Texas Motor Speedway Tag

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — Nine drivers were unable to take a qualifying lap on Friday for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. All nine were stuck in the technical inspection line after failing on their first pass through. Among the nine drivers were some really big names like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, Erik Jones, Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne. Saturday morning, those drivers got their first shot to prove how fast their cars really are, and spoiler alert someRead More

By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service FORT WORTH, Tex. – Kevin Harvick needed a do-over in the second round of Friday’s knockout qualifying session at Texas Motor Speedway, but putting the extra lap on his tires proved well worth the effort. Harvick led not only the second round but also the first and third in winning the pole for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (1:30 p.m. ET on FOX). “I just didn’t feel like I got through Turns 1 and 2 like I needed to,” HarvickRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, TEXAS — When walking around Friday afternoon before qualifying for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, I couldn’t help but notice there were a ton more fans sitting outside the grandstands checking out the midway than what were actually up in seats watching the racing action. When I asked many of them if they were going to go inside to watch qualifying, they said that they didn’t think qualifying was worth the price of admission. Once qualifying began, I immediatelyRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer FORT WORTH, Texas — Bubba Wallace comes into this weekend’s My Bariatric Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on a hot streak of sorts, as he has four-consecutive sixth place finishes. Wallace continued that hot streak by posting the fastest lap of the day in the NASCAR Xfinity Series — a 188.692 mph lap in the second practice session of the day. Wallace looked relaxed and confident Thursday during a surprise visit to an assembly at B.B. Owen Elementary School in The Colony, Texas. AndRead More

By Toby Christie, NASCAR Writer Many people have argued for years that 1.5-mile tracks are too cookie cutter. Well, they can’t claim that about Texas Motor Speedway anymore. This offseason, the track underwent a massive repaving and re-profiling which flattened the banking four degrees on one end of the track, which now gives crew chiefs a dilemma of what end of the speedway to adjust their cars for. In opening Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, the new track layout bit several of the sport’s top drivers. In all three driversRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer For the last six months, Jeb Burton has been on the sidelines due to sponsorship, but will be making his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start of the season with Saturday’s running of the My Bariatrics Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway. Burton will pilot the No. 24 Estes Express Lines Toyota Camry for JGL Racing and will have Clinton Cram on the pit box as his crew chief this weekend. This will be Burton’s 97th career NASCAR National Series start. In his previous 96 starts, 50Read More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor Since 1997, the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series has been making the trek to the Lone Star State to take on the 1.5 mile Texas Motor Speedway, but of the 32 events that have taken place at the track, just one sticks out as the best of the best. In this week’s “Throwback Thursday Theater,” we’ll take a look back at the 2004 Samsung Radioshack 500, which produced the closest Cup Series finish ever at the track. After coming up just short of his firstRead More

By Seth Eggert, NASCAR Writer The last time the NASCAR Xfinity Series visited Texas Motor Speedway, Kyle Larson took home the victory in exciting fashion. Larson beat Brad Keselowski by 0.385 seconds. Erik Jones was the highest finishing NASCAR Xfinity Series regular in fourth. The last time a NASCAR Xfinity Series regular won at Texas, and was running exclusively in the Xfinity Series was Chase Elliott in 2014. Former winners in this weekend’s field are Erik Jones and Kevin Harvick. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series drivers in the field thisRead More

By David Morgan, NASCAR Editor After a trip to the smallest track on the circuit for some great racing 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 O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. First joining the circuit in 1997, the 1.5 mile Texas track has provided some great racing over the years as the surface wore down as each season passed. However, this go around, the track will be a completely different animal as theRead More

By Beth Lunkenheimer, NASCAR Contributor Dale Earnhardt Jr. just completed his 600th career start in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series last weekend at Auto Club Speedway. During that time, the 42-year-old has 26 career victories, including two Daytona 500 wins. Oh, and that doesn’t include that he is also a 14-time Most Popular Driver. “I just wanted to drive. I wanted to race cars for a living. I wanted to do it well enough to be able to afford to make a living doing it,” Earnhardt said. “I didn’tRead More