The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into the Texas Motor Speedway for Sunday’s running of the Samsung Mobile 500. With that will come several story lines that includes the future of a very popular driver and his favorite brand of beer, a new rear wing on a super speedway as well as the current status of a high profile knee surgery.
THE STORY LINE
The big buzz from the Texas Motor Speedway’s garage will naturally center around last Tuesday’s announcement that said Kasey Kahne will be leaving Richard Petty Motorsports at the end of this year to join Hendrick Motorsports. Look for a lot of speculation regarding how this will pan out in terms of what Kahne will be driving for next year before he takes over the Hendrick #5 ride in 2012. You can also expect to hear a lot opinions, from both television personalities and drivers, regarding how this move will impact NASCAR racing. Don’t expect any further official announcements of new details this weekend. We’ve already been told that the particulars of this new arrangement will be revealed sometime within the next 90 days.
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There will be a lot of patter about the new spoilers which recently replaced the wing configuration on NASCAR’s Cars Of Today, (COT). In the view of many NASCAR made a very wise decision by incorporating this major change in a progressive manner. They ran the new spoilers first on a small half mile track, at Martinsville, then on the one mile oval at Phoenix and now the 1.5 mile track in Texas.
Another very smart move was the recent NASCAR test sessions at the Charlotte Motor Speedway which was a major tool in helping crew chiefs determine any changes in down force, side drafting and general handling characteristics.
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Driver Denny Hamlin’s recent knee surgery will also be a story line we’ll be hearing a lot about this weekend. Hamlin ran the full race at Phoenix last weekend and recently said there is a lot of progress in his recuperation process adding he fully expects to run the full event this Sunday in Texas. However, driver Casey Mears will again be on stand by in Hamlin’s pit box in case pain levels forces a driver change.
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THE RACE BREAKDOWN
The Samsung Mobile 500 has 46 official entries vying for the 43 starting berths for Sunday’s race. 11 of those entries are on the “go or go home list” meaning they are outside of NASCAR’s top 35 in owner’s points and do not have a guaranteed start in the race. These teams will have to depend on qualifying speeds to earn a starting berth.
That could present a problem due to the weather forecast for the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Scattered showers are in the forecast for Friday through Sunday with a 30% chance of percipitation on both Saturday and race day Sunday. That means there’s a good chance the starting line up for the race could be determined by the points standings.
If qualifying does get rained out it means that drivers Michael McDowell, #66 Prism Motorsports Toyota, Terry Cook, #46 Dusty Whitney Dodge, and Reed Sorenson, #32 Braun Racing Toyota, will miss the show.
On the topic of qualifying, the track record is held by Brian Vickers, driver of the #83 Red Bull Toyota, who set the mark at 196.235 MPH back in November of 2006.
According to the speedway’s archives, qualifying is very important at Texas. 14 of the last 18 events there have been won by drivers who started from within the top ten berths. Kasey Kahne is the only driver, back in 2006, to win a Texas event from the pole position.
Five of the past seven Texas events had a winning margin of under one second.
The defending race winner is Jeff Gordon, #24 National Guard/Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, from April of last year. Kurt Busch, #2 Miller Lite/Penske Racing Dodge, won the second 2009 Texas event last November. Carl Edwards, #99 Scotts Turf Builder/Roush Fenway Racing Ford, leads all active drivers with the most wins at Texas with three. Roush Fenway Racing has the most team wins at Texas with seven.
Drivers Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth shares the track record for most top five finishes at Texas with seven each. Kenseth, Martin and Tony Stewart have the most top ten finishes with ten each.
The race will be 334 laps/501 miles around the Texas Motor Speedway’s 1.5 mile quad oval.
The Samsung Mobile 500 will be broadcast live by Fox Sports with the pre race show beginning at 2pm eastern time. The race re air will be on the SPEED Channel this Wednesday,April 21st, at 12 pm eastern.
THE TRACK BREAKDOWN
The official ground breaking for the Texas Motor Speedway was held back in 1995.
The first ever NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race was held in Texas in April of 1997 and was won by Jeff Burton. The event also marked Burton first ever Sprint Cup win. Since that time there has been 18 Sprint Cup races there that has sent 15 different winners to victory lane.
The speedway has 24 degrees of banking in its four turns. The front stretch measures 2.250 feet while the backstretch is a little shorter measuring 1,330 feet. The straightaways, including the dog leg, only has five degrees of banking.
Pit road speed is a slow 45 MPH.
The speedway currently has 122,377 grandstand seats.
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THE VEGAS BREAKDOWN
The Las Vegas based WSE, (World Sports Exchange) once again has driver Jimmie Johnson on top of their win list at 9 to 2 odds. That’s always typically a safe wager. Johnson won the 2007 Texas race and he’s finished second in both spring events over the past two seasons. He has a very healthy average finish ratio of 10.8 in 13 Texas starts. He will be driving the same car that he won with at the Las Vegas race.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Jeff Gordon is second on the WSE rankings this week at 7 to 1 odds. Gordon is the defending race winner but has not visited victory lane since that time. There has been some very strong finishes this year and it’s highly possible that the Texas race could return him to victory lane this Sunday.
Kurt Busch leads a trio drivers coming in at 10 to 1. Busch has a win and a pair of top ten finishes at this speedway from 2009. He will be driving the same Penske Racing Dodge that got him to the winner’s circle at Atlanta. Younger brother Kyle Busch is also ranked at 10 to 1 odds and is among a small group of drivers who has an average finish ratio of 9.5 or better at Texas within the last four races. Veteran Mark Martin is also in this group. He’s a 1998 Texas winner and has some extremely strong numbers at this track.
At twelve to 1 this week is the duo of Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth. Stewart is the winner of the 2006 race and has some very strong finish numbers at this speedway. Kenseth, the winner of the 2003 event, has finished within the top ten in eight of the last nine Texas races. His average finishes within the last four events there is a very impressive 6.5.
Five drivers comprise the 15 to 1 group for this Sunday’s race and includes Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards who is a three time Texas winner. In the 18 to 1 group you will find 2006 winner Kasey Kahne along with two time Texas winner Jeff Burton. Rounding out this week’s WSE ratings is Clint Bowyer at 20 to 1, Dale Earnhardt Jr and Joey Logano at 25 to 1 while last week’s race winner Ryan Newman, along with Brian Vickers, are rated at 30 to 1 to win at Texas.
Time once again for the disclaimer: NASCAR wants to remind you that these posted numbers are for entertainment purposes and they neither encourage or condone the placing of wagers on their races. But, as we’ve told you in the past, if you’re going to do it anyway you may as well be armed with the latest available information.
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