Viewer's Guide: Texas

Only three races remain in the 2007 Nextel Cup season as the Chase continues Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway for 500 miles of racing. Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are going down to the wire in one of the closest championship battles in NASCAR history. ESPN on ABC's live coverage of the Dickies 500 begins at 3 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The green flag will fly shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET.

"I would keep my eye on Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. It's a two-man race," said ESPN analyst Tim Brewer. "If one runs hard, the other has to run hard. If one sits back, the other can choose how hard to run. It will be a great cat and mouse game between two really great champions."

The 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway is one of the fastest tracks in NASCAR, much like last week's venue at Atlanta Motor Speedway. In qualifying for this race last year, Brian Vickers turned a lap of 196.235 mph, a TMS record for Cup cars.

"On paper they might be similar but there are still a lot of differences in the racetrack and the setup is quite a bit different. Both racetracks are very intense because they are both high-speed tracks," Brewer said of Texas and Atlanta. "Shock absorbers are a big part of getting through the bumps and having your car drive extremely well because of the intensity in speed.

"But, it's really more of a difference in driver preference than car setup. It's more of a driver's attitude going into the race than the setup and having confidence in his abilities. Great racecar drivers aren't great at every racetrack."

One common thread will be tire wear, however.

"You're going to have tire issues in both places because anytime you're running that fast on a racetrack you're going to wear the tire down and you actually end up rubbing the binder away and running on stone," Brewer said. "With asphalt you have rock, gravel and a binder or something that acts as an adhesive and holds it together. As the binder wears away and the stone and gravel are surfaced it becomes more abrasive.

"It's always a concern and before the cars have had a chance to go on the track there is no rubber, no oil and it is relatively abrasive. The more laps that are run, the more rubber that's laid down and the less abrasive it becomes. The tire wear gets progressively better as the day wears on."

ESPN2 will have live coverage of Nextel Cup qualifying at 4:30 p.m. ET on Friday. Coverage of practice airs at 1 p.m. ET Friday and at 6 p.m. ET on a tape-delayed basis Saturday.

Busch Series race on ESPN2

On Saturday afternoon, ESPN2 continues its season-long coverage of the Busch Series with live racing from Texas. The telecast of the 300-mile O'Reilly's Challenge begins at 3 p.m. ET with NASCAR Countdown. The green flag will fly shortly after 3:30 p.m. ET.

The Texas track could be the scene of Carl Edwards' clinching of the 2007 Busch Series championship, though two races will remain. The Missouri native has led the standings for most of the season.

"In the Busch Series race you've got to watch Carl Edwards to clinch the championship. I would also be looking for Jack Roush and Richard Childress in the race for the car owners' championship," Brewer said.

Online fans can watch the Busch Series live race broadcast from Texas on NASCAR.COM. To learn more, click here.

Truck Series race on SPEED

SPEED will have Craftsman Truck Series coverage of the Silverado 350K beginning with NCTS Setup at 8:30 p.m. ET Friday. Racing begins shortly after 9 p.m. ET.

SPEED also will show final practice for the Busch Series at noon ET Friday and Busch Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m. ET Friday.