Samsung 500 preview
By Micah Roberts
Put the cowboy hat on, the boots, wranglers, and get ready to Texas two-step. It’s time to drink some Lone-Star beer, put in a skoal, and rodeo on the asphalt of Texas Motor Speedway for this Sunday’s NASCAR Cup race in Ft. Worth. This will be the seventh race of the season thus far, and so far, it’s been rather quiet on the front.
We have Jeff Gordon leading the way in the standings by finishing in the Top 6 just about every week, but he has still yet to win a race since 2007. Clint Bowyer has played the same game, just to a lesser degree and is in second place. Matt Kenseth started the season with a bang by winning two in a row, but he and his entire Roush-Fenway teammates have taken a giant step backwards. The greatest newsworthy event, or at least anything that provided some sort of drama has been Kyle Busch’s verbal jabs at Dale Earnhardt Jr’s lack of success on the track vs. his sales in the merchandise trailers.
This week, we may be able to add some more BBQ spice into the mix at Texas with a few rivalries ready to explode on the track. Of course, it all begins with Kyle Busch and to some extent his brother, Kurt, will be in the mix as well. The two Busch brothers should be considered the favorites this week because of each of their performances on two separate tracks, Las Vegas and Atlanta. Texas is the sister track of both those facilities run on already this season and is very similar as far as distance and banking go. Kyle won in Las Vegas and Kurt won in Atlanta; Kurt’s in dominating fashion.
Last season Carl Edwards was latest of several over the years to be the dominator on these types of tracks. He won at Las Vegas, blew an engine in Vegas, but came back to win in Atlanta. Later in the season, he used all their successful notes to win back to back in the fall in Atlanta and Texas. If someone is on a roll on a specific type track, it usually is a good bet that the success continues to the next.
Now the Dixie Chicks may disagree, but Kyle is likely to be the most hated Busch in Texas on Sunday. He’s playing the villain role quite nice and he won’t have many supporters, but he does have some stats going his way, that also apply to Kurt. In the last three seasons, a single driver has won multiple times on at least two of the three sister tracks of Vegas, Atlanta, or Texas within the first seven races of the season.
Kyle has all the stats and numbers to support he’ll do well at Texas based on the last season and this year. He’s was third and sixth at Texas last year which also included a win in Atlanta. Kurt’s road is a little more bumpy, but progressively better leading to it’s height of where he’s at now.
Penske Racing had their new Dodge engine ready to go last season right about when the Chase started. Since Kurt wasn’t in the Chase, they felt comfortable enough to Dyno-test-like it in race conditions while sacrificing possible positions in the points. They had immediate success with a third in Charlotte, came back a few weeks later finish sixth in Atlanta, but then blew an engine a week later at Texas.
That foresight and sacrifice helped them this year because NASCAR mandated no pre-season testing which would have set them back tremendously had they not started last season. This year at Las Vegas, they blew a cylinder, but still finished a respectable 23rd under the circumstances. Then everything paid off the following week with a powerful performance in Atlanta. This week, the Blue Deuce should be dialed in and ready for Texas. Don’t expect the 25/1 odds that Kurt paid off at some Las Vegas books, but even in the area of 12/1 should be considered good value based on where this team is at right now.
Either way, whichever Busch wins, it’s likely the Dallas area crowd will boo the winning brother with more passion than they would a Football team that hasn’t won a playoff game since 1996. The angry hatred NASCAR Nation has on our Las Vegas brothers, particularly Kyle, is amusing and is definitely adding some El Paso Picante zest to the season.
Some other stories that could evolve this week and create excitement involve Busch and Junior. Someday, Junior is going to catch up to Kyle and punt him. Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray have some tension, or at least McMurray does. That’s a powder keg waiting to blow. The latest is Denny Hamlin feeling a little queezy about Jimmie Johnson’s clean bump-pass at Martinsville last week for the win. It’s hard to hold a grudge against the three-time Champ who is a total gentleman on the track. He deserves a little more respect, but again, I wouldn’t oppose to seeing more clashes in this era of vanillafied NASCAR with all the threats of fines and suspensions.
If looking for contenders to take down the Busch brothers, we can look at the top performers from Las Vegas and Atlanta. Clint Bowyer, Brian Vickers, and Jeff Gordon all had top 5 finishes in both races. Texas remains one of only two tracks on the circuit that he’s never won at, and of the two, Gordon has had more starts with 16 there than Miami. Because Gordon is the points leader and he’s run so well, a good price over 8/1 is going to be tough to obtain.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is getting better all the time. He was 10th in Vegas and 11th in Atlanta and the team knows that Papa Hendrick is watching them closely and they need to get right fast. Junior loves having Tony Eury Jr be his crew chief, but sometimes its not good mixing business and family because Junior will never give the go ahead to get rid of his cousin because he feels like its stabbing him in the back. Expect at least a top 10 out of Junior this week and a good play in matchups at plus money. In 2000, during Junior’s rookie year, he won at Texas. The moment his proud father came running to the winner’s circle is one of NASCAR’s greats. We had never seen that side of Dale Sr. before.
Brian Vickers presents a nice possibility with possible long shot prices. The 1.5 mile high banked tracks is where the Vickers team has performed their best since the team started. Clint Bowyer is coming close each week, but hasn’t had quite enough; he’ll be in the 15/ 1 range.
Let’s do the Texas two-step with a 1-2 Busch Brothers finish with some ZZ Top blasting Viva Las Vegas in the background.
Top 5 Finish Prediction:
1) # 2 Kurt Busch (12/1)
2) #18 Kyle Busch (5/1)
3) #48 Jimmie Johnson (6/1)
4) #99 Carl Edwards (10/1)
5) #83 Brian Vickers (25/1)
Driver Highlights - Texas
VegasInsider.com
Note: All driver statistics that follow are from Texas Motor Speedway. The Loop Data statistics – Driver Rating, Average Running Position, etc. – in this release, however, cover the last eight races at Texas. NASCAR’s scoring loops began collecting data for statistical purposes in 2005.
Greg Biffle (No. 16 3M Ford) 15/1
# One win, two top fives, three top 10s
# Average finish of 24.0
# Driver Rating of 91.9, ninth-best
# 198 Fastest Laps Run, second-most
# 450 Green Flag Passes, ninth-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 172.559 mph, fifth-fastest
# 214 Quality Passes (passes of cars in the top 15 under green), 12th-most
Clint Bowyer (No. 33 BB&T Chevrolet) 25/1
# Two top fives, three top 10s
# Average finish of 12.2
# Average Running Position of 12.7, ninth-best
# Driver Rating of 90.8, 10th-best
# Average Green Flag Speed of 172.341 mph, 10th-fastest
Kyle Busch (No. 18 M&M's Toyota) 5/1
# Three top fives, four top 10s
# Average finish of 16.3
# Average Running Position of 11.9, sixth-best
# Driver Rating of 94.9, seventh-best
# 113 Fastest Laps Run, seventh-most
# 466 Green Flag Passes, seventh-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 172.482 mph, seventh-fastest
# 1,775 Laps in the Top 15 (66.2%), seventh-most
# 258 Quality Passes, fourth-most
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 88 AMP Energy Drink/National Guard Chevrolet) 18/1
# One win, three top fives, seven top 10s; two poles
# Average finish of 13.4
# Average Running Position of 10.3, fourth-best
# Driver Rating of 96.0, sixth-best
# 110 Fastest Laps Run, eighth-most
# 430 Green Flag Passes, 12th-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 172.437 mph, ninth-fastest
# Series-high 2,223 Laps in the Top 15 (82.9%)
# Series-high 308 Quality Passes
Carl Edwards (No. 99 Aflac Ford) 5/1
# Three wins, three top fives, three top 10s
# Average finish of 13.9
# Average Running Position of 12.0, eighth-best
# Driver Rating of 102.3, fourth-best
# Series-high 254 Fastest Laps Run
# 452 Green Flag Passes, eighth-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 172.638 mph, fourth-fastest
# 1,983 Laps in the Top 15 (73.9%), fourth-most
# 262 Quality Passes, second-most
Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) 8/1
# Six top fives, eight top 10s; one pole
# Average finish of 16.1
# Average Running Position of 15.4, 12th-best
# Driver Rating of 86.9, 12th-best
# 97 Fastest Laps Run, ninth-most
# 1,537 Laps in the Top 15 (57.3%), 11th-most
Denny Hamlin (No. 11 FedEx Toyota) 15/1
# Two top fives, five top 10s
# Average finish of 11.6
# Average Running Position of 11.9, seventh-best
# Driver Rating of 97.4, fifth-best
# 84 Fastest Laps Run, 11th-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 172.449 mph, eighth-fastest
# 1,558 Laps in the Top 15 (66.4%), 10th-most
# 237 Quality Passes, eighth-most
Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet) 6/1
# One win, five top fives, eight top 10s
# Average finish of 9.1
# Average Running Position of 10.5, fifth-best
# Series-best Driver Rating of 104.7
# 171 Fastest Laps Run, fourth-most
# Series-best Average Green Flag Speed of 172.797 mph
# 1,930 Laps in the Top 15 (72.0%), sixth-most
# 225 Quality Passes, ninth-most
Matt Kenseth (No. 17 DEWALT Ford) 14/1
# One win, five top fives, eight top 10s
# Average finish of 10.1
# Average Running Position of 9.6, second-best
# Driver Rating of 104.2, second-best
# 123 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most
# 472 Green Flag Passes, fifth-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 172.652 mph, third-fastest
# 2,115 Laps in the Top 15 (78.9%), second-most
# 244 Quality Passes, seventh-most
Tony Stewart (No. 14 Old Spice/Office Depot Chevrolet) 25/1
# One win, three top fives, eight top 10s
# Average finish of 13.2
# Series-best Average Running Position of 9.5
# Driver Rating of 103.1, third-best
# 196 Fastest Laps Run, third-most
# Average Green Flag Speed of 172.703 mph, second-fastest
# 2,111 Laps in the Top 15 (78.7%), third-most
# 253 Quality Passes, sixth-most
Samsung 500 PreQ
After a couple of rough weeks on the short tracks Carl Edwards is looking to bounce back in a big way at Texas Motor Speedway. Edwards loves this track taking the checkered flag in both races last season. He is considered to be one of the top high-banked superspeedway drivers averaging a 10th place finish in the last 17 starts with seven wins and 13 top 10s. Edwards has just two top 10s on the season with zero wins and would love nothing more to record his first win of the season. Look for a strong showing out of the #99 Aflac Ford in the Samsung 500.
The start of the season could not have started any better for Matt Kenseth when he went to victory lane in the first two races. Since that time he has failed to finish in the top 10 with just one finish in the top 20. Kenseth, like his teammate Carl Edwards, is looking for a good run this weekend at Texas. That could come to fruition as he has six top 10s in the last eight races with three 2nd place finishes. Kenseth has fallen to 12th in the point standings and is due for a good run. Add the #17 DeWalt Ford to your lineup for this race.
In keeping with the trend look for Jamie McMurray, yet another Roush-Fenway Racing driver, to have a good run at Texas. McMurray moved up six spots in the point standings (22nd) after his 10th place run at Martinsville – just his second top 10 of the season. He could easily follow that up with another top 10 at Texas as he has three top 10s in the last four races at the track. RFR has notoriously run very well at Texas and all five drivers should be considered this weekend.
Kasey Kahne has had a solid start to the season sitting 9th in the point standings after the first six races. Kahne has underperformed the last two seasons after winning six races in the 2006 season while finishing 8th in the point standings. He has failed to make the Chase for the Championship the last two seasons and would like to turn that statistic around. Kahne, however, lost some ground last weekend at Martinsville and could see the same struggles this weekend at Texas. He does have a win (2006) but has since failed to finish in the top 15. Kahne has the skills to run with the top drivers in the series but must become more consistent. Watch him carefully this weekend before adding him to your lineup.
Michael Waltrip hung around all day last Sunday to end the race with a solid 13th place finish. It was Waltrip’s first top 20 finish since the second race of the season. It could be a long week for Waltrip at Texas however as he has struggled at the track in the COT car. In his two starts at Texas last season he averaged a 29th place finish with both finishes coming outside the top 25. Waltrip has shown that his Michael Waltrip Racing team can compete at a high level but has work to do. We recommend looking elsewhere for this race.
profantasysports.com
Samsung 500 Driver Rating
Call it a Texas three-step. Carl Edwards won both of last season’s NASCAR Sprint Cup events at Texas Motor Speedway, part of his series-leading total of nine victories that fueled his runner-up finish in the series standings. Edwards also won at Texas in the 2005 fall race. His three TMS wins are a series high. Edwards comes to Texas eighth in the series points but has nonetheless been perceived to be in an early-season slump — much like three-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson was prior to his win this past Sunday at Martinsville. Edwards has yet to win this season. Compare that with 2008’s late-season rush when he won three of the 10 events in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Maybe he is in a slump. Nonetheless, he’s also solidly in Chase contention and remains a favorite to be in championship contention later on this season. Clearly, Edwards has taken to Texas since joining the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in 2004. He has an average TMS finish of 13.9 and a Driver Rating of 102.3 there — third-best in the series. Edwards has continued Roush Fenway Racing’s TMS dominance that started with victories in the track’s first two NASCAR Sprint Cup events in 1997 and ‘98. Jack Roush leads all owners in TMS wins with seven.
profantasysports.com
Samsung 500 HOT! Sheet
If you’re looking for a driver that is on the rise, look no further than Mark Martin. His first year in the #5 car started with some nightmare finishes. In the first three events of the season, his average finish was 32nd. But as you can see on our chart below, in his last three that average has risen to about 15th. He had the pole at both Atlanta and Bristol. Last week, he had the most improved positioning of anybody going from 31st to 7th. You’re safe this week with him on your roster.
Another fast riser on the circuit is Ryan Newman. The artist known as ‘The Rocket’ also was horrible at the beginning of the year with an average finish of 30th in the first three races. Thing started turning toward the good at Atlanta when he led for a few laps for the first time in the #39 car. At Bristol he kept it going, leading 25 laps en route to 7th place. He’s coming off of a 6th place showing at Martinsville. Grab him if you can while he’s cheap.
One of the real nice surprises so far has been A.J. Allmendinger. Other than a couple of hiccups at California and Vegas, he’s been racking up the fantasy points for his owners. His average finish in the other four this season is 11th. It’s been good enough to rank him 15th in the standings. Last week at Martinsville, he ran with the leaders all day and wound up 9th. He may be a nice inexpensive addition to your team.
At the bottom of our sheet this week is Bobby Labonte. The former series champion has had a rough road recently. In Atlanta, he had an engine give way less than one-third of the way through the event that resulted in a 40th place finish. At Bristol, he was scored in 22nd. Last week, he barely stayed on the lead lap and was 16th. He only has three top 20s at Texas in his last 11 trips there. Stay away for right now.
Right by him in the basement is Greg Biffle. He had impressive outings at California and Vegas. But as our chart shows, since then his average finish is about 34th. In Atlanta, he got caught up in a wreck and was 34th. A week later, he posted another DNF after engine failure forced him out in 39th place. At Martinsville, he started 18th but faded back two laps to 28th position. He seems to like this track, so we’re not saying bench him. However, he does get our “buyer beware” label this week.
profantasysports.com
Driver Handicaps: Texas
Racingone.com
This weekend the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday's Samsung 500. To help you make your fantasy racing picks, RacingOne brings you our weekly detailed look at some of the field for the 334-lap event.
Who's HOT at Texas
• Carl Edwards and Jeff Burton are the only multiple winners.
• Jimmie Johnson leads all drivers with a 9.1 average finish.
• Jeff Gordon leads all drivers with six top-five finishes.
• Kyle Busch has posted an average finish of 4.3 in his last three starts.
• Tony Stewart is second in laps led (453) and has one win and eight top 10s.
• Matt Kenseth has finished ninth or better in six of his last seven starts.
Keep an Eye on at Texas
• Mark Martin has one win and eight top 10s in 16 starts at Texas.
• Denny Hamlin has posted an average finish of 6.0 in the past three spring races at Texas.
• Kurt Busch dominated at Atlanta last month, but won't return in that same race car. This weekend he will drive a new car when he goes after his eighth top 10 at Texas.
• Clint Bowyer has finished in the top 10 in his last two starts at Texas.
• Texas Motor Speedway is Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s second-best 1.5-mile track on the circuit based on his 13.4 finishing average.
• Brian Vickers has posted a 6.5 average finish on the two 1.5-mile tracks so far this season.
Track Performers
Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon lead all drivers with a 4.0 average finish on the 1.5-mile tracks in 2009. Brian Vickers, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards are the other drivers that have posted an average finish of 10.0 or better. Kurt Busch, who has an average finish of 12.0, has led the most laps, with 235, after dominating the Atlanta race en route to a victory. Jimmie Johnson is the only other driver that has led more than 100 laps (103). Based off 1.5-mile tracks: Las Vegas, Atlanta (1.54-mile).
RacingOne Staff Picks
Jeff Wackerlin: Jeff Gordon
Pete Pistone: Matt Kenseth
Rachael West: Greg Biffle
Kym Opalenik: Tony Stewart
Top 20 Driver Notes - Ordered by Current Standings
1. Jeff Gordon: Texas Motor Speedway is one of two tracks on the schedule where Gordon has yet to visit victory lane. Last fall, Gordon recorded his second runner-up finish at TMS after starting from the pole. Another one of Gordon's closest attempts at a victory at TMS came in 2004 when he led 46 laps en route to a third-place finish. In that event, Gordon lost the lead after he was forced to switch to a back-up battery with 26 laps to go. Last year in this event, Gordon crashed out of the race on lap 124 for his third DNF in 16 starts.
2. Clint Bowyer: Bowyer has competed in six Sprint Cup races at Texas Motor Speedway with his best finish, of fourth, coming last fall. Last year in this event, Bowyer finished 10th for his third top 10. Bowyer, who has an average finish of 12.2, will be racing the same car (chassis No. 267) that finished 19th in February at Auto Club Speedway.
3. Kurt Busch: Texas Motor Speedway is Busch's best 1.5-mile track on the circuit based on his 15.3 finishing average. In the 2007 fall race, Busch scored his seventh top 10 at TMS after finishing eighth. The 2006 spring race marked his first race at Texas with Penske. He finished 34th in that event, one day after winning his first Nationwide race with the team. This weekend Busch will debut chassis No. 605 in the Samsung 500.
4. Jimmie Johnson: Johnson captured his first win at Texas Motor Speedway after leading nine laps in the 2007 fall race. He followed that up by leading 65 laps en route to his second runner-up finish in this event last year. In the 2007 spring race, Johnson's Texas finishing average took a hit, dropping to 9.1, after a crash took him out of contention. His 38th-place finish was his only DNF and only finish outside the top 15 in 11 starts at TMS. This weekend Johnson will pilot a new car (chassis No. 534) in the Samsung 500.
5. Denny Hamlin: Hamlin's finishing average (11.6) at Texas Motor Speedway took a hit in the 2007 fall race when he came home 29th. The finish was his first of two outside the top 10 in seven starts. In that race Hamlin led 45 laps and battled for the lead before making contact with the outside wall. Last year in this event, Hamlin scored his second top five at TMS after finishing fifth. This weekend Denny Hamlin will drive a new chassis (No. 232) in the Samsung 500.
6. Kyle Busch: Busch has posted an average finish of 4.3 in his last three starts at Texas Motor Speedway. Last year he finished third and sixth, respectively, in his first two starts at TMS with Joe Gibbs Racing. Busch's first six starts at Texas came with Hendrick Motorsports. This weekend Busch will pilot a new car (chassis No. 236) in the Samsung 500.
7. Tony Stewart: Stewart collected his first win at Texas Motor Speedway in the 2006 fall race. The win was his seventh of eight career top 10s at the track. Stewart's last came in this event in 2008 when he finished seventh. Besides an 11th and 16th-place finish in the last two fall events, Stewart's remaining four finishes have been 23rd or worse. This weekend Stewart will pilot the same car (chassis No. 509) that Jason Leffler finished 27th with at Chicago in 2008. Since then, a new nose and bumper have been put on the car.
8. Carl Edwards: Edwards is coming off a sweep of Texas Motor Speedway in 2008 after combining to lead 335 laps en route to two wins. The win last fall was his third at the track. His other win came in the 2005 fall event. In that race, he took on fresh tires during a pit stop with 15 to go and charged through the field after restarting sixth. In the 2006 spring race, Edwards looked strong again, leading 50 laps, until an accident charged him with his first, and only, DNF at the track. Edwards, who has an average finish of 13.9 in eight starts at TMS, will be racing a new chassis (No. 639) in the Samsung 500.
9. Kasey Kahne: Kahne won the 2006 spring race at Texas Motor Speedway after leading 63 laps from the pole. Kahne has started in the top 10 in five out of the nine races he has competed in. Outside of the win and a second-place finish, Kahne's other performances at TMS have resulted in finishes of 18th or worse.
10. Kevin Harvick: Harvick broke a streak of five consecutive finishes outside the top 10 at Texas Motor Speedway by finishing fifth and third, respectively, in 2006. In this event in 2007, Harvick posted his worst finish in 12 starts at TMS after finishing 29th. Since then Harvick has recorded an average finish of 9.3 in three starts, which includes a seventh-place run last fall. This weekend Harvick will be back behind the wheel of the same car (chassis No. 272) that finished fourth last month at Atlanta.
11. David Reutimann: Reutimann is coming off his first top 10 at Texas Motor Speedway after finishing 10th last fall. He also led his first laps in that race with a total of five. In the two 1.5-mile races in 2009, Reutimann has posted an average finish of 18.0.
12. Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has recorded an average finish of 5.6 in his last seven starts at Texas Motor Speedway. Four of the finishes marked his first top fives at the track since winning the 2002 event. In 2005, Kenseth dominated the 334-lap fall race by leading 149 laps from his best Texas qualifying effort of third.
13. Jeff Burton: Burton has posted an average finish of 6.5 in his last four starts at Texas Motor Speedway. Burton won his second race at TMS, first with Richard Childress Racing, in the 2007 spring race. He led one lap in that race to mark his first lap led at TMS since 2000. Burton's first eight starts at TMS came with Roush Racing. In that span he captured one win (the inaugural race in 1997) and three top 10s. This weekend Burton will pilot a new chassis (No. 274) in the Samsung 500.
14. Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya will be making his fifth Cup start at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. His best start of third was in Fall 2007 and best finish of eighth came in Spring of 2007. This weekend he will be driving the same car (chassis No. 903) that finished 11th at Auto Club Speedway in February.
15. AJ Allmendinger: Texas Motor Speedway is Allmendinger's worst 1.5-mile track on the schedule where he has made multiple starts at, based on his 32.5 average finish. His best finish came last fall in 26th.
16. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Texas Motor Speedway is the site of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s first Sprint Cup Series victory. The triumph was one of seven top 10s at the track. In his first two starts he combined to lead 213 of his 394 laps led at the track. Junior's last top 10 at TMS came in the 2006 fall event when he finished sixth. Last year in this event, Earnhardt Jr. won the pole and finished 12th in his Texas debut with Hendrick Motorsports. This weekend Earnhardt Jr. will pilot the same car (chassis No. 499) that finished 39th at Auto Club Speedway due to engine problems, after climbing 27 positions through the field.
17. Michael Waltrip: Waltrip has recorded an average finish of 24.2 in 14 starts at Texas Motor Speedway. His best finish in the two COT races at the track came last fall in 27th.
18. Ryan Newman: Outside of a win in the 2003 event and two consecutive top-five finishes, Texas Motor Speedway has not been kind to Newman. His lone victory boosted his finishing average to 24.0. He earned his first pole at TMS in the 2005 spring event and led one of his 84 laps at the 1.5-mile speedway, but finished 16th. He went on to win the pole for the fall event but went to a back-up car after crashing on his second qualifying lap. This weekend Newman will make his Texas debut in a Chevrolet.
19. Bobby Labonte: Texas native Labonte won the poles at Texas Motor Speedway in 2003 and 2004. His best finish at Texas is third, marking all three of his top fives achieved at the track. Labonte's 10th-place finish in the 2006 spring event was his last of five top 10s. Since then he has gone on to post a 23.8 average finish. This weekend Labonte will return in the same car (chassis No. 601) that finished fifth at Las Vegas.
20. Brian Vickers: Vickers has yet to finish in the top 10 at Texas Motor Speedway in nine starts. In Vickers' four starts with Team Red Bull at TMS he has posted an average finish of 17.8. In the 2006 fall race Vickers won the pole while driving for Hendrick Motorsports.
Notable Drivers Outside the Top 20
22. Jamie McMurray: McMurray has posted six top 10s and three top-five finishes in 10 starts at Texas Motor Speedway. McMurray's best finish, of second, came with Chip Ganassi Racing in April 2005. This weekend will mark his seventh start with Roush-Fenway Racing at Texas. His best finish with the team came last fall after he took the checkered flag in third. This weekend McMurray will return in that same car (chassis No. 603) in the Samsung 500.
23. Greg Biffle: Biffle won the 2005 spring event at Texas Motor Speedway after leading 219 laps. The win was his first of three top 10s in 10 starts at TMS. His last came in the 2008 fall race when he started 19th and finished fifth. In the 2006 spring race, Biffle had another contending car until his No. 16 Ford got hit from behind by Kurt Busch's No. 2 Dodge on the backstretch. Biffle was faced with more bad luck in the 2005 fall race after he was forced to pit on lap 49 when he felt a vibration in his car. After a green flag pit stop, he dropped back one lap behind the leader. Biffle was not the same after the stop, suffering a spin later in the race and coming home with a 20th-place finish. In 2004, he ran in the top-five before the engine expired in the No. 16 Ford.
24. Elliott Sadler: Sadler has made 14 starts at Texas Motor Speedway. His best success came with the Yates Racing Team where he scored one win (2004) and a ninth-place finish. His last five starts have come with Gillett-Evernham (Richard Petty Motorsports) where he has posted an average finish of 25.4. This weekend Sadler will pilot the same car (chassis No. 269) that finished 25th in February at Auto Club Speedway.
27. Mark Martin: In 16 career Sprint Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Martin has earned one victory, five top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He has led a total of 169 laps at TMS. Last year, Martin finished eighth and 12th, respectively, at TMS driving for Dale Earnhardt, Inc. This weekend Martin will make his Texas debut in the No. 5 car for Hendrick Motorsports. The chassis (No. 523) Martin will be driving is the same one that won the pole at Atlanta.
28. Martin Truex Jr: Truex Jr. has posted four top 10s at Texas Motor Speedway, which is the most among his starts on 1.5-mile tracks. His finishing average (13.0) is hindered by a 36th-place finish in this event last year when the engine failed in his Chevrolet. This weekend Truex will be back in the same car (chassis No. 70) that finished 10th last month at Atlanta.
29. David Ragan: Ragan lowered his average finish at Texas Motor Speedway from 38.0 to 25.0 last year with respective finishes of 13th and 11th. This weekend Ragan will shoot for his first Cup Series top 10 at Texas by driving the same car (chassis No. 633) that he finished 17th with in February at Auto Club Speedway.
Reutimann edges Gordon for pole at Texas
Fri 3rd, April 2009
Fort Worth, TX (Sports Network) - David Reutimann's astonishing season in the Sprint Cup Series continued Friday as he won the pole for the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Reutimann captured his second career Sprint Cup pole after turning a lap around the one-and-a-half mile track at 190.517 m.p.h. in his Michael Waltrip Racing Toyota. His first pole came in last year's season-finale at Homestead.
"It felt great," Reutimann said. "The car was great, and it was great right off the trailer. (Crew chief) Rodney Childers and everybody just made really good adjustments all day long. We went out early, and that was a long time to wait, and we dodged some bullets."
Reutimann, in his third full-season of Sprint Cup competition, is currently 11th in points. He finished fourth last month at Las Vegas for his career-best finish so far in the series.
Only one driver has started on the pole and won in 16 Cup races at Texas. Kasey Kahne did it in April 2006.
Jeff Gordon will start alongside Reutimann on the outside pole after the Hendrick Motorsports driver posted a lap of 190.194 m.p.h.
"I couldn't ask for anything more out of the car," Gordon said. "I feel like I put in about as a solid of a lap as I put in a long time."
Gordon will start on the front row at Texas for the sixth time.
Roush Fenway Racing teammates Matt Kenseth and David Ragan qualified third and fourth, respectively. Paul Menard from Yates Racing was fifth.
Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, Jimmie Johnson and rookie Joey Logano completed the top-10.
Carl Edwards, who won both races at Texas last year, qualified 13th.
Joe Nemechek, Scott Speed, Jeremy Mayfield, Todd Bodine and Scott Riggs failed to qualify.
Sunday's race is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. (et).
Samsung 500 Odds and Predictions
by Christopher G. Shepard
Carl Edwards will look to win his third consecutive race in the Lone Star State, and his first race of this season, as NASCAR goes from the circuit’s slowest track and heads to one of the circuit’s fastest tracks, Texas Motor Speedway, Sunday at 2:15 p.m. for the Samsung 500.
Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval with 24-degree banked turns and a surface that turns slicker as the temperatures change throughout the day, putting a premium on tires and a driver’s ability to change with the surface conditions. If you are going on Sunday make sure you get your Amdro Fire Ant Bait pre-race credentials because not only will it enable you to meet the drivers and get into the pits but you’ll also be able to get some hot-blooded pre-race concert action by 80s super-group Foreigner.
Who will win the Samsung 500?
Last weekend I tied Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch with two wins in 2009 as I correctly picked Jimmie Johnson (4/1) to win at Martinsville. While Johnson has been off to a slow start this year the win in Virginia shows how dangerous a driver Johnson is. Kicked to the back of the pack after the restart early on in the Goody’s 500, he managed to work his way to first and nudge Denny Hamlin out of the way to win his first race of 2009.
Denny Hamlin must be a bit exasperated after being shoved into his second consecutive second-place finish. Two weeks ago Hamlin came in second to teammate Kyle Busch and last week to JJ. Hamlin. He did well at TMS last spring when he improved on his 14th starting position on the grid to finish in the Top 5, but in fall did not do nearly as well as he finished 17th. Earlier this year at Atlanta, which is another cookie cutter and very similar to TMS in configuration, Hamlin finished third. Hamlin also has the third best average finish at TMS at 11.60, behind Johnson’s 9.60 and Kenseth’s 7.60.
Leaving the short-tracks and coming into TMS also plays to Johnson’s strengths as a driver. While Johnson finished 15th last fall at TMS, it was only the third time in 11 tries that he finished out of the Top 10 at TMS. And last fall Johnson already had the points lead in the Chase and was protecting his lead rather than driving for the win. It’s not out of the realm of possibility that Johnson wins at Texas and then wins a third in a row at Phoenix. However, this week I like another driver to be first when they wave the checkers.
Pick! Kyle Busch, No. 18, (5/1)
2009 Samsung 500– Lucky Dog Long Odds Special
Jaime McMurray finished in the Top 10 three out of his first four times at Bristol then only had one Top 10 finish in his last eight races. Last week at Martinsville McMurray managed his first Top 10 finish since Las Vegas when he finished ninth. This was good enough to move him to 22nd in the Sprint Cup standings. However, lost in the stats is that McMurray and his team had a good car in the beginning of the season. Historically, McMurray has always run well at Texas and getting him back on the mile-and-a-half could work wonders after two weeks of short-track racing. McMurray has come in the Top 10 three of the last four races at Texas. In the 2005 April race McMurray started 31st and raced his spoiler off to finish in second place. TMS is considered a Roush Fenway-friendly track which one reason why I like McMurray as my Lucky Dog long odds Lone Star State special.
Pick! Jaime McMurray, No. 26, (35/1)
2009 Samsung 500 – Odds for Top 3 Finish
After winning the first two races of the year with Matt Kenseth, Rousch Fenway Racing has not enjoyed close to the same success as they did early this year. In fact Kenseth is now 12th in the Sprint Cup standings, Greg Biffle is 23rd, McMurray 22nd David Ragan is 30th while Edwards is in eighth place. Not exactly where RFR thought they’d be at this point in the season especially after Edwards closed last season winning three of four races. This weekend you’ll hear a lot of talk about how TMS is Edwards’ favorite track. However, favorite or not RFR’s Fords have not run consistently well since California. One exception to his not-as-great-as-expected year was at Atlanta. Edwards has won three times at AMS and finished third there for his best finish of the year. While a lot of experts expect Edwards to do his first back-flip of the season, I see a result similar to AMS at Texas this Sunday.
Pick! Carl Edwards, No. 99, (7/5)
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