Viewer's Guide: Texas

There's not much that Tony Stewart hasn't done in his NASCAR career. Still, the reigning Nextel Cup Series champion has yet to visit Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway, a fact he'll try to change Sunday in the Samsung/RadioShack 500 (1:30 p.m. ET Sunday, FOX).

	Inside the Numbers Tony Stewart's Cup record at Texas Motor Speedway Year Start Finish 1999 19 6 2000 38 9 2001 41 23 2002 29 5 2003 22 34 2004 17 8 2005 10 31   16 6 Average 24.0 15.2

In eight career Cup starts at Texas, Stewart has five top-10 finishes with a best finish of fifth in April 2002. In last year's spring event at Texas, Stewart was running eighth on Lap 297 when his engine blew, sending flames into the cockpit and Stewart to the infield care center, where he was treated for second-degree burns on the back of his right leg.

Still, as far as momentum goes, Stewart has plenty. He won last week at Martinsville and leads the Nextel Cup Series in average running position at 7.226, nearly two spots better than second-place Matt Kenseth.

But there's still that Texas-sized monkey on Stewart's back.

"It just seems like Texas is one of those places where we haven't figured out how to be a top-flight car," Stewart said. "We've never set the world on fire at Texas -- just me last year. But we've had some solid runs. It's one of the places where we have to try and pick up our performance."

Something that even Stewart says is easier said than done.

"For me, it comes down to just feel more than anything," Stewart said. "A driver has to like the feel of his racecar and the feel of the track. If one of those things doesn't mesh right, then you're probably not going to be as successful as you want to be.

"For some reason, it seemed that the track's transitions were very line-sensitive. The entries and exits to the corners are very tricky, and that's what makes Texas difficult. I don't think it's treacherous. You just have to hit your marks every lap. Texas doesn't leave a whole lot of room for error."

Stewart is scheduled to be a guest on Sunday's pre-race show. Also, Darrell Waltrip and Jeff Hammond will discuss pre-race rituals during their in-car feature.

Greg Biffle, Casey Mears and famous chef Mario Batali are among the guests scheduled for a live edition of Trackside this week from Texas (9 p.m. ET, SPEED).

On NASCAR Raceday (11 a.m. ET Sunday), SPEED welcomes Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie Johnson, Elliott Sadler, Mark Martin and NFL legend Roger Staubach.

If you're going to Texas Motor Speedway, the SPEED stage will be located outside the main grandstand near the main entrance.

The overnight ratings news improved greatly for FOX at Martinsville. Sunday's race drew a 5.1 overnight Nielsen Media Research rating and a 12 market share, nearly 11 percent higher than last year's race.

In this week's "Ask the Producer" question, William D. Wood of Parts Unknown asks:

	NASCAR on FOX producer Neil Goldberg
	E-MAIL •   Send Mark your take or an "Ask the Producer" question

Is there anyway to include a diagram of the track, showing the current on-screen, car location relative to the track? I have a hard time visualizing where the car is on the track as the cameras are zooming around the action. I'm always asking my wife, who is the big NASCAR fan, 'is that Turn 2 or 4?'

NASCAR on FOX producer Neil Goldberg was a bit surprised by the question.

"We do have a real-time graphic that shows where a driver is in relation to the leader. It also shows the interval they are behind. We try to do a good job in coverage as to where the cars are on the track in relationship to each other but it is obvious by your comment that we do not use the graphic element enough that you would have noticed.

"Keep watching and we will try to incorporate it more into the coverage."

Each week, we'll ask a NASCAR on FOX producer a fan's question. Have something that bugs you about the broadcast? Click the link to the right.

Now on to this weekend's schedule.

Nextel Cup Series: Samsung/RadioShack 500

Track: Texas Motor Speedway

• 1.5-mile oval
• 24-degree banking in turns
• Length of frontstretch: 2,250 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,330 feet

2005 FlashbackReview Greg Biffle's dominant performance in the Lone Star State Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Race length: 334 laps/501 miles

TV schedule (All times ET)

• NASCAR Live: 3:30, 6:30, 8:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Bud Pole Qualifying: 4:30 p.m. Fri., SPEED
• Trackside: 9 p.m. Fri, SPEED
• NASCAR Live: Noon ET, Sat., SPEED
• Final practice 2 p.m. Sat., FX
• NASCAR Raceday: 11 a.m. Sun., SPEED
• Pre-race: 1:30 p.m. Sun., FOX
• Race: 2 p.m. Sun., FOX

One year ago, after starting in the rear of the field in a backup car, Greg Biffle was overpowering, leading 219 of 334 laps to grab his second victory of the season and the fifth of his career.

The most recent checkered flag went to Tony Stewart, who pulled away from Jeff Gordon on a final restart with three laps left to win the DirecTV 500 on Sunday at Martinsville.

Keep an eye on Dale Earnhardt Jr. Junior has one victory (his first in the Cup Series) and six top-10 finishes in seven Texas starts. The only blip was a 42nd-place finish in April 2002.

Busch Series: O'Reilly 300

Track: Texas Motor Speedway

• 1.5-mile oval
• 24-degree banking in turns
• Length of frontstretch: 2,250 feet
• Length of backstretch: 1,330 feet

Race length: 200 laps/300 miles

TV schedule (All times ET)

• Race: 3 p.m. Sat., FOX

2005 FlashbackWatch Kasey Kahne get to Victory Lane at Texas Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

One year ago, Kasey Kahne got past rookie Reed Sorenson late in the race and held on through a two-lap shootout to win the O'Reilly 300 Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway.

The most recent checkered flag went to Kyle Busch, who slid by Greg Biffle with 12 laps left and held off a charging Kevin Harvick to win the Sharpie Mini 300 at Bristol.

Keep an eye on Johnny Sauter. In the five races since the season-opener, Sauter -- now sixth in the standings -- has finished no worse than 15th, including a season-best sixth-place finish in Mexico City in only his third career road-course start.