The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series gallops into Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500. Brian Brown took a look at past performances, season trends, and spoke with NASCAR contacts to predict how the field should finish on Sunday.
When: Sunday, November 6; 2:16 p.m./et.
Weather: Mostly cloudy with a high around 72 degrees; wind out of the SE at 11 mph. There is a 20% chance of precipitation.
The Track: Texas MotorSpeedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 quad-oval. It has intermediate 24 degree banking on the turns and surface at Texas has great grip allowing cars can run wide-open the entire way around. This is the ninth stop at a 1.5 mile track this season.
Key to Race: CAN ANYONE BEAT JIMMIE?
Jimmie Johnson has been fantastic at Texas lately and he is currently in the pole position to notch his record-tying seventh Sprint Cup championship. His stiffest competition will likely come from Martin Truex Jr., Carl Edwards, or Kyle Busch.
Round of 8 Standings:
Jimmie Johnson 4044 points
Denny Hamlin 4039 points
Matt Kenseth 4039 points
Kyle Busch 4037 points
Joey Logano 4033 points
Kevin Harvick 4021 points
Kurt Busch 4019 points
Carl Edwards 4005 points
Qualifying Procedures:
41 cars will attempt to qualify for 40 spots.
Fantasy Cheat Sheet:
Top 5
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson has dominated at Texas lately. He has won five of the last eight races at the track and should be used in all leagues.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Busch won the spring race at Texas this year. He is a great choice in all leagues.
No. 4 Kevin Harvick: Harvick won the last time the Sprint Cup raced at a 1.5 mile oval (Kansas) and he finished inside the top three in both starts at Texas last year. He is a great choice.
No. 22 Joey Logano: Logano is still in contention for the championship and won the 2014 spring race at Texas. He will be fast once again.
No. 20 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth is tied for second in the playoff standings and he has been awesome at Texas the past five years. He is a great choice.
6 to 10
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin is tied for second in the championship standings and is usually very fast on 1.5 mile tracks. He is a good option.
No. 78 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex Jr. led the most laps at Texas this spring (141), but he slipped at the end to a disappointing sixth place. He should bring plenty of speed this weekend even though he has been eliminated from the playoffs.
No. 2 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski has had eight great runs at Texas during his career. He is usually a good shoe on 1.5 mile tracks and should be in the top 10 when the checkers fly.
No. 19 Carl Edwards: Edwards led 124 laps at Texas this spring on his way to a seventh place finish. He will race hard this weekend and should finish inside the top 10.
No. 24 Chase Elliott: Elliott cruised to a fifth place finish at Texas earlier this season. We like him to be fast once again.
11 to 20
No. 41 Kurt Busch: Busch finished ninth at Texas this spring. He will finish in a similar spot this weekend.
No. 31 Ryan Newman: Newman has averaged a 15th place finish the past 11 races at Texas. We like him as a second driver in most leagues.
No. 5 Kasey Kahne: Kahne has five top 10 finishes in the past 11 races at Texas. He is a solid third driver in most leagues.
No. 42 Kyle Larson: Larson has finished in the top 10 in two of the last five races at Texas. He is a third driver in deep leagues.
No. 3 Austin Dillon: Dillon hasn’t been great at Texas so far in his career, but he is due for a breakthrough at the track.
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: Jamie Mac has nine top 10 finishes in 23 career starts at TMS. This is a good weekend to get him active on your roster.
No. 88 Alex Bowman: Bowman has cracked the top 15 in three of the last five races. He is a great fourth driver in all leagues.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle won the 2012 spring race at Texas and he has been fast in 12 of the past 13 races at the track. He is a third driver option in deep leagues this weekend.
No. 43 Aric Almirola: Almirola has averaged a 19th place finish at Texas in his career. He will finish right around his average.
No. 27 Paul Menard: Menard has been a top 20 driver at Texas for most of his career. He is a nice sleeper pick.
21 to 30
No. 6 Trevor Bayne
No. 14 Tony Stewart
No. 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
No. 10 Danica Patrick
No. 47 AJ Allmendinger
No. 21 Ryan Blaney
No. 13 Casey Mears
No. 38 Landon Cassill
No. 44 Brian Scott
No. 34 Chris Buescher
Field Fillers:
No. 15 Clint Bowyer
No. 98 Cole Whitt
No. 7 Regan Smith
No. 46 Michael Annett
No. 23 David Ragan
No. 83 Matt DiBenedetto
No. 55 Reed Sorenson
No. 93 Ryan Ellis
No. 95 Michael McDowell
No. 30 Josh Wise
No. 32 Joey Gase
My NASCAR LIVE Team for this Week:
A.J. Allmendinger
Race Winner: Jimmie Johnson
Manufacturer: Toyota
My Yahoo! Fantasy NASCAR Team for this Week:
B. Kasey Kahne
B. Tony Stewart
C. Alex Bowman