We’ve returned to the Lone Star State, just a few weeks removed from Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. This is a very different track — 1.5-mile intermediates like the NASCAR schedule was loaded with just a few years ago. That landscape has changed a bit recently, and for this race, too; today’s event is now taking place in the Spring (not the Fall), and we’ve got 400 miles ahead of us (not 500) — will we get the same results as before?
Here’s what to look for:
–Kyle Larson is hoping nothing changes. This is three straight Poles for him this season, a remarkable feat! Larson already turned in a Win a few months ago in Las Vegas, another 1.5-miler, and Hendrick Motorsports finished 1-2-3 last week, too. Can anyone finish ahead of them?
-His teammate William Byron was our most recent winner here, that was of course a Fall race and it is now, obviously, the Spring! We’ve had seven different winners in the last seven races; Byron won last week, will we get a new winner still?
–Ross Chastain ran runner-up in that race last September, can he turn things around and finish in front of anyone today? Yesterday, he was in the Xfinity Series booth seeing that race from above. Did he gather any insight for today? He’ll roll off 12th.
-..and Bubba Wallace was right behind him! Bubba has been hot lately, turned in a pretty good finish at Martinsville last week. Despite the 3rd place finish (which is obviously good), Wallace’s last Top 10 here was way back in 2018.
-In the last ten races at Texas, Ryan Blaney has secured eight Top 10s. That is the most of any active driver (Kevin Harvick, commentating today, also has eight), and he’s also earned more points than any other driver. His finished outside of the Top 10 were DNFs (a crash and overheating), so if he’s running, he’s running well!
Coverage of the race starts on FS1 at 3:30pm, green flag scheduled for 3:34pm.
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