Fast Facts NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Next Race: AAA Texas 500 The Place: Texas Motor Speedway The Date: Sunday, Nov. 3 The Time: 3 p.m. (ET) TV: ESPN, 2 p.m. (ET) Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90 Distance: 501 miles (334 laps) NASCAR Nationwide Series Next Race: O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge The Place: Texas Motor Speedway The Date: Saturday, Nov.2 The Time: 3:30 p.m. (ET) TV: ESPN2, 3:30 p.m. (ET) Radio: PRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90 Distance: 300 miles (200 laps) NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Next Race: WinStar World Casino 350K The Place: Texas Motor Speedway The Date: Friday, Nov. 1 The Time: 8:30p.m. (ET) TV: FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. (ET) Radio: MRN, Sirius XM Ch. 90 Distance: 220.5 miles, 350 kilometers (147 laps) NASCAR Heavyweight Slugfest Heads To Texas Deadlocked. Through seven rounds of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™, two heavyweights have battled to a draw. Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson boast identical point totals – 2,294 – entering Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (3 p.m. ET ESPN, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM Satellite Radio). Everything may be bigger in Texas – and nothing is bigger right now than this season’s championship slugfest. A shared points lead with three races remaining is unprecedented, in Chase for NASCAR Sprint Cup history or since 1975, when the current points structure was implemented. In 1996, Jeff Gordon led Terry Labonte by a single point. A year ago, Johnson held a two-point lead over champion-to-be Brad Keselowski. Kenseth has one current advantage – the tie-breaker, based upon seven victories to his rival’s five. The rule has been invoked just once to settle a NASCAR Sprint Cup championship. Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards ended the 2011 season tied in points. Stewart claimed his third title with five wins to Edwards’ one. The points leader entering the season’s final three races won the championship in five of the Chase’s first seven seasons. But in each of the last two, that changed. Stewart overhauled Edwards in 2011; and Keselowski overcame Johnson’s advantage a year ago. Kenseth and Johnson enjoy similar success at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway. Each has won twice although Johnson’s victories – in 2007 and a year ago – came in the track’s Chase race. The five-time champion’s first victory, in which Johnson and Kenseth traded the lead three times over the race’s final seven laps, might be seen as a preview of Sunday’s race. Johnson won by .944 second. “Both of us (were) sideways and just driving the wheels off the cars,” Johnson said recently recalling the battle. “From my standpoint I think it was an amazing race.” Kenseth’s average finish at Texas Motor Speedway is 8.5. Johnson is close at 9.1. Kenseth owns the track’s best Driver Rating of 106.5. Johnson is second at 103.3. The edge goes to Kenseth in laps led – 772 to Johnson’s 443. The most glaring difference – at least in 2013, the first season for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series’ Gen-6 car – is in 1.5-mile track performance. Four of Kenseth’s seven wins have come on such tracks. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Kyle Busch, won April’s Texas race from the Coors Light Pole. Johnson has been shut out on the 1.5s – as have his Hendrick Motorsports partners Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kasey Kahne. Johnson finished sixth at Texas in April while Kenseth was 12th. Neither led a lap. “We can race anybody head to head for it. I feel good about that,” said Kenseth of the remaining three races. “You never know what’s going to happen but I feel like we’re certainly capable.” In Texas, the championship runner-up actually has performed better than the champion. In eight races – the track joined the Chase in 2005 – the second-place driver has won three times with five finishes among the top five and six in the top 10. That compares with the champion’s two wins, four top fives and six top 10s. While Texas competition has changed the points lead three times, only one of those leaders – Johnson in 2010 – went on to take the championship. Gordon Advances But Time’s As Important As Momentum No question about it; Jeff Gordon is riding a good, old-fashioned wave of momentum. The four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion rolled into the Chase with three consecutive top-10 finishes to energize a season during which Gordon failed to finish five of the first 18 races. Gordon’s performance peaked over the weekend in Martinsville, Va., where the 42-year-old competitor posted his 88th series victory and moved to within 27 points of Chase leaders Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson. Gordon’s average finish through seven Chase races is 7.1, third only to Johnson (5.4) and Kenseth (6.4). He’s finished ahead of Kenseth in three of the past four races; Johnson in two of the four. For Gordon, momentum may not be enough. We’ll know – possibly after Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 – whether Gordon realistically has a chance to become the first “worst seed” to win the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™. The third-ranked Gordon needs another victory – and some help from his rivals. Texas has not been Gordon’s top track. His 2009 victory snapped a 47-race winless streak. But there have been six DNFs contributing to an average finish of 17.0. Gordon’s No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was relegated to a 38th-place finish in April due to suspension damage. “There’s a lot of racing left and the way things are going for us, anything is possible,” said Gordon. “All we can do, I think, is go out and perform at our best and just see what happens. The nice thing is we’re not doing the points racing right now. We’re just trying to go out and win races and not think about protecting anything.” Busch, Harvick Have Puncher’s Chance For Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, who trail the points lead by 28 and 36 points, respectively, a race at Texas Motor Speedway comes at an excellent time. Busch swept the April NASCAR Nationwide Series and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races, leading 171 laps in the main event. It was the third time in his career that Busch has cracked the triple digit laps led figure at Texas. Harvick has yet to win at Texas, but his performance rundown is typical of the Bakersfield, Calif., product – not a whole lot of laps led, but plenty of solid finishes. Harvick has finished in the top 10 in two of the last three Texas races. Here’s the bad news: For either of them to win the championship, it would take an unprecedented comeback. In the Chase era, the largest comeback with three to go came in 2006 by Jimmie Johnson, who coincidentally made up a 26-point deficit on Matt Kenseth. That roughly equates to a six point deficit in the current system. Roush Fenway Duo Looks To Spoil Front-Runners’ Day Although Chase contenders Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards are only 58 and 76 points behind co-leaders Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson in the standings, there are multiple drivers they would have to surpass in order to win the championship given their respective positions (eighth and 10th). Therefore, instead of being a frontrunner for the 2013 title, Biffle and Edwards can arrive in Texas as the likely favorites to play spoiler in Sunday’s AAA Texas 500. Since the 1.5-mile track started hosting NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events in 1997, Roush Fenway Racing has dominated, winning nine times. The next closest organizations are Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing with four apiece. Edwards leads all drivers with three wins at Texas. He won the Chase race in 2005, and then swept both events in 2008. In 17 starts at the track, he’s compiled six top fives and eight top 10s. In the 2013 April race he placed third. Biffle is one of six drivers who have visited Victory Lane at Texas twice. He did so in Spring 2007 and Spring 2012. Having collected eight top fives, 12 top 10s and one pole in 19 starts, it wouldn’t surprise anyone to see Biffle add to his stats. In the April race, he finished fourth. He’s led more laps at Texas (732) than at any other track on the circuit. Other drivers who have crossed the final line first driving for Roush Fenway are Jeff Burton (once), Mark Martin (once) and Matt Kenseth (twice). NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Etc. At Martinsville on Sunday, Chevrolet clinched its 11th consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Manufacturer’s Championship, and 37th overall. … Richard Petty Motorsports will make its 500th NASCAR Sprint Cup start in Texas this weekend with drivers Marcos Ambrose and Aric Almirola. RPM has four wins, including two by Ambrose. … Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray will both make NSCS start No. 400 this weekend at Texas. J.J. Yeley will make his 200th start. It’s Crunch Time For Dillon And Hornish With only three races remaining on the NASCAR Nationwide Series schedule and eight points separating leader Austin Dillon and second-place Sam Hornish Jr., it’s time for the two drivers and their teams to buckle down and take full advantage of every opportunity. After having the past two weekends off following a 21-week stretch that saw on-track competition every weekend the teams should be re-energized for the final three-week push to the championship, finishing with the season finale on Nov. 16 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Before the teams head to South Florida they both need strong finishes at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, the site of Saturday afternoon’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge, and the one-mile Phoenix International Raceway. Both Dillon and Hornish are running for their first NASCAR Nationwide title and know that they’ve got to perform well at all three venues in order to top the other. Based on past series history at Texas, Dillon holds a slight edge over Hornish. Dillon has top 10 finishes in all three starts at the Lone Star track, including a third-place performance in this past April’s event. In two events last season, he posted respectable fifth- and sixth-place finishes. In four starts in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, he collected two top-five finishes, including a runner-up showing in his final truck race at the track in Nov. 2011. He finished 33rd earlier this season in his only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Texas. Hornish’s best finish at Texas in seven starts is a pair of seventh-place finishes, his only two top-10 performances. After starting on the outside of the second row in April’s event, he led 39 laps and got caught up in a couple of accidents to finish a disappointing 34th. In seven NASCAR Sprint Cup events, his best finish is 17th, twice. Although Hornish hasn’t visited Victory Lane in any of NASCAR’s three national series, he’s celebrated three wins there in the IndyCar Series, last winning in 2007. Busch Holds Advantage In Owners’ Championship Race At Texas It’s a tale of two different records at Texas Motor Speedway for NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regulars and former NASCAR Nationwide Series champions Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski. When NASCAR’s No. 2 series hits the high-banked corners at the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth for Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge, the two veterans will be among the favorites fighting for the trip to Victory Lane and jockeying for position in the Owners’ Championship race, however, only Busch has won there previously. With nine wins at Texas among NASCAR’s national series, including six in the NNS, Busch has a decided advantage over Keselowski, who hasn’t won in 26 national series starts there. In 13 NNS starts, Keselowski’s best finish is a pair of second-place finishes, with the most recent coming in the April event earlier this year. Through the first 30 races of the season, Busch has posted a series-high 11 victories in only 23 starts, while Keselowski has won five times in 13 starts. Although the Las Vegas native has six more wins than Keselowski, Busch’s No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota holds a slight four-point edge over Keselowski’s No. 22 Penske Racing Ford in the Owners’ Championship battle. The Michigan driver has split seat time in the No. 22 with three different drivers who all have found Victory Lane: Joey Logano (three times), AJ Allmendinger (twice) and Ryan Blaney (once). Reigning Champion Stenhouse Returns To Nationwide Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won back-to-back NASCAR Nationwide Series titles in 2011 and 2012 before moving to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series prior to the 2013 season. After 30 races away, the Mississippi native returns to the series this weekend for the O’Reilly Auto Part Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway. In both championship seasons, Stenhouse piloted the No. 6 Roush Fenway Racing Ford, but in 2009 he drove the No. 16 Ford in six of the seven races he started. This weekend, he returns to the No. 16. Over the course of three full seasons in the series, he collected eight wins, including a victory in the April 2012 race at Texas in which he led 68 of 200 laps. His average finishing position in four races at the 1.5-mile track during his two championship seasons is 4.75. In this event last year, he finished fourth. This will be Stenhouse’s first NNS start without longtime crew chief Mike Kelley, who first teamed up with the driver for the spring 2010 Texas race. Kelley is currently the crew chief for Trevor Bayne and the No. 6 RFR Ford team. Seth Barbour will crew chief the No. 16 team. NASCAR Nationwide Series Etc. This weekend at Texas will be a homecoming for Philippe Lopez, the crew chief of the No. 43 Richard Petty Motorsports Ford driven by Michael Annett, who is originally from San Antonio, Texas, and considers the 1.5-mile speedway his home track. … Parker Kligerman is building a rally-car themed car as a participant in the Toyota Dream Build Challenge, a contest in which participants turn a Toyota into their dream vehicle. Voting begins Thursday, Oct. 31. … Austin Dillon, Elliott Sadler, Trevor Bayne and Kyle Larson are four of eight NNS regulars pulling double-duty this weekend, also driving in the NSCS race. Owners’ Championship Battle Remains Close Kyle Busch Motorsports sits just 15 points behind ThorSport Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ owners’ championship race. Kyle Busch will return to the seat of the No. 51 KBM Toyota for Friday night’s WinStar World Casino 350k as he tries to pick up his fifth win of the season. A victory would be Busch’s 35th in the series and most since 2011 when he won six times. KBM won the owners’ championship in 2010, its first season in the series. Busch has put multiple drivers in the No. 51 this season with rookie Erik Jones and Chad Hackenbracht both scoring a second-place showings as the best finish by drivers other that Busch this season. Dirt racing veteran Scott Bloomquist also made one start at Eldora. Matt Crafton, driving the No. 88 ThorSport Racing Toyota, finished fourth in the June race and is looking for his second win of the season. Thorsport Racing also is nearing a record of being the only organization to lead the standings the entire season. Crafton’s teammate Johnny Sauter was the points leader following the first three races of the season before Crafton took over with his victory in Kansas. Crafton has remained out front the rest of the way heads to Texas with a 51-point lead over reigning champion James Buescher. Thorsport has been with the series almost since 1996 and full-time beginning in 1998. ThorSport drivers twice have finished second in the drivers’ championship – Sauter in 2011 and Crafton in 2009. Its ownership best is third in 2009. Gaughan Wants One More Win Before Bidding Adieu Brendan Gaughan recently announced that he will return to full-time competition in the NASCAR Nationwide Series next season. He’s also stated that he wants one more win in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series before he makes the switch and Texas Motor Speedway could provide the victory. The Las Vegas, Nev., native holds the record with four consecutive wins (2002-03) at the track and he finished fifth at the track this past June. While there are several repeat winners at, no one has been able to equal Gaughan’s mark. There have been five other drivers collect multiple wins with two-time series champion Todd Bodine leading the way with six. Gaughan finished second at Martinsville last weekend to match his previous best finish of the season when was runner up to Kyle Busch at Charlotte in May. Gaughan has seven top five finishes so far this season - his best since 2003 when he finished with three wins and 14 top-fives. Gaughan will compete in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2014 with Richard Childress Racing. NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Etc. If the top finishing Toyota driver finishes ahead of the top finish Chevrolet driver, Toyota would win the NCWTS Manufacturers’ Championship. … Another NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular will join Busch this weekend at Texas as Brad Keselowski decided to step into the No. 19 truck he owns. Penske Racing teammate Joey Logano was originally scheduled to drive the truck, but Keselowski made the change so Logano could concentrate on his participation in this year’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. … Ryan Sieg will make his 100th career series start at Texas Motor Speedway. … Reigning series champion James Buescher will have a fellow Texan as a Turner Scott Motorsports teammate this weekend as Ryan Lynch of New Boston, Texas, will make his second start of the season. Ramirez, Pursley Capture Wins While Greg Pursley took the win in the inaugural NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at Kern County Raceway Park on Saturday, Jose Luis Ramirez captured the win in the Tuxtla 240 NASCAR Toyota Series race at Super Ovalo Chiapas on Sunday. Pursley paced the field to win the NAPA Auto Parts 150 at the beautiful new high-banked, half-mile track that opened earlier this year. The event marked the return of the series to Bakersfield, Calif. With the win, Pursley moved back to second in the standings – 16 points behind Derek Thorn with one race remaining to decide the 2013 championship. The NASCAR K&N Pro Series West will wrap up its 2013 schedule with the Casino Arizona 50 at Phoenix International Raceway on Nov. 9. Patience and perseverance paid off for Ramírez, meanwhile, in a race that had two red flags for multi-car wrecks. The Mexico City native was able to avoid trouble and claim his second series win. Antonio Pérez took charge of the race late and looked poised to win his second event of the season, before Ramírez overtook him in the closing laps. Rodrigo Peralta increased his lead over Daniel Suárez to 15 points heading into the season finale at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez on Nov. 10.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Oct 2013 00:41:01 +0000
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