Qualifying always key in deciding Texas winner

CONCORD, N.C. -- In the five races run at plush Texas Motor Speedway, nary a driver has surfaced as a repeat winner. Whether or not that trend continues in next week's Samsung/Radio Shack 500 will rely heavily on Friday’s qualifying session.

Qualifying has always been crucial at Texas -- all previous winners have started seventh or better -- but a freshly paved track surface makes it even more important this year. After five years, the second racing groove had finally begun to wear in. Now, it’s gone.

“It’s going to make qualifying, pit stops and pit strategy of utmost importance,” said 2001 winner Dale Jarrett. “The guys up front are going to have the advantage. When I won at Texas last year, I did it by passing Johnny Benson on the outside. The track was getting to the point where there were two racing grooves and there was room for passing.

“Since the track’s been re-paved, I’m guessing it is going to be really fast with a lot of grip but not much room for passing. Unless they put cones up around the bottom lane and make us ride outside of that, which they’re not going to do, there won’t be but one racing groove.”

As if track position wasn’t already important enough -- of the five winners, four started in the top-five.

Roush Racing drivers Jeff Burton and Mark Martin won the first two events at Texas, respectively. And, considering the healthy wave of momentum the Roush organization is currently riding, both could contend again next weekend.

Burton, who ranks ninth in the championship standings with two top-10 finishes, tested Texas earlier this week, saying the new surface increased speeds so much he could only stand about 10 or 12 laps before he had to park it.

Overall, Burton has three top-10 finishes in five starts at the 1.5-mile track. Meanwhile, Martin has two top-10 runs at Texas, and last week’s winner at Bristol, Kurt Busch, finished fourth in his only start there.

"I think our (Winston Cup) team has more pressure on it than it ever has," Burton continued. "We're at a point where we are used to winning races, contending for championships. We didn't do that last year. "That is what our team is about, running well, doing all those things. I think there's more pressure on our team than there has ever been. That's okay, that's the way it ought to be. When you don't perform, there should be more pressure on you. Everything you strive for in professional athletics is for everyone to think that you are the one to beat.”

In 1999, Texas’ native son, Terry Labonte, was the one to beat. That was Labonte’s last victory to date, a span of 104 races. In 2000, Dale Earnhardt Jr. won in just his 12th NASCAR Winston Cup start, a series record, and last year Jarrett sliced past Benson in the late stages to earn his 27th-career win.

Earnhardt Jr. finished second at Atlanta -- a track very similar to Texas -- and most always runs well at Charlotte, so he’ll likely be a contender again this year. Tony Stewart won the MBNA America 500 at Atlanta, so he has the proper setup for Texas, too.

Second that for rookie Jimmie Johnson and 2000 series champion Bobby Labonte. Johnson, whose career-best finish, third, came at Atlanta, continues to impress. Overall, Johnson has four top-10s in the first six events, lifting him from 21st to fourth in the point standings since Rockingham.

Labonte has yet to win at Texas, but he’s a stalwart of the top five. Prior to last year’s 42nd-place finish, he’d posted three third-place runs and an eighth. This season, he has tallied a pair of top-fives -- at Rockingham and Bristol -- but ranks 16th in the point standings after finishing 34th at Daytona and 37th at Atlanta -- a track he often dominates.

Prior to this year’s 37th-place effort -- the result of lost cylinder in the motor after being spun on pit road and over-revving the motor -- he had won five of the past 11 races at Atlanta.

Don’t count Jarrett out, either. Despite his early season woes, he’s got two runner-up finishes at Texas to go along with last year’s win. He’s not due. He’s overdue. Though victory-starved, he knows that patience will pay off next weekend.

“It’s going to be wait, wait and wait for someone to make a mistake before you can pass,” he said.