has been Denny Hamlin who opened as the 6-to-1 second choice to win, but has slid all the way back to 10-to-1 because his team still looks like they’re in a daze from Homestead last year when they blew the title. Despite being 19th in points, there still is considerable respect for Hamlin and what he’s capable of doing which is why Las Vegas only has four drivers listed with lower odds than Hamlin.

Hamlin and Harvick go for 3-in-a-row this week

This Saturday night’s race at Texas Motor Speedway will see Harvick and Hamlin trying to get a three-peat. For Harvick, now dubbed as the ‘closer’, he has won the last two races on the season with late come from behind wins. It’s the second time Harvick has won back-to-back races in his career and each of those wins this year also represented his first win ever on the track. Harvick would really shock the racing world with another win becoming the first driver since Jimmie Johnson since 2007 to win three straight races. If he does, it would also be his first win at Texas.

Hamlin doesn’t have a win this year, but is coming into this race having won two Texas races in a row sweeping the 2010 season. Last week was supposed to be a confidence builder, or sort of a crutch, for the struggling Hamlin because he had won three in a row at Martinsville, but it didn’t happen. He finished 13th, his worst finish on his home state track since his first Cup start there. It wasn’t like he wasn’t good, though, he led quite a few laps and looked to have one of the top three cars on the track.

The drivers to watch this week can be found be looking at what happened in Las Vegas and a little bit from California. They are both good indicators to who will be strong on this high-banked super fast 1.5-mile track.

Kenseth was strong at Vegas and Fontana 

The one who stands out the most is Matt Kenseth who also happens to have the best average finish of 7.3 on the track since he won in 2002. Kenseth started on the pole at Las Vegas, practiced well and finished 11th, a race won by teammate Carl Edwards. At California a couple of weeks ago, Kenseth finished fourth.

Edwards is a three-time winner at Texas, the most any driver has there, and in addition to his Vegas win, he also finished sixth at California. The interesting thing about Edwards at Texas is that he doesn’t have a top-five finish on the track with the exception of his three wins, which is why he has such a high average finish of 17.7 in his 12 starts. In his last three starts there, he’s had a 39th, 33rd and 19th.

It’s surprising that for all Johnson’s success at Las Vegas, Charlotte and Atlanta, that he wouldn’t have more than his one win in Texas. Even more surprising is that Johnson doesn’t have a win yet and has now gone 14 races dating back to last year without one. At Las Vegas and California, he didn’t give much indication in practice that he’d be a major player in the race, but in each instance, his team worked hard throughout the race adjusting the car and made it strong at the end. In addition to Johnson’s lone win on the Lone Star track, he also has four runner-up finishes. This week he'll be using his runner-up chassis from Fontana.

Others to key on this week include both Busch brothers, Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart. It could be argued that Stewart had the best car at both Las Vegas and California, but had some unfortunate mishaps at the end of each.

A sleeper for the week could be Juan Pablo Montoya. He's never done much at Texas, but is using the same car that he finished third with at Las Vegas.

Top 5 Finish Prediction:
1) #17 Matt Kenseth (20/1)
2) #14 Tony Stewart (12/1)
3) #99 Carl Edwards (9/2)
4) #49 Jimmie Johnson (6/1)
5) #29 Kevin Harvick (8/1)

Driver Notes & Quotes For Texas Samsung Mobile 500

Joey Logano finished fourth in his last Texas race

JOEY LOGANO ON RACING AT TEXAS: “Texas was only one of those tracks that I just struggled at and had no idea why. People try and tell you it’s like Charlotte, but I assure you it’s not. Charlotte has always been one of my best tracks and until last fall Texas was one of my worst. Last fall I was kind of expecting to be happy with anything around a top-10 finish and thought that would be a good day for us. Then all of a sudden I was in the lead and I was leading laps. I thought that was pretty cool was like, ‘who would’ve thought that here.”

“It’s a really fast track and the Joe Gibbs Racing cars have done well as these types of tracks recently. Hopefully The Home Depot Team will have a solid weekend and continue to work our way up in the points. Plus, I enjoy Saturday night racing so I’m looking forward to this weekend.”

LOGANO CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 20 Home Depot Team is taking chassis #297 to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend for the Samsung Mobile 500. The team utilized this chassis at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier this season. A late-race tire violation with 25 laps to go dropped the team out of the top 10 and into the 23rd position at the Nevada track. The back-up chassis is chassis #284 which Logano drove last year at Auto Club Speedway to an 11th-place finish and at Phoenix International Raceway in November to third.

RYAN NEWMAN ON TEXAS: “We’re off to a strong start and if we’re going to continue to have success we need to do well at the intermediate tracks like Texas. In the past, the mile-and-a-half and two-mile tracks gave us problems, but so far this season we have had good results at those venues with fifth-place finishes at Las Vegas and Fontana. Texas will be another good test for our U.S. Army Reserve Chevrolet. I’ve had a mixture of results there including a win (2003), but it’s going to be more interesting this weekend with it being a night race. The balance transition at night races is key and with this being the first night race at Texas that’s the big unanswered question. It’s the same for everyone, but I feel good about how our U.S. Army team has been communicating and working through problems. I think we put ourselves in a better position team-wise and communication-wise to be more successful this year. After two years of working together, we’ve learned what we needed to work on and I think we did a good job in the off-season of doing that.

JAMIE McMURRAY ON TEXAS: “I love Texas! I grew up only about five hours from the race track so It feels like home, and it’s one of the nicest facilities that we go to. We didn’t run very well there last year, so we’re going with a completely different style of a setup. Texas has usually been a good track for me, so hopefully we’ll hit on something this weekend and bring home another solid finish for our Bass Pro Shops Chevy.

McMURRAY CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis #1102 - Kevin “Bono” Manion will bring chassis #1102. This chassis was raced earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the team qualified 11th and finished 27th.

Montoya will be using third-place Vegas chassis this week

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA ON TEXAS: “I like Texas believe it or not. Our results haven’t been that great there but it’s a track I enjoy racing at. You can run against the fence there and make up good ground especially in (turns) three and four. The racing there suits my driving style. Our program has definitely improved over the last couple of years and our Target Chevy’s are strong so I’m looking for a good points day.”

MONTOYA CHASSIS CHOICE: Chassis #1105 - Brian Pattie and the No. 42 team will bring chassis #1105 this weekend. This chassis was also raced earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway where the team finished third.

DALE EARNHARDT JR ON RACING AT TEXAS: “I look forward to going to Texas — it’s a real fast place, and it’s wide. The car needs to move around, and it needs to work in several different groves. Texas has some really, really tricky transitions. The exit off of Turn 2 is a real, real tricky corner — it is real loose off if you aren’t careful.”

MARK MARTIN ON RACING AT TEXAS: “Who doesn’t like a good night race? I’m excited about it. It’s our first one of the season, and I think that everyone, the drivers, the fans, the sponsors, gets pumped up for night races. I think it’s a good call by the Texas track and I am looking forward to it.”

KASEY KAHNE ON WHAT MAKES TEXAS DIFFERENT FROM OTHER 1.5-MILE TRACKS: “To me, the biggest difference is when you get into the corner — the way the car drops into turn one and then the way it transitions into (turn) three. The banking is kind of similar, the exit to the corners get flat also, which Charlotte and Atlanta do it, but not quite as much probably. There’s a hole — where the tunnels are — there’s a hole across the centers of the corners so your car bounces pretty big through there. It’s a unique track — it’s a tough track and a great track.”

JEFF GORDON ON TEXAS: “We haven’t always run well at Texas, but I am cautiously optimistic heading into the weekend. The differences in our performances in the spring and the fall races recently is probably just different weather and track conditions at that time of year. This track has always been one of the premier facilities – if not the premier facility. There is no other place like this and it has really turned into a fantastic track. When we first came here, it was a really, really challenging race track. It was fast and the transitions were really abrupt, and it was hard just to stay out of the wall. But as the surface has worn and as we’ve gotten the cars handling better, it’s become one of the premier tracks. The race track itself has come into its own and made great racing with the groove widening out. It seems like it gets better every time we come here.”

REGAN SMITH ON TEXAS: “We’re going to Texas knowing that our luck cycle needs to change. It’s been a frustrating start for our No. 78 Furniture Row Racing team. We’ve done so many things well, but can’t seem to avoid trouble and mechanical issues on race day. We know as a team that we’ve made big gains this year even though the results haven’t been what they should be. We’ve been hit pretty hard so far this season with unexpected issues. All we can do is keep plugging away and stay positive. I’ll be driving the Farm American Chevrolet this weekend and hopefully that will change our luck. I think the last time I drove the Farm American car was in California last fall and finished 12th.”

Denny Hamlin needs a major boost at Texas this week

DENNY HAMLIN ON TEXAS AND WINNING LAST YEAR AFTER ACL SURGERY: “Texas is a track I’ve always really run good at, but I was looking at Texas as kind of a week off after Phoenix. As bad as I felt that weekend, I felt like I could use Texas as almost a week off and then try to catch my stride a couple weeks after that and try to get better. How am I supposed to know that my car was going to be rocket fast and we find ourselves in a position to win that race. For me, it was just a huge turning point. It instantly went from trying to recover to just trying to figure out how I am going to get into the Chase and win the Chase at that point.”

TEXAS NATIVE BOBBY LABONTE ON RACING AT HIS HOME TRACK: “Texas Motor Speedway is going to be a good track for us and it will be fun racing at night – - we’ve got Bush’s Beans on board. I really like that place and every track has its own unique characteristic. I was fortunate to go there before they ever built the track. I literally saw it being built from the ground up. It is a great facility and right now it is as good as it has ever been. Texas is coming into its own with a lot of racing grooves.”

“We’ve had really good race cars except for one race and that was Fontana (Auto Club Speedway). We’ve had a little bit of bad luck to go along with the good luck we’ve had. But, we’re getting that consistency where we unload better weekly. We’ve got to find that last little bit to start gaining confidence and momentum as soon as we unload. Momentum is a big thing in this sport. You can’t buy it at a grocery store or a parts store. We’ve been more competitive than not and that’s really encouraging for us.”

BRAD KESELOWSKI ON RACING AT TEXAS: “Texas really is a unique racetrack and a unique layout. From above it looks like any normal 1.5-mile track, but the transitions into and off of the corners are quite a bit different than Charlotte, Las Vegas or any of the other mile-and-a-halfs. There is a lot of banking into the corners, which means you can carry a lot of speed in and to the center, but you lose that speed on exit as the track flattens out. It’s difficult because normally you can carry the same amount of grip and speed on both corner entry and corner exit. You have to adjust accordingly and sometimes that’s hard to do at 180 miles per hour. It’s easy to find yourself in trouble, especially off of Turn 2.”

KESELOWSKI CHASSIS CHOICE: The No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge Charger team will use chassis PRS-745 during Sunday’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Keselowski drove this chassis to a 26th-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last month.

Martin Truex Jr's career best  finish at Texas was third in 2007

MARTIN TRUEX JR ON GOING TO TEXAS: “Martinsville wasn’t too pretty. Anytime you lift your foot off the floor and the engine doesn’t change sound, it’s not a good thing. All I could do was hold on and hope it didn’t hurt too much. It was an unfortunate deal that’s for sure, but it ended up not hurting at all except for our place in the standings. It’s unbelievable what these race cars are able to take nowadays. I think we forget sometimes how much work NASCAR has done to make these cars safe, but I want to thank everyone who has worked and still works diligently to make our sport safe.

“Now, it’s about going to the Texas Motor Speedway to pick everything back up and go at it again. I’m really looking forward to going back there. I think a track like Texas falls in one of our strong points in our program. We had a great run at Vegas so I hope some of what we used and learned there will translate to Texas.”

DAVID REUTIMANN ON TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY: “Texas is a track that we really like a lot. It’s a fun racetrack and a place where I enjoy going. For some reason it’s been a racetrack that I’ve enjoyed running ever since my days in the truck series. It’s one of my favorite racetracks. I think I probably like it so much because we’ve run so well there in the past – that probably helps a lot. In the end I think it’s just the overall design of the racetrack and the fans that come out for the event and the way they promote it. The feel of the whole weekend just makes it a fun weekend. I don’t know exactly what it is, but we definitely enjoy running there. I’ve always ran well there and I haven’t had a chance to run two races in a weekend there in some time. This may be my only shot all year to run both races, so I’m going to go out there and try to make the most of it.”

REUTIMANN ON TEXAS BEING A TRACK THAT HE CIRCLES AS A PLACE HE SHOULD WELL: “Absolutely! There are a couple racetracks on the schedule that we look at that way and Texas is definitely one of them.”


Links to OTHER DRIVERS NOTES & QUOTES FOR TEXAS

StockCartoon by Mike Smith - Las Vegas Sun

Jimmie Johnson Notes


Kurt Busch Notes


Jeff Gordon Notes


RCR Texas Preview


Roush Racing Texas Preview 


Kyle Busch Notes


Tony Stewart Notes