Friday, April 3, 2015

2015 Week 7 Preview: Texas

Duck Commander 500

Texas Motor Speedway


By Richard Tix

NASCAR finishes up in Martinsville after Denny Hamlin's first win of 2015 and took a week off from racing. Instead, drivers, teams, and owners will take a week off to relax and spend some time with family (oh, and get ready for Texas). The work never ends for NASCAR teams during the season, but it is nice to have a bit of extra time for family and friend.

So, NASCAR will get back to the track at Texas and NASCAR Behind the Wall will get back into the swing of things as well. So, lets get into this next weeks preview for Texas.



The Good
  • Jimmie Johnson- 17 top 10's in 23 starts says most of it. JJ is tied with Matt Kenseth for the most top 10's at Texas with those 17. JJ has won the last 3 Fall races here, so he is good, but maybe not good enough in the Spring? Who know's, but it is a weird trend.
  • Kyle Larson- LarSON has three starts here in his young career, but both of them last year were top 10's. Texas seems to be right in his wheel house so he should run well again in 2015.
  • Kevin Harvick- For the first part of Harvick's career Texas wasn't one of his better tracks (just 5 top 10's in 13 races). Since then he has 7 top 10's in 11 races. Add to it that the last time we were he he finishes runner up.
The Middle
  • Denny Hamlin- In his last 7 starts Hamlin only has two top 10's. However, 5 of the 7 are top 15's and the other two are 20th place finishes. So, its not like he is bad here, but he hasn't had much luck lately.
The Bad
  • Danica Patrick- Texas hasn't been Danica's best track over her career. In five starts she only has two top 25's. However, she only finished outside the top 30 once in those five tries (36th).
  • Michael McDowell- 11 starts at Texas and two top 30's (both 30th's, both his last two starts). So, things have been trending up but I would still like to see him push to get a top 25 here and there. 
  • Josh Wise- I really do hate picking on these guys, because they are already at a disadvantage by being with small teams, but one top 35 in 7 starts will put you here. I am not looking for top 10's or top 15's out of these guys, but some appearances in the top 25 and top 30 here and there is a must to stay out of the "bad."
Track Facts
  • A Manufacturer has not one back to back races at Texas since 2010 (Toyota both races)
  • Jimmie Johnson has won the last three Fall races, but none of those Spring races.
  • Only two drivers have won back to back times here (Hamlin-Both 2010 and Edwards- Both 2008).
  • Manufacturer wins- Ford: 12, Chevy: 10, Toyota: 3, and Dodge: 3. 28 total races.
  • Race has been won from the pole 3 times in 28 races. Twice in the last five races.
  • Jeff Burton won the first Texas Motor Speedway race in 1997. He led 60 of 334 laps.
  • Dale Jarrett won the first Texas Motor Speedway pole in 1997. He led 42 laps.
  • Jeff Gordon is the only driver to run all 28 races at Texas.
  • Of current drivers: Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson have the most top 10's (17).
  • Of current drivers: Matt Kenseth has the most top 5's (13). JJ is second (11)
  • Of current drivers: Jimmie Johnson has the most wins (4). Carl Edwards has the second most (3).

Texas Motor Speedway
Race
Date
Cars
Winner(s)
St
Car
1997-06
4/6/1997
43
Jeff Burton
5
Ford
1998-07
4/5/1998
43
Mark Martin
7
Ford
1999-06
3/28/1999
43
Terry Labonte
4
Chevrolet
2000-07
4/2/2000
43
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
4
Chevrolet
2001-07
4/1/2001
43
Dale Jarrett
3
Ford
2002-07
4/8/2002
43
Matt Kenseth
31
Ford
2003-07
3/30/2003
43
Ryan Newman
3
Dodge
2004-07
4/4/2004
43
Elliott Sadler
19
Ford
2005-07
4/17/2005
43
Greg Biffle
5
Ford
2005-34
11/6/2005
43
Carl Edwards
30
Ford
2006-07
4/9/2006
43
Kasey Kahne
1
Dodge
2006-34
11/5/2006
43
Tony Stewart
8
Chevrolet
2007-07
4/15/2007
43
Jeff Burton
2
Chevrolet
2007-34
11/4/2007
43
Jimmie Johnson
8
Chevrolet
2008-07
4/6/2008
43
Carl Edwards
2
Ford
2008-34
11/2/2008
43
Carl Edwards
16
Ford
2009-07
4/5/2009
43
Jeff Gordon
2
Chevrolet
2009-34
11/8/2009
43
Kurt Busch
3
Dodge
2010-08
4/19/2010
43
Denny Hamlin
29
Toyota
2010-34
11/7/2010
43
Denny Hamlin
30
Toyota
2011-07
4/9/2011
43
Matt Kenseth
4
Ford
2011-34
11/6/2011
43
Tony Stewart
5
Chevrolet
2012-07
4/14/2012
43
Greg Biffle
3
Ford
2012-34
11/4/2012
43
Jimmie Johnson
1
Chevrolet
2013-07
4/13/2013
43
Kyle Busch
1
Toyota
2013-34
11/3/2013
43
Jimmie Johnson
3
Chevrolet
2014-07
4/7/2014
43
Joey Logano
10
Ford
2014-34
11/2/2014
43
Jimmie Johnson
3
Chevrolet


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