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FORT WORTH, Texas – Despite qualifying three cars inside the top five, Hendrick Motorsports wasn’t able to turn that speed into a victory in Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway.

But for a four-car organization that hadn’t led more than a combined 118 laps in 2019 until touching down in Texas Motor Speedway, a day that ended with 110 laps led and two top-six finishes is more than significant. Jimmie Johnson called it a step in the “right direction.”

“I am just so proud of everybody on this Ally team,” said Johnson, whose No. 48 car paced the field for 60 laps en route to a fifth-place finish. “We’ve had a lot of pressure on us, and everyone has stepped up and (been) getting it done. …”

“For me, I was just trying to get a consistent weekend. It is one thing to have one-lap paced, we needed that and we did that on Friday (in qualifying). Then, Saturday went really well. So, in the back of my mind I was thinking we just needed to have a rock-solid day, and if we did that, then I could confirm to myself and to everyone else that we are moving in the right direction.”

RELATED: Race results | Stages recap

Consistency – both within the team and throughout the entire race – was the key element for Hendrick Motorsports’ performance in the Lone Star State all weekend. The 1-2-3 qualifying effort with Johnson earning the pole was certainly a strong start.

However, the team had seen similar qualifying speed in Daytona when William Byron and Alex Bowman swept the front row, but by race’s end in the Daytona 500, only Johnson’s No. 48 remained in the top 10. At Martinsville, Chase Elliott’s No. 9 nabbed a runner-up result – but the other three cars finished outside the top 12.

This weekend, the four-car team looked fast throughout practice (Johnson led the opening session and topped the 10-lap average charts in final practice) and three of four cars led multiple laps in the 500-lap event Sunday, with Johnson and Byron overcoming pit-road equipment mishaps for top-six finishes.

It was also a strong showing for the team’s intermediate program under the new rules package. In the series’ last trip to a mile-and-a-half track at Las Vegas, Hendrick notched 9th, 11th, 16th and 19th-place finishes after leading a combined 21 laps.

“We needed this,” said Byron, who finished sixth. “It’s been a long road for sure, the last year and a half, really, starting with this team. We’ve been working harder and harder and the guys have been putting in a lot of work. Still work to be done and definitely getting it there in the right direction.”

Yes, there’s still work to be done; Johnson, Byron and Elliott all acknowledged that after the race. With 12 premier series championships, the folks at Hendrick Motorsports are too competitive to settle for just “solid days.” But Sunday was a big step to getting back in Victory Lane, a place where seven-time champion Johnson hasn’t been since June 2017 after a winless 2018 season.

Does this weekend inspire him?

“Absolutely,” he said. “This is what we’ve been looking for.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Two weeks ago, a young NASCAR fan was inconsolable.

Jaxson Hathaway’s favorite driver didn’t win at Auto Club Speedway, and he had the kind of reaction that you might expect from a child who doesn’t get his way. His mom tweeted at Denny Hamlin just so he would know.

Jaxson’s mom, Elizabeth, tweeted a screenshot of the text describing her son’s crying, and his father, Jay Hathaway, added a short video of their son sulking after Kyle Busch found Victory Lane in Southern California. “No fair!” Jaxson exclaims.

Hamlin saw the tweets and made a promise: His next win would be for Jaxson.

Well, guess who was bouncing around with joy after Hamlin triumphed in Texas?

It seems Hamlin earned two big wins Sunday.

And there’s one more precious postscript:

Posted on by Staff Report

The race-winning No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for driver Denny Hamlin has passed post-race inspection at Texas Motor Speedway with no issues.

The No. 11 Toyota was found to be compliant with the 2019 NASCAR Rule Book after Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. With the post-race teardown complete, the race results are official.

RELATED: Race results | Full schedule for Bristol

The No. 10 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Aric Almirola (seventh-place finisher) was found to have one lug nut not safe and secure. NASCAR also announced that it was taking two cars from each manufacturer back to the windtunnel: The No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Martin Truex Jr., the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Erik Jones, the No. 1 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet of Kurt Busch, the No. 24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet of William Byron, the No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford of Kevin Harvick and the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Ford of Paul Menard.

The post-race process is part of a new, more timely approach to inspection for all three NASCAR national series. Competition officials announced in February that thorough post-race inspections would take place shortly after the checkered flag at the track instead of midweek at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Those inspections come with a stiffer deterrence structure that includes disqualification for significant rules infractions — “a total culture change,” according to Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR Executive Vice President and Chief Racing Development Officer. In the past, race-winning teams found in violation of the rules were penalized with post-race fines, points deductions and/or suspensions, but victories were allowed to stand.

Competition officials introduced the quicker post-race inspection timetable in an effort to make the results official on race day, aiming for a 90-minute target time frame to complete their scrutineering. The new post-race inspection process was also designed to deal with potential violations more promptly, avoiding any midweek news that might cloud the previous week’s results or the build-up to the following week’s event.

NASCAR will still inspect cars and parts at the R&D Center as needed to evaluate technical trends, but the more comprehensive at-track inspection will take priority.

According to NASCAR statistical archives, the last time a premier-series driver was disqualified occurred in 1973, when early retiree Buddy Baker was demoted to last place in the National 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The last time an apparent race winner in NASCAR’s top division was disqualified came on April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson (N.C.) Speedway was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank on his No. 85 Chevrolet.

Posted on by Staff Report

FORT WORTH, Texas — A fast car can cure a lot of mistakes. Just ask Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin.

The reigning Daytona 500 winner overcame a slew of penalties — some self-inflicted — to win the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Although the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota Camry got down, he was never out of contention. Hamlin led three times for 45 laps en route to his third win at Texas, his second win of the season and the fourth Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series victory for Joe Gibbs Racing in the first seven races of 2019.

RELATED: Race results | Stages recap

“I missed pit road under green, that cost us three or four seconds, as well,” Hamlin said. “I don’t know. We tried every way we could to give it away, and we found a way to do it with this FedEx Camry.”

With a splash-and-go fuel stop on Lap 319, Hamlin cycled back to the lead four laps later and extended his advantage over Clint Bowyer by 2.743-seconds at the finish.

“Our car was really, really fast,” Hamlin said. “We obviously saw that. Once we got out front, we were able to pull away from the pack a little bit. Got a little bit loose when we were racing our teammates in the 18 (Kyle Busch) and the 20 (Erik Jones). So wasn’t able to be as aggressive as I was earlier in the race. We had a super-fast car. That’s why we won.”

Daniel Suarez, Erik Jones and polesitter Jimmie Johnson rounded out the top five. Suarez was proud of the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Ford Mustang team’s solid performance.

“We’ve been working very hard to make our race cars better and definitely, we’re heading in the right direction,” Suarez said. “This is the second week in a row where all the Stewart-Haas Racing cars are in the top-10 and that’s something very, very good. Overall, very proud of the 41 crew because we’ve been working hard to slowly get better and better. We’re showing that.”

Joey Logano won the first stage, but had experienced issues with his hood flapping, pitted before pit road was open for service, and ultimately dropped to 22nd, one lap down.

SHOP: Hamlin gear

William Byron, Aric Almirola, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch completed the top 10.

The fifth and final caution occurred on Lap 255 when Daniel Hemric spun in Turn 2. Over the next 55 laps, the lead changed between Kyle Busch, Johnson, Suarez, Almirola and Jones as different pit strategies played out. Although the race appeared to be leaning in Kyle Busch’s direction, his car became loose in Turn 1 allowing Jones to pass him for the lead on Lap 276. After dropping to fourth, Busch hit the wall in Turn 2 on Lap 282 and was forced to pit.

“We were in a good position there to get the win today with our Interstate Batteries Toyota, but it just wasn’t meant to be,” said Busch, who led a race-high 66 laps. “We will go on to next week and get back on it at Bristol.”

Kyle Busch continues to lead the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup standings. He has an eight point advantage over Denny Hamlin as the series heads to Bristol Motor Speedway next weekend.

Posted on by Staff Report

Which channels have NASCAR programming this week? We answer that and give you the weekly NASCAR television listings here in the NASCAR TV schedule.

Note: All times are ET.

MORE: Get the NBC Sports App | How to find FS1 | Get FOX Sports App | How to find NBCSN

Monday, April 1
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR America, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
11 p.m., O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
12:30 p.m., MRN Outloud

Tuesday, April 2
5:30 p.m., Dale Jr. Download, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
9 a.m., The Tough Trucks of NASCAR
7 p.m., NASCAR Live

Wednesday, April 3
2:30 p.m., Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
3:30 p.m., My Bariatrics Solutions 300 at Texas Motor Speedway (re-air), FS2/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App
6 p.m., NASCAR America: Motormouths Call In, NBCSN/NBC Sports App
7 p.m., Unrivaled: Earnhardt vs. Gordon (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
Noon: NASCAR Coast to Coast
1 p.m., MRN Crew Call

Thursday, April 4
6 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub, FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
1 p.m., MRN Classic Race

Friday, April 5
3 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series practice, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
4 p.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
5 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
6 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
7 p.m., NASCAR Presents: The Adventures of Janet Guthrie (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

On MRN:
12:30 p.m., The Off Axis Podcast

Saturday, April 6
6:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series final practice (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
7:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Busch Pole qualifying (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App
8:30 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series practice, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN2)
9:30 a.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN App)
10:30 a.m., NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
11 a.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series final practice, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
Noon, NASCAR Race Hub: Weekend Edition, FS1/FOX Sports App
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Xfinity Series, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN3)
1 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Alsco 300 at Bristol Motor Speedway, FS1/FOX Sports App
3:30 p.m., NASCAR Xfinity Series Post-Race Show, FS1/FOX Sports App

Sunday, April 7
12:30 p.m., NASCAR RaceDay: Bristol, FS1/FOX Sports App
2 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway, FS1/FOX Sports App (Canada: TSN1)
11:30 p.m., Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway (re-air), FS1/FOX Sports App

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin took control near the midway point of Sunday’s Monster Energy Series race, winning Stage 2 at Texas Motor Speedway.

RELATED: Stage 2 results

Hamlin’s Joe Gibbs Racing No. 11 Toyota led 15 laps in the second segment of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 and benefited from a fuel-only pit stop to be out front when Stage 2 ended at Lap 170. Hamlin scored his first stage win of the year and banked a playoff point for use in the 10-race postseason.

Ryan Blaney took second in Stage 2 with Daniel Suarez completing the top three. Kyle Busch, vying for a tripleheader sweep of the weekend’s national-series races, came home fourth in Stage 2.

Brad Keselowski, last week’s winner at Martinsville Speedway, encountered mechanical issues during the Stage 1 intermission. His Team Penske No. 2 Ford returned to the race 56 laps down after spending substantial time in the garage.

The problems were worse for Kyle Larson, whose Chip Ganassi Racing No. 42 Chevrolet clouted the Turn 2 wall on Lap 148. The caution flag came during a cycle of pit stops, jumbling the running order.

Joey Logano, the Stage 1 winner, was the beneficiary of the yellow flag, but sustained a penalty for an uncontrolled tire during his pit stop. His Team Penske No. 22 Ford was 15th at the end of Stage 2.

The scheduled distance for Sunday’s event is 334 laps.

Finish Driver Team Race Points
1 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing 10
2 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 9
3 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 8
4 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 7
5 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 6
6 Ryan Newman Roush Fenway Racing 5
7 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing 4
8 William Byron Hendrick Motorsports 3
9 Michael McDowell Front Row Motorsports 2
10 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 1

STAGE 1

Joey Logano showed early signs of strength Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, surging to a Stage 1 victory.

Logano led just four of the opening 85 laps in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500, but drove from the eighth starting spot to take the No. 1 position. The performance marked the second stage win of the season for the driver of the Team Penske No. 22 Ford.

Pole-starter Jimmie Johnson led 60 laps and finished second in the first stage, with his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Chase Elliott third on the 1.5-mile track.

The opening portion of the race was slowed by one caution period, triggered when Erik Jones’ No. 20 Toyota spun through Turn 2. Jones, who has four national-series wins at the Fort Worth venue, continued without contact and completed the stage in 26th place, one lap down.

Finish Driver Team Race Points
1 Joey Logano Team Penske 10
2 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 9
3 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports 8
4 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing 7
5 Ryan Blaney Team Penske 6
6 Paul Menard Wood Brothers Racing 5
7 Daniel Suarez Stewart-Haas Racing 4
8 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing 3
9 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing 2
10 Chris Buescher JTG-Daugherty Racing 1
Posted on by Staff Report

The Roush Fenway Racing team for driver Ryan Newman will drop to the rear of the field for Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway after the No. 6 Ford failed pre-race inspection twice.

RELATED: Texas starting lineup

NASCAR officials also ejected car chief Todd Brewer just hours before the start of Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM) at the 1.5-mile track. The team will also serve a 15-minute penalty during practice next weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Newman, who scored his only Texas victory in 2003, was scheduled to take the green flag from the 18th spot in Sunday’s event. The 41-year-old driver is searching for his first top-10 finish early in his first season with the Jack Roush-owned organization.

Posted on by Staff Report

Kyle Busch is the odds-on-betting-favorite Sunday as he goes for a tripleheader sweep at Texas Motor Speedway. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver qualified 16th for today’s race (3 p.m. ET, FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), but enters the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 having won the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series races already this weekend.

Busch is listed at 3-1 odds, slightly better than his opening line of 7-2. The “3-1” simply meaning if a bettor places a $100 bet on Busch to win, he or she would win $300 (plus his initial $300 back) should “Rowdy” repeat his 2018 victory today.

MORE: Full Las Vegas odds

Rival Brad Keselowski, coming off his dominating win last week at Martinsville Speedway, is nearly a co-favorite at 4-1 odds, better than his 7-1 opening line.

Other betting notes:

• The biggest movers on the board belong to Hendrick Motorsports. William Byron, at 125-1 on the opening line, is now 50-1 after qualifying second. Seven-time champion Jimmie Johnson is listed at 12-1 Sunday morning after opening at 28-1. Johnson led the opening practice session at the 1.5-mile quad oval and won the Busch Pole Award.

• Two of Busch’s Joe Gibbs Racing teammates have slipped down the board. Erik Jones is posted at 22-1 (he opened at 16-1) and Martin Truex Jr. is 11-1 (he opened at 7-1).

Posted on by Eric Johnson

Four years and six Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series races into his high-profile trajectory toward, hopefully, Cup royalty, Alex Bowman, aged 25 and part of Hendrick Motorsports, had to check up when asked if Texas Motor Speedway, as well as the wide-open spaces and stockyards of Fort Worth, Texas, compared to his hometown of Tucson, Arizona.

“Texas and Tucson?” he mused. “I don’t know if Texas reminds me of Tucson at all; I feel like Tucson is quite a bit different. But, you know, they have the whole Tex-Mex thing out here. In Tucson and Phoenix, it’s all authentic Mexican food. I’d rather have the authentic stuff back home, for sure. But if anything, I’d love to win a race here.”

This weekend in the Lone Star State will mark the seventh mashup among the world’s best stock-car drivers in 2019, this date with fate to run on an asphalt backdrop featuring a 1.5-mile quad-oval.

“It’s an interesting race track in just how they kind of reshaped everything somewhat recently,” said Bowman. “Turns 1 and 2 are really awkward and I don’t feel like anybody gets real comfortable down there. It’s just real narrow. The groove hasn’t really widened out yet and it’s kind of along the bottom of the track and it’s pretty hard to race guys. I think we can definitely perform if everything works out for us. We definitely haven’t started out the year the way we wanted to, but hopefully we’ve made some progress on the cars and we should be pretty good here.”

RELATED: Full field in photos

Bowman needs a good one as the results he and the No. 88 race outfit have posted up thus far in ’19 have been wobbly at best, two eleventh-place checkered flag greetings being the highlights. Maybe a rough start they just need to put in their mirrors?

“There are no maybes about it as we are definitely not where we want to be,” Bowman said. “We’ve performed pretty poorly for the most part thus far. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but it is not from a lack of effort. All of our guys have been working their butts off. There have been a lot of late night in the shop and they’ve all been working hard, so hopefully we get it turned around quick. We have a new race car for us here in Texas and hopefully it’s a good one.

“If we knew exactly where we were falling short, we’d fix it. It’s been tough; it’s been probably two years now of being short of where we want to be. We’ve got a lot of work to do, so we’re continuing to work hard at it and I think we’re getting closer. We ran really well last weekend at Martinsville, so that was encouraging and collectively, as a group, we’re going to keep working at it and hopefully get better.”

Frustrated, but for the most part undaunted, Bowman and Hendrick teammates Jimmie Johnson (on the Busch Pole), Chase Elliott (starting third) and William Byron (starting second) all have worked well together and are throwing everything the operation has at hitting critical mass.

RELATED: Johnson lands pole position at Texas

Five years into his Cup career, is Bowman feeling it?

“I think so,” he replied confidently. “I’m continuing to improve and doing all I can on-and-off the racetrack to help us as much as I can. I think everything needs to be improved upon and we need to look at areas that I can learn in. It’s been a rough I guess you could say 14 months since we got going in ’18 and we’ve definitely had some positives and some good races, but not nearly the amount we expected, so we just have to keep digging at it.

“At this level, it’s super-competitive and there are so many moving parts and pieces that can make or break your day. To put the whole package together and have a good day is tough at times, but it all starts with having a good group of guys around you and I feel like this 88 team is really strong and our race cars will continue to get stronger and our days will get easier, for sure.”

Posted on by RJ Kraft

Hendrick Motorsports’ Jimmie Johnson will start from the pole position for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (3 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Does the seven-time champion merit a spot in your lineup? We’ve dissected the numbers to offer a suggested lineup worthy of your Fantasy Live consideration as you make roster decisions.

PLAY NOW: Set your lineup | How the game works | Tips to set your lineup

Remember that the garage locks at the end of Stage 2. Once the final stage starts, your roster is locked in.

RJ Kraft’s Fantasy Live lineup for race day at Texas:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Joey Logano
3. Ryan Blaney
4. Brad Keselowski
5. Chase Elliott
Garage: Kurt Busch

Going to the rear: Alex Bowman (backup car), Ryan Newman (failed pre-race inspection twice)

RELATED: Odds for Texas | 10-lap averages from Texas | Podcast: Fantasy Fastlane

Analysis: The wealth of big names starting outside the top 10 on Sunday makes this a bit more complicated than previous weeks. Do you risk the use? Who is worth saving? It’s a delicate balance where owners have to assess risk vs. reward.

I’m rolling with half of my original lineup. Logano has been strong with this race package — top-two finishes at both Las Vegas and Fontana. Blaney had a solid 10-lap average, he’s a hot streak with three top-five finishes in a row and has three straight top-six finishes at the repaved Texas track. Even though he qualified 30th, I’m sticking with Kurt Busch but placing him in my garage. I like his recent Texas results a lot — four straight top 10s, like where I am on his usage and I also like his results with this package. He qualified 25th or worse at Las Vegas and Fontana but scored two top-six finishes and an average of 33.0 points in those races. An added benefit of rostering Kurt: He’s not a particular popular play right now based on ownership.

The additions to my lineup start with the pole sitter Jimmie Johnson. Do I feel comfortable with this? Not entirely based on the 2019 body of work thus far, but I haven’t used him yet, I figure he should be able to get some stage points and he’s been fast all weekend highlighted by his topping the 10-lap board in final practice. I putting Keselowski into my lineup as I go all in on Penske to no surprise of one Steve Letarte (why check one when you can check all three). He had the fourth-best 10-lap average in final practice and again, Penske has this package dialed in
which is why I am so bullish on this team.

My last spot was between Elliott, Kyle Larson, Daniel Suarez and Denny Hamlin. Larson has the worst starting spot of the four but had the best 10-lap average and a strong 15-lap average as well (h/t @MikeJoy500). Suarez qualified well, but I already feel like I’m taking a risk with “Seven-Time.” Hamlin has been better than all four with this package, but he is overall Texas body of work isn’t great, so that leaves me with Elliott. I like the starting spot and the history he’s had at Texas — a pretty consistent top-10 car here, so he gets the nod.

Since I am all in on Penske, I will be keeping the 2018 Big 3 trio of Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. on the sidelines as a tradeoff. Don’t want to be stuck playing one of the big boys if they are having just an average day. Busch is so good at Bristol and Richmond that he will be in my lineup in the coming weeks, I think we haven’t seen the 4 team’s best yet and Truex has several good tracks coming up in the next month — Richmond, Dover and Kansas.

For the bonus picks, I’m taking Hamlin to win Stage 1 with Blaney in Stage 2 and Kyle Busch for the win with Ford as the manufacturer pick.

Each week in this space, we’ll also highlight two Props Challenge items for players.

MORE: Play the Props Challenge today

1. The average starting position for the race winner the past six races at Texas Motor Speedway is 10.3. Will Sunday’s race winner start inside the top 10? I’m playing the odds here and saying no when you consider that Kyle Busch, Brad Keselowski, Ryan Blaney, Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Kyle Larson are all outside the top 10 to start. Could the winner come from inside the top 10? Sure, but I’ll take my chances from the group that is littered with past champions and strong drivers at Texas outside the top 10.

2. Which driver finishes better at Texas on Sunday: Matt DiBenedetto or Ty Dillon? I really like this prop a lot. On the surface, I’d initially go with DiBenedetto, but a closer look at the numbers says Dillon is the pick. Dillon was better in final practice on a single lap on the board as well as the 10-lap board. Dillon will start inside the top 10 while Matty D will roll off 26th. The Germain Racing driver has also finished better than DiBenedetto in all five Texas races they’ve been in together. For the season, Dillon is ahead of DiBenedetto in the point standings and has a 4-2 edge heads up on better finishes in 2019 races. So, I’m going with Dillon to finish better on Sunday.