NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway

2015 April 10 TMS_April_2015

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Duck Commander 500
Texas Motor Speedway Distance: 501 miles (334 laps)
Saturday, April 11 7:30 p.m. (ET) TV: FOX, 7 p.m. (ET)
Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90

NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300
Texas Motor Speedway Distance: 300 miles (200 laps)
Friday, April 10 8:30 p.m. (ET) TV: FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. (ET)
Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Kansas 250
Kansas Speedway Distance: 250.5 miles (167 laps)
Friday, May 8 8:30 p.m. (ET) TV: FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. (ET)
Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90

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NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES

Car 22 Joey Logano Shell Pennzoil Ford trying to win again at Texas Motor Speedway
After a breakout 5 win season last year and a 4 place final standings finish, Logano has picked up in 2015 right where he left off. In addition to his Daytona 500 win, Car 22 Ford driver claims Top 10 finishes in all 6 races and is tied with a series-best two Coors Light Pole Awards. Logano ranks second in the standings, trailing Kevin Harvick by 24 points.

Car 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Express Toyota
Denny Hamlin’s win at Martinsville Speedway on March 29 gave Joe Gibbs Racing its first victory since May 4, 2014 at Talladega Superspeedway (also won by Hamlin).

Car 11 FedEx Toyota driver’s performance led strong showings posted by the other three JGR competitors. Matt Kenseth finished 4th, while David Ragan placed 5th. Carl Edwards ran up front most of the race, logging a 7.5 average running position, but ultimately finished 17th following a late race spin.

Car 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet
For the third consecutive week, Jimmie Johnson will travel to a track where he leads all active drivers in wins – Texas Motor Speedway. The six-time series champion has 6 wins at the 1.5-mile track. Despite previous success at Martinsville – a track where he owns 8 wins – Johnson struggled, finishing 35th. He will attempt to rebound from that performance at Texas, a place he won last fall. In addition to his 4 wins, Johnson claims 11 Top fives, 17 Top 10s, one Coors Light Pole Award and a series-high 889 laps at the 1.5 -mile track. Car 48 Chevrolet driver also claims the second-best driver rating (105.7) and the third-best average running position (10.9) at Texas.

Fourteen different drivers have won in 18 Texas spring races, including 10 active competitors: Joey Logano (2014), Kyle Busch (2013), Greg Biffle (2012, ’05), Matt Kenseth (2011, ’02), Denny Hamlin (2010), Jeff Gordon (2009), Carl Edwards (2008), Kasey Kahne (2006), Ryan Newman (2003) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2002).

Recent outputs at 1.5-mile tracks show that a new winner could join the group – Kevin Harvick or Brad Keselowski. In 13 races at 1.5 -mile tracks since 2014, Harvick and Keselowski are tied with Johnson for the wins lead with 3 wins each.

O'Reilly300_2011

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES

Texas natives Chris Buescher (Prosper, Texas), Brennan Poole (The Woodlands, Texas) and David Starr (Houston, Texas) will give fans from the state of Texas lots to cheer for Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (FOX Sports 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET).

Currently, Roush Fenway Racing’s Chris Buescher sits second in the series standings, five points back from Richard Childress Racing’s Ty Dillon. Buescher’s consistency has been his strength thus far this season; in five starts he has three top fives and an average finish of 7.8. Buescher’s season-to-date driver rating is 100.5 (fourth-best in the series). One might say Texas Motor Speedway is 22 year-old Buescher’s home track – his hometown, Prosper, Texas, is just a mere 40 miles northeast of the oval. Buescher has made three starts at Texas posting a best finish of 13th last fall. Buescher has a busy weekend on tap. Following the NXS race Friday night, Buescher will stay and compete Saturday in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race driving the No. 34 Ford for Front Row Motorsports.

Keep your eye developmental driver Brennan Poole, who is stepping into the HScott Motorsports with Chip Ganassi Car 42 Chevrolet this weekend. It will be Poole’s third start of the season for HScott Motorsports. In his first two starts, he has posted one top 10 and an average finish of 17.5. Poole hails from The Woodlands (a suburb of Houston), Texas about 250 miles south of Texas Motor Speedway. Poole harnessed his skills racing for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Racing Series prior to his moonlighting in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. This will be his series track debut at TMS this weekend.

David Starr is running his first full season in the NASCAR XFINITY Series with TriStar Motorsports and car owner Mark Smith. Starr has competed part-time in the series for 10 years, but this season in his full-time stint he sits ninth in the series standings; 51 points behind the standings lead. Starr has posted one top 10 (Daytona) and an average finish of 17.0 in 2015. Starr calls the big city of Houston, Texas his hometown. Texas Motor Speedway sits 275 miles north of Houston. In Starr’s 10 starts TMS he has posted an average finish of 25.9.

Chase Elliot joined an illustrious group of drivers (Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch and Trevor Bayne) who posted their first career NASCAR XFINITY Series victories at Texas Motor Speedway. If he defends his win this season, he will be the first of the four drivers who posted their first win at Texas to do so.

While the odds look long for Elliott, there have been 14 different series winners at TMS and five of the 14 have multiple wins. Kyle Busch leads the series in wins at Texas with seven; including five consecutive victories from the spring of 2008 to the spring of 2010. Three drivers have won back-to-back races at Texas – Mark Martin (1999, 2000); Kyle Busch (2008 sweep, 2009 sweep and spring of 2010) and Carl Edwards (fall of 2010 and spring of 2011). Kyle Busch is the only driver since the NASCAR XFINITY Series started competing at TMS twice a year (since 2005) to win consecutive TMS spring events (2008, 2009 and 2010).

The defending series champion, Elliott, has regained his groove and is riding the momentum of his 4 consecutive Top 10 finishes following his season-opening DNF at Daytona. In five starts in 2015, he has an average finish of 9.8, a driver rating of 100.0 (fifth-best in the series) and a percentage of laps run on the lead lap of 97 percent (second-best in the series).

Sunoco Rookie Update: Wallace, Suarez, Chastain Are Rising To The Top

After the first five races of the season, Darrell Wallace Jr. leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings by eight points over second-place Daniel Suarez and 11 points over third-place Ross Chastain.

Wallace has pulled ahead in the standings with his consistency this season; he hasn’t finished outside the top-15 in all five starts of 2015. His average finish is 11.4, and his season-to-date driver rating is 92.0 (eighth-best in the series). This will be Wallace’s first series start at Texas.

Just outside of Wallace sits Daniel Suarez who posted his fourth consecutive top-15 finish of the season at Auto Club Speedway a few weeks back. The Monterrey, Mexico native Suarez continues to improve each week, his average finish this season is 17.4 and his season-to-date driver rating is 78.4 (12th-best in the series).

Chastain continues to hold on to third in the rookie standings following his three top-20 finishes this season. Chastain kicked 2015 off red hot with a top 10 at Daytona, but since then he hasn’t finished better than 17th. This weekend at Texas, Chastain will make his series track debut at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Nothing gets the fans more excited than seeing their favorite drivers and this Friday they will get the chance to see all the NASCAR XFINITY Series drivers and some of the top NASCAR Sprint Cup Series contenders competing at Texas Motor Speedway Friday night in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.

NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be back in the JR Motorsports No. 88 Chevrolet this weekend. Earnhardt has made two starts this season posting one top 10 and an average finish of 11.0. He has made seven starts at Texas, posting one win (first series career win; 1998), three top fives, five top 10s and an average finish of 8.7. He finished fifth in this race last season.

2010 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion, Brad Keselowski will drive the No. 22 Ford this weekend with crew chief Greg Erwin. Team Penske’s No. 22 Ford currently leads the car owner standings by eight points over JR Motorsports’ No. 88 Chevrolet. This will be Keselowski’s third start of the season. Keselowski has made 14 series career starts at Texas posting one win (2013), eight top fives, 10 top 10s and an average finish of 11.4.

2013 NASCAR XFINITY Series champion Austin Dillon will be in the No. 33 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet at Texas. The No. 33 is currently fifth in the owner standings 37 points back from the lead. Dillon has made five series starts at Texas posting 3 Top 5s and an average finish of 5.2.

Sam Hornish Jr will drive the No. 98 Ford owned by Fred Biagi this weekend. Hornish has made eight series starts at Texas posting one top five, three top 10s and an average finish of 16.0.

Denny Hamlin will be in the No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota in place of the injured Kyle Busch. Hamlin has 11 NXS starts at Texas with six top fives and eight top 10s.

Race Date/Airtime Network Driver/guest analyst

Texas April 10 (8:30 PM ET) FOX Sports 1 Jeff Gordon

Bristol April 18 (1:30 PM ET) FOX Sports 1 Jeff Gordon

Richmond April 24 (7:30 PM ET) FOX Sports 1 Brad Keselowski

Talladega May 2 (1:30 PM ET) FOX Jeff Gordon

Charlotte May 23 (2:30 PM ET) FOX Clint Bowyer

Dover May 30 (2:30 PM ET) FOX Kevin Harvick

Michigan June 13 (1:30 PM ET) FOX Sports 1 Danica Patrick

*subject to change

NASCAR CAMPING WORLD TRUCK SERIES

Brad Keselowski Racing Roars To Fast Start

No team has started off the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series season hotter than Brad Keselowski Racing. Tyler Reddick notched his first career victory at Daytona International Speedway in the season opener, and Joey Logano took the checkered flag from the pole two races later at Martinsville to give the Statesville, North Carolina-based organization two wins in the first three NCWTS events.

Reddick held the standings lead for the first two races and now finds himself in second, only two points behind defending two-time series champion Matt Crafton. BKR’s No. 19 truck, driven exclusively by Reddick, ranks second in the owner standings, while its No. 29 truck occupies the sixth spot. On the season, BKR has led 203 of 488 total possible laps (41.6%) and has completed 99.79% of the total laps this season.

Rookies Racing Well

Four drivers in the top 10 of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series standings are Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidates: Erik Jones
(third), Ray Black Jr. (seventh), Cameron Hayley (eight) and Spencer Gallagher (ninth).

At the moment, Jones is the frontrunner in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year race with 54 rookie points earned from finishes of second, seventh and third in the first three races. He leads Black (-28), Hayley (-30), Gallagher (-31) and his Kyle Busch Motorsports teammate Justin Boston (-31).

Overall, there are 12 rookies competing in the NCWTS: Jones, Black, Hayley, Gallagher, Boston, Daniel Hemric, Korbin Forrister, Austin Theriault, Cody Ware, Wendell Chavous, Brandon Jones and John Hunter Nemechek.

James Buescher returned to run a full-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series schedule this season for the first time since he clinched its championship in 2012. And he’s had a strong showing so far. The 25-year-old Texan is fifth in the driver standings and has collected two straight top-10 finishes (eighth at Atlanta and seventh at Martinsville). Buescher won four races and logged 10 top fives and 14 top 10s on his way to the 2012 title. He finished third in the final NCWTS point standings in 2011 and 2013.

http://www.nascar.com/en_us/sprint-cup-series.html

Graphics & Photos Courtesy of NASCAR

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