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Mash The Gas – Texas Preview

It’s the first race of the season under the lights as the Texas Motor Speedway hosts the NRA 500 Saturday night. Texas is a 1.5 mile tri-oval and to predict which drivers will have success here, one hint we can look to is the event held earlier this year at Las Vegas, a similar 1.5 mile track.

334 laps make up the distance for Saturday night’s race of just a little over 500 miles in Fort Worth, Texas. The green flag is set to fly and kick off the action at 7:45pm Eastern for the NRA 500 which will culminate with the winner firing off six-shooters in victory lane.

Check out which drivers you should keep an eye on this weekend.

Matt Kenseth
Dan Margetta: The Las Vegas winner absolutely loves Texas where he holds 2 victories and the top driver rating in the field. With 4 second place finishes and a series leading 15 top ten finishes (12 of them in the top 5), I’m placing Matt Kenseth as the favorite in this race.

Clint Bowyer
John Wiedemann: Clint Bowyer had his best finish of the season last weekend at Martinsville, second to Jimmie Johnson. Clearly not happy about being the runner-up, look for Bowyer to continue the pace this weekend and possibly end up in victory lane. Bowyer has a new sponsor in Gander Mountain this weekend and his record of seven top ten finishes in his last ten events at Texas means he will be displaying their message at the front of the pack.

Kasey Kahne
DM: Kasey Kahne had the dominant car in Las Vegas before Matt Kenseth stole the victory late. Kahne should be just as strong at Texas as the tracks are similar and he’s had 2 top ten finishes in his last 3 races here. While his overall Texas record doesn’t stand out (19.2 average finish), don’t overlook this team as they are plenty capable of pulling off the win on Saturday.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.
JW: Ok, I won’t pick Junior to win this week. But, it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Texas is the track where Earnhardt captured his first Cup Series win back in 2000. He also has five top ten finishes in his last six races and finished tenth and seventh at Texas last year. Earnhardt had a bump in the road at Martinsville with twenty-fourth place run, his first non top-seven finish this year. Junior will be back in the top ten at Texas.

Jimmie Johnson
DM: Jimmie Johnson also has 2 Texas wins including the last event held here in November. He also holds 5 second place finishes to go along with his 14 top ten finishes. Coming off a dominant win in Martinsville, Johnson will look to improve on his 1.5 mile track results this season which while not bad, haven’t been as strong as expected.

Kurt Busch
JW: How Kurt Busch responds to last weekend’s train-wreck of issues at Martinsville will be watched by both the media and fans alike. I expect Busch to come back with a solid top ten finish at Texas. Busch’s stats at the mile and a half track are pretty nice: 1 win (with Penske in 2009), 12 top 10 finishes in 20 starts. Last year Busch finished thirteenth in the spring and then, driving for his current Furniture Row team, finished eighth in the fall.

Kyle Busch
DM: Kyle Busch as quietly strung together a streak of top five finishes of late which included a win at California and a 4th in Las Vegas. Busch finished third in the most recent Texas event and has 6 top ten finishes to his credit.

Brad Keselowski
JW: Thinking of last fall’s race at Texas, I think of Brad Keselowski battling door to door with Jimmie Johnson. Some complained it was reckless racing on Keselowski’s part but I saw it as two championship contenders refusing to give in to the other. That is the kind of racing I like to see and I hope to see it again this weekend. That is the kind of racing I expect to see from a driver like Keselowski. And, look at that – Johnson and Keselowski are back at the top of the standing with Johnson holding a six point lead.

Carl Edwards
DM: Carl Edwards owns three Texas victories and 7 top ten finishes. The Roush-Fenway Fords have appeared to have been outrun by their counterparts at Toyota and Chevrolet in recent weeks despite being situated high in the point standings. Texas is a good place to show they should not be forgotten on race day.

Greg Biffle
DM: Like Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle should look to Texas as a place to have a good run. Biffle is the defending race winner and seems to excel on high speed 1.5 mile circuits which is exactly what Texas is. With 2 Texas victories, Biffle owns the third best drivers rating at the track behind Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson.

Austin Dillon
JW: Austin Dillon will be taking over the reins of the #51 James Finch Chevrolet. Also running in the Nationwide race on Friday night, Dillon will log plenty of laps at the track over the weekend. Dillon finished 21st at Atlanta in his only other race for Finch this season. Not one to drive over his head, I would expect Dillon to have a solid top 15 finish this weekend which is where the #51 car has been running most of the year.

Mark Martin/Brian Vickers
DM: Mark Martin returns to the #55 car this week while Brian Vickers takes over the #11 in relief of Denny Hamlin. Either driver is a good long shot pick this week as Martin has 13 career top ten finishes at Texas while Vickers gets his shot in a potent ride at a track he should excel at.

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