AAA Texas 500 Tag

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – Ryan Blaney may have exited the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs, but that doesn’t mean the desire to win has left the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford. Running the fastest lap of the day in the final round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Texas Motor Speedway, Blaney sped around the 1.5-mile track in 26.932 seconds (200.505 mph) to earn the top starting spot for Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN, PRN andRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer NASCAR’s headlines all week has been on the dramatic finish from last Sunday’s First Data 500 at Martinsville, involving Joey Logano and Martin Truex, Jr., where Logano’s bump on Truex in Turn 3 to get the win, angering him as another bid of a short track victory vanished in front of him. During Friday’s press conference at Texas Motor Speedway however, Truex did reflect on his hasty post-race comments on Logano through texting, but his eyes have already shifted from anger to game mode as hisRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Kyle Busch is quietly confident heading into Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The 33-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada, comes into the Round of 8 of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings sitting 46-points above the cutoff line, best among potential drivers to make the Championship 4 on points. With Joey Logano winning last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, there are only three spots left to fight for over the next two races to set the field for the seasonRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a barnburner of a finish at Martinsville last weekend, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Lone Star State and Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the AAA Texas 500 and the second race of the playoff semi-finals. First joining the circuit in 1997, the 1.5-mile Texas track has provided some great racing over the years as the original track surface wore down over the years. Prior to the 2017 season, Texas went through a reconfiguration, dropping the banking in Turns 1Read More

By Seth Eggert, Staff Writer Despite being a member of the ‘Big Three,’ Kevin Harvick flew under the Radar after struggling to run inside the top-10 at Martinsville Speedway. The First Data 500 was an uncharacteristic struggle for the 2014 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Champion. Harvick finished 10th after hovering just inside the top-15 in his No. 4 Busch Beer Ford Fusion. The struggles for Harvick were evident as he was forced to take the free pass at the end of the second stage. Changing track conditions and lack of trackRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Keeping with tradition, Texas Motor Speedway has once again brought innovation to the fan experience. The 1.5-mile oval will be starting construction to create an area designated as the Restart BAR Zone Club, which will be located at the beginning of the dogleg on the frontstretch. The expectation is that the new indoor/outdoor lounge will be ready for use for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series comes to town April 6-8. The development comes roughly a year after the facility elected to undergo a reconfiguration andRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Each week, NASCAR Editor David Morgan will break down who’s hot and who’s not after the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race weekend. Today, we break down the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. WINNERS Kevin Harvick – Harvick served notice to the rest of the field on Sunday that he wouldn’t be going quietly into the night in this year’s championship battle. Entering Texas with just a three point lead over the elimination cut-off and never having won at the 1.5 mile track,Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – Jimmie Johnson saw his quest for a record eighth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series title take a major hit with a 27th-place finish in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The 42-year-old Californian started ninth and looked to be an early favorite, having entered with seven victories at the 1.5-mile in his career. However, on Lap 65 of 334, following the first sequence of green flag pit stops, Johnson brought the car down pit road for a reported vibration andRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – Denny Hamlin did almost everything right on Sunday afternoon. Despite his best efforts, however, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota left Texas Motor Speedway in a good-sized hole. Hamlin started Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 from the front row beside pole winner Kurt Busch. He led the first 46 laps, 65 overall. Hamlin was in the top spot for the final restart on Lap 289 and rolled home in third place behind winner Kevin Harvick and runner-upRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief FORT WORTH, Texas – It wasn’t the ideal outcome, but Ryan Blaney put in a solid sixth-place finish to keep himself in the championship mix in the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. The 23-year-old Ohio native started eighth, but managed to climb into the top three before losing the rear of the car while defending his position entering Turn 2 on Lap 258 and fading quickly the  of the backend top 10. From there, Blaney struggled to regain the lost track position, but quietlyRead More