A Closer Look at Texas Motor Speedway
After the excitement of the All-Star Race at Bristol on Wednesday night, where Chase Elliott rolled to the victory and a $1 million payday, the NASCAR circuit rolls on this weekend. It’s a stop in the Lone Star State as the circuit pulls into Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on Sunday afternoon. As is our custom, today we’ll take a look at the track itself, along with the relative success (or lack thereof) the current drivers have had at the track and inevitably, do our best to get you up to speed before we begin talking about our top prop bets for the race in the coming days.
Texas Motor Speedway is widely considered the fastest track on the NASCAR circuit, ranking up there with Talladega and Daytona when it comes to generating high speeds. Construction for the track began in 1995 when drivers Terry Labonte, Jeff Gordon and Bobby Labonte joined Bruton Smith for the ceremonial groundbreaking. The first NASCAR race held at the track was the Interstate Batteries 500 on April 6, 1997. In that race, Jeff Burton held the lead for the final 58 laps en route to the first victory of his career by 4.067 seconds over Dale Jarrett. Bobby Labonte, Terry Labonte and Ricky Rudd rounded out the top five that day.
The track is a 1.5-mile quad oval that is similar to the tracks at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway. Turns one and two are banked at 20 degrees while turns three and four are banked slightly higher, at 24 degrees. Straightaways are banked at five degrees with the front straightaway (2,250 ft) substantially longer than the back straightaway, which logs in at 1,330 feet. The turns have a 750-foot radius and at its narrowest, the racing surface is 58 feet wide. While the original capacity was more than 181,000 people, the current composition of the track holds somewhere around 135,000.
In the two races at the track last year, it was Denny Hamlin rolling to a 2.743-second margin of victory over Clint Bowyer in the 2019 edition of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 on March 31, 2019. Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five in that particular race. When the circuit came back to the track for the AAA Texas 500 on November 3, 2019, it was Kevin Harvick taking the checkered flag by 1.594 seconds over Aric Almirola. Suarez, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman finished out the top five that day.
Among the active drivers on the circuit, Kurt Busch and Harvick have the most experience racing here with 34 starts each under their belts. Ryan Newman and Jimmie Johnson each have raced at Texas Motor Speedway 33 times while Matt Kenseth rounds out the top five with 30 starts. Each of those guys have won at least once at the track. If you’re looking for who to dodge, or who you think may be due to earn a win, Martin Truex Jr. has raced at the track 29 times without a victory and Clint Bowyer is right behind with 28 fruitless runs in his career. Truex Jr. is second all-time for most races without a win at Texas Motor Speedway, trailing only Jamie McMurray’s 30 races.
When it comes to actually taking the checkered flag at Texas Motor Speedway, no one does it better than Johnson. He has earned seven victories here to more than double any of the other active racers. Harvick, Hamlin and Kyle Busch are next in line with three wins each while Kenseth has a pair of victories to round out the top five. The only other active drivers to earn a win here are Kurt Busch, Joey Logano and Newman, who each have one win on the board. Johnson also leads the way with 16 top-five showings while Kenseth has 14 of his own. Kyle Busch (12), Harvick (11) and Logano (10) close out the top five of that category. Avoiding David Ragan when it comes to betting on a top-five showing might be wise as he is zero for 26 in that category and has only two top-10 finishes.
Johnson and Harvick have each recorded 22 top-10 finishes at the track in their careers to lead the way in that category. Kurt Busch (21), Kenseth (19) and Truex Jr. (16) round out the top five. Kurt Busch has three pole victories to lead the way while Johnson, Truex Jr., Harvick and Newman each have two to their credit. Johnson has led 1,152 laps here to lead all active drivers. Kyle Busch (948), Kenseth (883), Brad Keselowski (639) and Harvick (614) are the next in line in that category. There is no qualifying for this race as the positioning for the field was decided by random draw. Aric Almirola will start from the pole for this one with Ryan Blaney starting on the outside of the front row.
The O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 will close out a busy weekend at the track. As it stands, the My Bariatric 300 will take place for the Xfinity Series at 2 pm ET on Saturday. That will be followed by the Vankor 350 for the Gander RV and Outdoors Truck Series on Saturday night beginning at 7 pm ET. Both those races will be contested without fans but that will change for Sunday’s race. Texas Motor Speedway is going to Construction for the track began in 19950, which could put more than 60,000 fans in the stands for the race.
Going into Sunday’s race, Construction for the track began in 19951 over Keselowski. Blaney is third, 95 points off the pace, while Elliott (100 points behind) and Logano (111 points off the lead) round out the top five in that department. In the playoff standings, Harvick leads Hamlin by 122 points with both drivers having four victories. Keselowski and Logano stand third and fourth with both drivers owning a pair of wins while Blaney is the top point-getter among drivers with one win to hold down the fifth spot.