NASCAR - Sprint Cup - AAA Texas 500 Preview
From The Sports Network
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| DATE: Sunday, November 6th |
| SITE: Texas Motor Speedway (1997) -- Fort Worth, Texas |
| TRACK: 1.5-mile oval - 2,250 feet (Frontstretch); 1,330 feet (Backstretch) |
| CAPACITY: 191,122 (122,377 - Grandstand Seating) |
| ANNUAL: 7th |
| TELEVISION: ESPN |
| ANNOUNCERS: Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree |
| RADIO: Performance Racing Network (PRN)/SIRIUS NASCAR Radio |
| START TIME: 3 p.m. (et)/Green Flag: 3:16 p.m. (et) |
| DEFENDING CHAMPION: Denny Hamlin |
| RUNNER-UP: Matt Kenseth |
| POLE WINNER: Elliott Sadler (Finished 23rd) |
| LAPS: 334 |
| MILES: 501 |
| QUALIFYING RECORD: Brian Vickers, 2006 (196.235 m.p.h.) |
| RACE RECORD: Carl Edwards, 2005 (151.055 m.p.h.) |
| TOTAL PURSE: $6,998,905 (2010 figures) |
| PAYOUTS: 1st Place - $453,575; 2nd Place - $370,876; 3rd Place - $234,350 |
| 2010 Finish |
| Finish | Driver | Start | Finish | Driver | Start |
| 1 | Denny Hamlin | 30 | 6 | Kevin Harvick | 26 |
| 2 | Matt Kenseth | 19 | 7 | Clint Bowyer | 7 |
| 3 | Mark Martin | 9 | 8 | David Ragan | 5 |
| 4 | Joey Logano | 20 | 9 | Jimmie Johnson | 17 |
| 5 | Greg Biffle | 2 | 10 | Paul Menard | 12 |
| 2010 AAA Texas 500 Facts and Figures |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 140.456 m.p.h. |
| TIME OF RACE: 3 hours, 24 minutes, 1 second |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.488 second |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 9 for 40 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 33 among 13 drivers |
| POLE WINNER: Jeff Gordon (191.117 m.p.h.) |
| Past AAA Texas 500 Winners (Starting Position) Car -- Speed |
| 2010 -- Denny Hamlin (30th) -- Toyota -- 140.456 m.p.h. |
| 2009 -- Kurt Busch (3rd) -- Dodge -- 147.137 m.p.h. |
| 2008 -- Carl Edwards (16th) -- Ford -- 144.219 m.p.h. |
| 2007 -- Jimmie Johnson (8th) -- Chevrolet -- 131.219 m.p.h. |
| 2006 -- Tony Stewart (8th) -- Chevrolet -- 134.891 m.p.h. |
| 2005 -- Carl Edwards (30th) -- Ford -- 151.055 m.p.h. (race record) |
| Past AAA Texas 500 Pole Winners (Finish) |
| 2010 -- Elliott Sadler -- 23rd |
| 2009 -- Jeff Gordon -- 13th |
| 2008 -- Jeff Gordon -- 2nd |
| 2007 -- Martin Truex Jr -- 3rd |
| 2006 -- Brian Vickers -- 27th |
| 2005 -- Ryan Newman -- 25th |
| Last Race Results |
| RACE: Tums Fast Relief 500 (October 30th) |
| SITE: Martinsville Speedway -- Martinsville, Virginia |
| MILES: 263 |
| LAPS: 500 |
| WINNER: Tony Stewart |
| RUNNER-UP: Jimmie Johnson |
| THIRD: Jeff Gordon |
| FOURTH: Kevin Harvick |
| FIFTH: Denny Hamlin |
| POLE WINNER: Carl Edwards (Finished 9th) |
| TIME OF RACE: 3 hours, 49 minutes, 52 seconds |
| AVERAGE SPEED: 68.648 m.p.h. |
| MARGIN OF VICTORY: 0.170 second |
| CAUTION FLAGS: 18 for 108 laps |
| LEAD CHANGES: 23 among 12 drivers |
| LAP LEADERS: C. Edwards - pole; M. Kenseth 1-3; C. Edwards 4-31; T. Stewart |
| 32-39; Kyle Busch 40-54; A. Allmendinger 55-62; D. Hamlin 63-68; |
| R. Newman 69-107; A. Allmendinger 108-118; Kyle Busch 119-151; D. |
| Gilliland 152; T. Kvapil 153; R. Newman 154-155; Kyle Busch |
| 156-203; J. Johnson 204; Kyle Busch 205-234; J. Gordon 235-319; |
| D. Hamlin 320-371; J. Gordon 372-399; K. Harvick 400-412; T. |
| Stewart 413-415; K. Harvick 416-437; J. Johnson 438-497; T. |
| Stewart 498-500. |
| AAA Texas 500 Entry List |
| Car | Driver, Hometown | Car/Name |
| 00 | David Reutimann (Zephyrhills, FL) | Toyota/Aaron's Dream Machine |
| 1 | Jamie McMurray (Joplin, MO) | Chevrolet/Bass Pro Shops |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski (Rochester Hills, MI) | Dodge/Miller Lite |
| 4 | Kasey Kahne (Enumclaw, WA) | Toyota/Red Bull |
| 5 | Mark Martin (Batesville, AR) | Chevrolet/GoDaddy.com/Carquest |
| 6 | David Ragan (Unadilla, GA) | Ford/UPS My Choice |
| 7 | Reed Sorenson (Peachtree City, GA) | Dodge/Speed Energy/Mapei |
| 9 | Marcos Ambrose (Launceston, Australia) | Ford/DeWalt |
| 11 * | Denny Hamlin (Chesterfield, VA) | Toyota/FedEx Office |
| 13 | Casey Mears (Bakersfield, CA) | Toyota/GEICO |
| 14 | Tony Stewart (Columbus, IN) | Chevrolet/Office Depot/Mobil 1 |
| 16 | Greg Biffle (Vancouver, WA) | Ford/Scotch Blue |
| 17 | Matt Kenseth (Cambridge, WI) | Ford/Crown Royal |
| 18 | Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Toyota/M&M's |
| 20 | Joey Logano (Middletown, CT) | Toyota/Home Depot |
| 21 | Trevor Bayne (Knoxville, TN) | Ford/Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire |
| 22 | Kurt Busch (Las Vegas, NV) | Dodge/AAA |
| 24 | Jeff Gordon (Vallejo, CA) | Chevrolet/Drive to End Hunger |
| 27 | Paul Menard (Eau Claire, WI) | Chevrolet/Menards/Quaker State |
| 29 | Kevin Harvick (Bakersfield, CA) | Chevrolet/Rheem |
| 30 | David Stremme (South Bend, IN) | Chevrolet/Inception Motorsports |
| 31 | Jeff Burton (South Boston, VA) | Chevrolet/Caterpillar |
| 32 | Mike Bliss (Milwaukie, OR) | Ford/Street King |
| 33 | Clint Bowyer (Emporia, KS) | Chevrolet/Cheerios/Hamb. Helper |
| 34 | David Gilliland (Riverside, CA) | Ford/TBA |
| 35 | Dave Blaney (Hartford, OH) | Chevrolet/Big Red |
| 36 | Geoffrey Bodine (Chemung, NY) | Chevrolet/Luke & Associates |
| 37 | To Be Announced | Ford/Max Q Motorsports |
| 38 | Travis Kvapil (Janesville, WI) | Ford/Long John Silver's |
| 39 | Ryan Newman (South Bend, IN) | Chevrolet/Haas Automation |
| 42 | Juan Pablo Montoya (Bogota, Colombia) | Chevrolet/Target |
| 43 | A.J. Allmendinger (Los Gatos, CA) | Ford/Best Buy/Immortals |
| 46 | Scott Speed (Manteca, CA) | Ford/Green Stuff Absorbant |
| 47 | Bobby Labonte (Corpus Christi, TX) | Toyota/Wounded Warrior Project |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, CA) | Chevrolet/Lowe's |
| 51 | Landon Cassill (Cedar Rapids, IA) | Chevrolet/Security Benefits |
| 55 | J.J. Yeley (Phoenix, AZ) | Ford/Ingersoil Rand |
| 56 | Martin Truex Jr. (Mayetta, NJ) | Toyota/NAPA Auto Parts |
| 66 | Michael McDowell (Glendale, AZ) | Toyota/HP Racing |
| 71 | Andy Lally (Northport, NY) | Ford/TRG Motorsports |
| 177 | Robby Gordon (Orange, CA) | Dodge/Speed Energy |
| 277 | T.J. Bell (Reno, VA) | Ford/TRG Motorsports |
| 78 | Regan Smith (Cato, NY) | Chevrolet/Furniture Row Racing |
| 83 | Brian Vickers (Thomasville, NC) | Toyota/Red Bull |
| 87 | Joe Nemechek (Lakeland, FL) | Toyota/TBA |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. (Kannapolis, NC) | Chevrolet/Amp Energy/Nat'l Guard |
| 95 | David Starr (Houston, TX) | Ford/Advocare |
| 99 | Carl Edwards (Columbia, MO) | Ford/Aflac |
| Leading Contenders (Finish last six years) |
| Driver | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | | | |
| Denny Hamlin | 7th | 10th | 29th | 17th | 2nd | Won | | | |
| Matt Kenseth | 3rd | 12th | 2nd | 9th | 3rd | 2nd | | | |
| Mark Martin | 2nd | 22nd | 34th | 12th | 4th | 3rd | | | |
| Joey Logano | --- | --- | --- | 40th | 19th | 4th | | | |
| Greg Biffle | 20th | 35th | 33rd | 5th | 8th | 5th | | | |
| Kevin Harvick | 16th | 3rd | 10th | 7th | 5th | 6th | | | |
| Clint Bowyer | --- | 5th | 19th | 4th | 7th | 7th | | | |
| Jimmie Johnson | 5th | 2nd | Won | 15th | 38th | 9th | | | |
| Paul Menard | --- | 41st | 30th | 22nd | 29th | 10th | | | |
| Tony Stewart | 6th | Won | 11th | 16th | 6th | 11th | | | |
| Kasey Kahne | 42nd | 33rd | 18th | 24th | 33rd | 13th | | | |
| David Reutimann | --- | --- | 43rd | 10th | 16th | 15th | | | |
| Jamie McMurray | 11th | 26th | 9th | 3rd | 20th | 16th | | | |
| Carl Edwards | Won | 15th | 26th | Won | 39th | 19th | | | |
| Ryan Newman | 25th | 34th | 5th | 28th | 12th | 20th | | | |
| Kurt Busch | 10th | 8th | 8th | 41st | Won | 24th | | | |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr | 8th | 6th | 14th | 20th | 25th | 25th | | | |
| Juan Pablo Montoya | --- | --- | 25th | 43rd | 37th | 28th | | | |
| Kyle Busch | 21st | 4th | 4th | 6th | 11th | 32nd | | | |
| Brad Keselowski | --- | --- | --- | 19th | 35th | 33rd | | | |
| Jeff Burton | 30th | 38th | 6th | 13th | 9th | 36th | | | |
| Jeff Gordon | 14th | 9th | 7th | 2nd | 13th | 37th | | | |
| Martin Truex Jr | 15th | 14th | 3rd | 8th | 14th | 38th | | | |
| Brian Vickers | 19th | 27th | 23rd | 18th | 26th | --- | | | |
| Mover of the Week |
| Casey Mears - Started in the 33rd position and finished 12th |
| Sports Network Selections |
| Pick to Win - Tony Stewart |
| Darkhorse - Kasey Kahne |
| Last Week's Pick to Win (Jimmie Johnson) - Finished 2nd |
| Last Week's Darkhorse (Clint Bowyer) - Finished 19th |
| NOTES: |
|
Seven down and three to go, as the Chase heads to the Lone Star State of
Texas this weekend.
Carl Edwards' lead has dwindled down to just eight after having a 14-point lead
prior to Martinsville. Tony Stewart's win last week, coupled with Edwards'
ninth-place finish, boosted the three-time winner in this year's Chase to
second on the points list, while Matt Kenseth, who held the second position,
fell to fifth after finishing 31st.
The points spread among Edwards and Stewart is the closest with three races
three races to go in the season since the inception of the Chase in 2004.
Not to be overlooked is Kevin Harvick, who sits in third, 21 points behind.
Harvick has five top-10's in the seven races and has recorded five consecutive
top-10s in this race.
Last season, Denny Hamlin took over the points lead from Jimmie Johnson in the
Chase for the Sprint Cup championship after winning the AAA Texas 500 in a wild
day of racing at Texas Motor Speedway.
Hamlin grabbed the lead from Mark Martin with 29 laps remaining. An incident
involving Patrick Carpentier set up a three-lap shootout to the finish. After
the restart, Matt Kenseth made a furious charge for the lead, but Hamlin held
Kenseth off at the finish by 0.5 seconds for his series-leading eighth win of
the season. He scored a season sweep at the fast 1.5-mile Texas track. His win
here in the spring came nearly three weeks after he underwent surgery for a
torn ACL in his left knee. Despite the win, Hamlin finished second to Johnson
in the Sprint Cup chase.
In 2009, Kurt Busch conserved enough fuel to win at TMS. Busch inherited the
lead when his younger brother, Kyle, ran out of fuel with less than three laps
remaining. Kyle Busch led 232 of 334 laps, but wound up 11th after coasting
into the pits for fuel. The margin of victory was 25.686 seconds over Denny
Hamlin.
Carl Edwards raced to victory at Texas Motor Speedway in 2008, as he easily
defeated pole sitter Jeff Gordon by over eight seconds. Edwards, who started
16th on the grid, led five times for 212 laps, as he posted his one of nine
wins that season. Since winning nine times in 2008, Edwards has just three wins
to his credit.
In 2007, Jimmie Johnson avenged his runner-up finish the previous season with a
victory over Matt Kenseth for his ninth win of that campaign. Johnson won by
0.944 of a second, as he recorded win number 32 of 55 career titles. Johnson
reclaimed the lead with just three laps remaining to overtake Kenseth. Pole
sitter Martin Truex Jr finished third, while Kyle Busch placed fourth after
leading for a race-high 153 laps.
Tony Stewart clipped Johnson in '06 by less than a second for his 29th career
Sprint Cup title. Stewart, who now has 42 victories to his credit, started
eighth on the grid and led for a race-high 278 laps. Pole sitter Brian
Vickers led for only five laps and finished 27th. Stewart reclaimed the lead
on lap 324 for the eighth time and edged out Johnson by 0.272 of a second.
This and That from Texas Motor Speedway: The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at
Texas was on April 6, 1997. There have been 21 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races
at Texas Motor Speedway, one per season 1997 through 2004 and two races per
year since 2005. Four drivers have competed in all 21 Texas races: Jeff
Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin. Matt Kenseth started 31st
en route to his victory at Texas in 2002, the deepest in the field that a race
winner has started.
The pole sitter has never won this race and in the 21 previous races at Texas
Motor Speedway, only once has the top position crossed the finish line first
(Kasey Kahne, April 2006). 15 of the 21 races have been won from a top-10
starting position.
Back in 2005, Carl Edwards won for the fourth time that year, as he sneaked
past Mark Martin by less than a second to capture the inaugural running of
this race. Edwards, who led five times for a total of 82 laps, reclaimed the
lead on the second-to-last lap for the win. Pole sitter Ryan Newman finished
25th, while lap leader Matt Kenseth, who led three times for 149 laps,
finished third.
The second-to-last race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship takes
place November 13 at Phoenix International Raceway. Carl Edwards is the
defending champion of the Kobalt Tools 500.
11/01 17:53:32 ET
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As of November 1, 2011, at 05:53 PM ET
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