Posted on by Chris Murdock

FORT WORTH, Texas — Four cautions in the closing laps of the Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly at Texas Motor Speedway shaped the finish into a flurry of blows that saw Team Penske driver Joey Logano come home with the trophy at the end of a NASCAR Overtime restart. At the helm when the final fire-offs began were Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson and Logano’s Penske teammate Ryan Blaney.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

Larson ran up front for most of the afternoon, leading 90 laps in Sunday’s event, the most of any driver. In the first of the restarts, Larson was bested in the restart zone by fellow Chevrolet driver Michael McDowell.

McDowell, whose team made a two-tire strategy call to put his No. 71 Spire Motorsports entry in the hunt, controlled the subsequent two restarts as Larson’s No. 5 car faded to the fourth position.

“He just did a good job of timing it,” Larson said of the restart. “He left right when I did, or a fraction before, and he had a push behind him. So, you know, if I could have gotten just any bit of nudge behind me, I could have been side-by-side with him still, but yeah, so he did a good job there and I didn’t. Just stinks to give up control like that and really just give up the race win there, but we’ll study it and I’ll try to do a better job.

“Obviously, you always know what you can do different the next time. But yeah, all in all, you know, good car and a great points day and another stage win. So you know, we’ll take it. We’d love to get a win, but it could have been worse.”

The 2021 Cup Series champion admits he was a little taken back by the late-race tire call made by McDowell and company at Lap 221, but commends his fellow Chevrolet driver for his effort despite crashing from third place with three laps to go.

“Yeah, I was slightly surprised that somebody took two tires,” Larson said. “But then, you know, the way it was working out with all the cautions, it was going to be fine for them. So, yeah, I don’t know, they did a great job. Michael did a really great job. I was pulling for him to win. You know, when I couldn’t win, I was hoping a Chevy could win that race, but it was gonna be tough to hold them off with two tires.”

MORE: Truce? Chipper Jones congratulates Logano on win one week after rant

Also on the wrong side of the finish was Team Penske’s Blaney, bringing his No. 12 Ford Mustang home in the third position as Ross Chastain charged to Blaney’s inside on the final restart for the runner-up spot.

Blaney was second under the caution and chose inside row two on the race-changing Lap 244 restart, where McDowell’s No. 71 car climbed around Larson on the outside and took the lead. The 31-year-old delved into his reasoning and choice to stay behind the driver of the No. 5 car.

“The top wasn’t very good at all. It was pretty dirty. And the one time I have a shot to do it, and don’t do it, the guy (McDowell) gets the lead,” Blaney explained. “So I just didn’t do a good job. Then it was hard to get it after that. Just didn’t get a good push, and just could never hang with them over in [Turns] 3 and 4.”

Ultimately, it was a positive day for the 2022 Cup Series champion, who started in the 24th position. Blaney was able to maneuver through the field, taking advantage of opportunities to pass, but came up just short of his first win of the 2025 season.

“Honestly, we really didn’t do it with strategy,” Blaney said. “We just kind of passed cars. So no, it was good and I thought our car was really good. I couldn’t get control of the race. So, overall, a proud day, fast car, and hopefully go forward. We’ve had speed all year, so it was nice that in the last couple of weeks, we’ve [Penske] gotten a car in Victory Lane. So that’s good, hopefully we can join them.”

Posted on by Zach Sturniolo

One week after baseball Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones laid into Joey Logano’s Talladega radio communications, Jones had a change of heart Sunday following the NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Logano stormed to the victory Sunday with a late rally for his first win of 2025. Instead of more pointed comments for the three-time Cup champion, Jones offered a far more pleasant social-media message post-race.

MORE: Race results from Texas

“Congratulations to (Joey Logano),” Jones wrote on X. “A HOF (Hall-of-Fame) driver with a masterful win. This is what NASCAR fans expect from you. Hard charging wins and gracious top 5s and 10s. Well done!”

Jones, a longtime NASCAR fan in addition to his long, storied career with the MLB’s Atlanta Braves, previously took umbrage with Logano’s harsh critiques of his Team Penske teammate Austin Cindric for a lost stage win at Talladega Superspeedway. After learning of his comments afterward, Logano was “surprised” by Jones’ outburst.

Nonetheless, Jones was complimentary of Logano’s Texas performance just one week later.

“Backpedaling? No,” Jones wrote. “Appreciating a great race and sportsmanship. HOFers are always held to a higher standard and should be.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Michael McDowell was fighting for the win late at Texas Motor Speedway, but a crash with three laps to go in regulation ended his day prematurely.

The Spire Motorsports No. 71 Chevrolet cleared Ryan Blaney for the lead on a restart with 10 laps to go but had been chased for the top spot with four laps remaining by Joey Logano. One lap later, McDowell fell to third behind Blaney. Exiting Turn 2, McDowell lost control of his car and crashed into the back straightaway’s outside SAFER barrier, relegating McDowell to a 26th-place finish.

MORE: Race results | Texas photos

“I just really hate it for everybody on this Spire Motorsports No. 71 Delaware Life Chevrolet,” McDowell told FOX Sports. “We were giving it everything we had there to try to keep track position.”

A fierce block from McDowell down the backstretch on Lap 264 brought both McDowell and Logano down to the inside wall, but Logano surged forward in Turn 3 for the lead. Blaney capitalized on McDowell’s lost momentum, and the two entered Turn 1 side-by-side before McDowell lost control.

“Joey got a run there; I tried to block it. I went as far as I think you can probably go. And then when Blaney slid up in front of me, it just took the air off of it and I lost the back of it,” McDowell said. “Still had the fight in me. I guess I should have conceded at that point, but I’m just proud of everyone at Spire Motorsports. I know that’s not the day we wanted, but we had an opportunity to win the race.”

McDowell was looking to snap a 58-race winless drought and score Spire Motorsports its first win since 2019 (Justin Haley, Daytona International Speedway). Instead, he remains without a top-10 finish through 11 races this season, with three best finishes of 11th (Daytona, Circuit of The Americas, Talladega Superspeedway).

Posted on by Reid Spencer

FORT WORTH, Texas — After Michael McDowell’s dream ended less than four laps short of the scheduled finish in Sunday’s Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly, Joey Logano took control and rode the NASCAR Cup Series rollercoaster to his first victory of the season.

A week after a missing nut on a spoiler bracket cost him a disqualification from fifth place at Talladega Superspeedway, Logano beat runner-up Ross Chastain to the finish line by 0.346-second in overtime to score his second victory at 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway and the 37th of his career.

RELATED: Race results | Best photos from Texas

In fashioning his first top-five finish of 2025, Logano successfully pursued McDowell, who had charged into the lead after a restart on Lap 245 of 271 and held it through two cautions and restarts.

On Lap 264, less than four laps from a finish, the driver of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford went low on the backstretch, avoided a block from McDowell and passed the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet for the lead.

Passed for second by Logano’s Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney a lap later, McDowell lost control in dirty air behind Blaney’s Ford and slammed into the Turn 2 wall, ending his race in 26th place.

“Sorry, boys, I tried,” a rueful McDowell radioed to his team.

SHOP: Race winner gear

On the subsequent overtime restart, Logano made it look easy. The reigning series champion cleared Blaney through the first two corners, as Chastain charged into second from the bottom lane.

Two laps later, Logano was on his way to Victory Lane, having scored the second straight win for Team Penske after Austin Cindric won last Sunday at Talladega.

“The sport changes so quickly,” Logano said after climbing from his car. “It’s crazy how you can just ride these rollercoasters and just proud of the team. Finally got (sponsor) AAA Insurance into Victory Lane. They’ve been a partner of mine since I’ve been to Penske, so 13, 14 years. I’ve yet to win with them. It was awesome to get that done here.”

Logano had to work his way forward from his 27th-place starting position. He did so relentlessly and without the sorts of mistakes that doomed the winning chances of others.

“Slowly, methodically, a couple at a time,” Logano said of his drive. “We had a really tough pit stall situation. The pit crew did a good job of managing that and just grabbed a couple (of positions) here and there.

“The car was fast. I knew that yesterday. We just did a poor job qualifying. Just grinded it. Just keep grinding a couple here and a couple there and eventually get a win here. It’s nice to get one. Real nice.”

MORE: Stack-up slows final stage in Texas

Similarly, Chastain started 31st and didn’t make his presence known until the closing laps.

“Gosh, that’s a working day,” Chastain said. “Just no confidence in the car yesterday. Y’all saw that. Just the speed of the Trackhouse cars on Saturdays is just terrible. We’re just not confident, all three drivers.

“So, there was one pit stop today that (crew chief) Phil Surgen and the group — it takes a ton of people back at Trackhouse and on the box here in GM at Chevrolet. They made me a confident driver all of a sudden with one adjustment. It was small stuff. It doesn’t even make sense, but after that I was a confident driver.”

Blaney came home third, followed by Kyle Larson, who led a race-high 90 laps but surrendered the top spot to McDowell on the Lap 245 restart.

“You don’t want to give up the lead on a mile and a half,” Larson said. “It’s hard to get it back. Yeah, Michael just did a good job timing it.”

Erik Jones was fifth, scoring his first top five since last year’s fall race at Talladega. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Austin Dillon, John Hunter Nemechek, Christopher Bell and Daniel Suarez completed the top 10.

Other expected contenders fell by the wayside as the race progressed.

Denny Hamlin’s streak of 21 consecutive lead-lap finishes — eighth-most all-time in the Cup Series — came to an abrupt end on Lap 75. One circuit earlier, Hamlin lost power with an engine the team was running for the third time.

As Hamlin slowed, flames shot from beneath the chassis of the No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin stopped the car, which was enveloped in dark smoke and climbed to safety.

“It was blowing up for about a lap or so before it really detonated,” Hamlin said. “I tried to keep it off to keep it from full detonating.

“That was so they can diagnose exactly what happened to it. It’s tough to say exactly what it is, but they’ll go back and look at it and we’ll find out in a few weeks.”

A promising run for Las Vegas winner Josh Berry likewise ended early on Sunday. Berry had led 41 laps and was running at the front of the field on Lap 125 when the treacherous bump in Turn 4 upset his No. 21 Wood Brothers Ford.

Berry slid into the outside wall, slamming the barrier on the driver’s side of the car.

“Just started to approach the lapped traffic,” said Berry, who returned to the track after repairs and finished 84 laps down. “You have no choice but to run the opposite lane. Your car is never going to turn if you follow them. I went around the 62 (Jesse Love) on the outside and felt pretty decent about it. Then caught the 51 (Cody Ware) and was working on the 51 and hit that bump and got loose.

“I don’t know what I would do too much different. Obviously, in these cars, especially at a place like this, if you’re going to be fast, it’s going to be uncomfortable and you’re going to be on edge. Unfortunately, it bit us today.”

In a race that produced 12 cautions for 73 laps, Austin Cindric led 60 laps but fell victim to a four-car crash on Lap 247. Ten laps earlier, pole winner Carson Hocevar, who led the first 22 laps but was relegated to the back of the field when caution interrupted a green-flag cycle of pit stops on Lap 219, suffered a similar fate in a three-car wreck.

William Byron, who finished 13th, retained the series lead by 13 points over Larson.

The Cup Series’ next race comes on another 1.5-mile oval, as the circuit heads to Kansas Speedway for Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 (3 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NOTE: Post-race inspection concluded without issue, confirming Logano as the race winner.

Posted on by Staff Report

Multiple cars were collected in a Lap 172 crash at the beginning of the final stage of Sunday’s Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Bubba Wallace grazed the wall exiting Turn 2 on the restart, with Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney close in tow. The contact appeared to slow Wallace into Logano’s path, turning Wallace’s No. 23 Toyota sideways across the front half of the field. Wallace’s spinning car then collected Noah Gragson, while Alex Bowman and AJ Allmendinger collided against the outside wall. Chad Finchum also collected damage.

MORE: Race results | Best Texas photos

Wallace, who restarted in seventh before the incident, took responsibility for the incident.

“Man, Charles (Denike, crew chief), we had a nice talk after I got out of the car and they just laid out all the positives that we went through this weekend,” Wallace said after being evaluated and released from the infield care center. “So, that’s what we’re going to hold our heads to. I hate that I got into the fence. I was trying to give the 22 (Logano) room, and then just got the wall and started chaos. So hate it for my team and everybody involved. But, man, we were making progress from the start of the weekend and it was going to shape up to be a good day. But nothing’s ever for certain. So it is what it is.”

The 23XI Racing driver initially continued the race but eventually returned to the garage after seven additional laps. Gragson, Bowman, Allmendinger and Finchum all went to the garage immediately as a result of the incident.

The crash signaled the sixth of 12 cautions in the Würth 400 presented by Liqui Moly. All were due to on-track incidents, including a debris caution at Lap 162 after Chris Buescher impacted the wall and cut a right-rear tire.

Posted on by Staff Report

Denny Hamlin exited Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway early after engine failure struck at Lap 75 of the 271-lap contest.

The No. 11 Toyota erupted in flames entering Turn 1, triggering a long slide through Turns 1 and 2 and resulting in a dramatic end to Hamlin’s event. Hamlin nursed the vehicle to a halt on the backstretch as black smoke poured from the car. Hamlin climbed from the machine under his own power and walked to the ambulance for the mandatory trip to the infield care center, where he was evaluated and released.

RELATED: Race results | Best photos from Texas

“It missed for like three-quarters of a lap,” Hamlin told FOX Sports. “But other than that, no (warning), nothing. They’ll take it back and look at it.”

The No. 11 Toyota was off the pace for that portion of the lap in an attempt to get the car to the attention of the crew. His engine, unfortunately, had other plans, and Hamlin finished last in the 38-car field.

“I didn’t want to let it try to blow all the way, that way, we could at least take a look at it, try to figure it out,” Hamlin said. “If you detonate them hard, then it’s really hard for the manufacturer to figure out exactly what broke first. But usually, the way it blew up, they’ll be able to find out.”

Hamlin was running outside the top 20 after an early radio miscue disrupted the No. 11 team’s pit strategy. When all others hit pit road under caution on Lap 22, Hamlin stayed out after confusion over a code word. After a discussion with crew chief Chris Gayle, the team decided to pit before the race resumed and restarted from the tail of the field in 36th place.

Hamlin worked his way back to 25th place before the engine expired.

Hamlin absorbed his first DNF of 2025, ending a 21-race stretch of lead-lap finishes that began in the 2024 Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

“I’m not really sure,” Hamlin said when asked if there was a pattern or trend to his engine ailment. “I’ve had blown engines in two or three seasons in a row now where we didn’t have any issues several years prior to that. Just trying to develop I’m guessing and trying to get more. Certainly, we feel like we need to get a bit more power but this was unexpected for us.”

Posted on by Staff Report

Can’t wait any longer to go Inside the Race following each NASCAR Cup Series event?

Visit our NASCAR YouTube page post-race to get live, immediate breakdowns and analysis from veteran crew chief and broadcaster Steve Letarte, alongside additional co-hosts and reporters from the track.

RELATED: Race weekend hub page

Following today’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, analysts Jeff Burton and Todd Gordon will join Letarte to dissect the winning and losing moves, plus other top story lines. Alex Weaver will also report live from the track.

Watch today’s Cup Series race (3 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), then tune in for immediate analysis on NASCAR’s YouTube page.

Posted on by Alex Cadavid

Austin Cindric became the 10th different winner in as many Talladega races last weekend and the sixth different winner this season through 10 races, raising the question of whether we will see another new winner Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN Radio, Sirius XM NASCAR Radio).

RELATED: Texas weekend schedule | Qualifying order, more info

Eight different drivers have won the last eight races at the 1.5-mile Fort Worth-based track; same goes for a different winner in each of the previous six intermediate track races. There’s also been pure chaos at Texas in recent years, with the last four races producing 11 or more cautions. All of which reads like the perfect recipe for a new driver to master the melees and snatch their first win of the season.

But then there’s William Byron.

He not only has been routinely the driver to position himself late to win, but he’s also been the most consistent driver through 10 races. His average start (10.3) and average finish (8.5) rank best among all drivers — and now he’s qualified second for today’s race.

Byron is also the only driver out of this year’s “Big 4” not to have multiple wins (Bell: Three, Larson: Two and Hamlin: Two). He may not need the wins, since he’s been in control of the driver standings since Circuit of The Americas, but it never hurts to stack playoff points. With Texas being one of his best tracks, it makes Sunday’s race a good chance for him to earn another win.

OTHER DRIVERS TO WATCH

ALEX BOWMAN: Bowman has been an automatic top 10 threat in the last seven intermediate races, with an average finish of 6.1 over that span. Hendrick Motorsports also has won three out of the last four Texas races. The only concern here is he has just two top 10s at the track in 15 starts.

TYLER REDDICK: Yes, Reddick has a Texas win from 2022 and wouldn’t continue the new winner streak, either. But he’s yet to find Victory Lane this year, and like Byron, this is a strong track for him. He has four top 10s in six starts at the facility and has four top 10s this year.

CHASE BRISCOE: Another driver who’s been solid at Texas, Briscoe has finished in the top 15 in all four of his starts at the track, with the last three visits resulting in top 10s. He’s also starting to find rhythm with the No. 19 team, scoring top 10s in three of the last five races.

BUBBA WALLACE: The No. 23 driver has emerged as a serious contender this season. His 94 stage points are the second-most by a driver this year, and he has the best-rated pit crew, per NASCAR Insights.

DANIEL SUÁREZ: The first mile and a half race saw Suárez vie for the win and finish runner-up. He has five career top 10s at Texas, finishing fifth in this race a year ago. More importantly, he has three top fives in the last eight races on 1.5-mile tracks.

RACING INSIGHTS’ PROJECTIONS FOR THE WÜRTH 400 PRESENTED BY LIQUI MOLY 

Racing Insights’ advanced statistical formula includes current track, current track type, recent performance, team data and pit-crew data to arrive at a projected winner and full race results. Updated on race day with practice and qualifying factored in.

FinishCar NumberDriver
124William Byron
25Kyle Larson
311Denny Hamlin
445Tyler Reddick
520Christopher Bell
648Alex Bowman
79Chase Elliott
817Chris Buescher
923Bubba Wallace
1077Carson Hocevar
1119Chase Briscoe
1222Joey Logano
1354Ty Gibbs
1412Ryan Blaney
1516AJ Allmendinger
162Austin Cindric
178Kyle Busch
181Ross Chastain
1999Daniel Suárez
206Brad Keselowski
214Noah Gragson
2243Erik Jones
2371Michael McDowell
243Austin Dillon
2560Ryan Preece
2621Josh Berry
277Justin Haley
2838Zane Smith
2947Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
3010Ty Dillon
3142John Hunter Nemechek
3241Cole Custer
3334Todd Gilliland
3435Riley Herbst
3588Shane van Gisbergen
3651Cody Ware
3762Jesse Love
3866Chad Finchum
Posted on by Chris Murdock

FORT WORTH, Texas — A repeat winner was almost crowned in the Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 with Sam Mayer in the bright red No. 41 Andy’s-sponsored Haas Factory Team Ford Mustang leading the field to the green flag on the final restart of the afternoon.

Ultimately, Kyle Larson, subbing for Connor Zilisch in the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, rocketed around the outside of Mayer into Turn 1 and set sail for the race victory. In the closing laps of the overtime restart, the 21-year-old was shuffled to a fifth-place finish.

RELATED: Race results | At-track photos: Texas

The Wisconsin native fought through early trouble, as the No. 41 car was one of multiple cars involved in a Stage 2 incident as the field got hung up in the frontstretch grass on a restart. Instead of focusing on the negative, Mayer shed light on just how good he thinks his Haas team is.

“We had every bit of adversity thrown at us today,” Mayer said post-race. “We had damage, we had to go to the back, we almost went a lap down under green because of it. So to come back and even have a shot at it, I mean, it shows how good this team is. This Haas Factory organization works really hard to give me good race cars. We probably weren’t the best today, but we certainly were right there in the mix, and I think we deserve to finish a little better.”

In the mix he was, battling Cup Series champion Larson in the closing laps. Despite the result in fifth place, Mayer believes that if he had a little more help on the fire-off of the restart, he could’ve potentially bested the driver of the No. 88 Chevrolet at the end.

“I felt like I was better than (Larson) all day,” Mayer said. “I felt like he may have had the best car, but I outdrove him there towards the end a little bit, and the restart obviously didn’t go my way. So I felt like I belonged in that mix, and I felt like I did every decision right there at the end, and obviously, he just had better help on the last restart. That’s literally all it takes here.”

Mayer leaves the 1.5-mile track with his first top-five showing since the seventh race of his 2025 campaign, where he accomplished the same result at Martinsville Speedway. It was a welcome finish as the Xfinity Series is set to take a few weeks off before returning to competition on Memorial Day weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It’s unbelievable,” Mayer said with a smile. “So like, the last four or five weeks have been pretty rough for the 41 car, and honestly, Haas Factory as a whole. So to come back with something new, we haven’t run this type of geometry in the front before, to do something new and not know how I was going to do it and not get practice to see how it goes, and to come out and have it go the right way. Feels really, really good, so I’m really proud, and I’m looking forward to Charlotte, for sure, because it’s going to be the same story.”

Posted on by Zack Albert

Track: Texas Motor Speedway
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
Track length: 1.5 miles
When: Sunday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Where to tune in: FS1, PRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race purse: $11,055,250
Race distance: 267 laps | 400.5 miles
Stages: 80 | 165 | 267
Defending winner: Chase Elliott, April 2024
Starting lineup: Carson Hocevar hustles to Busch Light Pole

Uncertainty is bigger in Texas

A few things you can count on when NASCAR’s traveling troupe heads to Texas Motor Speedway: marketing with a side dish of swagger (“No Limits”), the “everything’s bigger in …” trope, replays of the Michael McDowell qualifying crash, and the on-brand cowboy hats awaiting the winner in Victory Lane. Something that’s less counted on: A sure thing when it comes to establishing a favorite.

The Cup Series digs deeper into the regular season with three consecutive points-paying races at intermediate-sized tracks lined up in May, starting with Sunday’s Würth 400 (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). That stretch is only broken up by the non-points NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway’s short track on May 18.

Kansas on May 11 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on May 25 follow Sunday’s 400-miler. A trifecta of 1.5-mile circuits might resemble a return to what’s traditionally been the lifeblood of the Cup Series schedule, setting the tone for who might contend in the balance of the season. It also might be a welcome sight for the field after getting through the gauntlet last weekend at the ever-unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway, where 10 different drivers have won the last 10 races.

MORE: Cup Series standings | Full 2025 schedule

Texas, however, might not be the safe haven for tried-and-true favorites at first blush, bearing some similarities to Talladega, at least on paper. The last eight Cup Series races at Texas have been won by eight different drivers. That’s not even the longest such streak in track history; a soup of 13 unique winners ratcheted up the variety in a span that stretched from 1998 to 2007.

There’s also variation in the more recent history of races on 1.5-mile tracks. The last six events on intermediate-sized ovals have also been won by six different drivers.

A top candidate to extend both of those streaks is Ryan Blaney, who is still searching for his first victory of the 2025 campaign. The Team Penske driver won the last running of the All-Star Race at Texas in 2022, but he’s also poised to break through on the points-paying side. Blaney has accumulated the most Cup Series points (224) in the last six Cup Series races there, and his 216 laps led during that stretch is second only to another former Cup champ, Kyle Larson (451).

Carson Hocevar, last year’s top rookie, is another ready to throw his wide-brimmed hat into the winner’s ring after becoming a first-time pole winner in Saturday’s session. It’s the latest qualifying coup for Spire Motorsports, which notched its first-ever Cup pole a month ago with McDowell at 1.5-mile Las Vegas.

Drivers will also need to not create their own Texas turmoil, being mindful to avoid clipping the infield grass in the frontstretch dogleg. Putting a wheel off there has caused multiple incidents already this weekend in the Craftsman Truck Series and Xfinity Series races that have preceded Sunday’s 400-miler.

MORE: Full Saturday recap

Ryan Blaney's No. 12 Ford makes time on the frontstretch at Texas Motor Speedway
Logan Riely | Getty Images

From atop the pit box …

What do crew chiefs have in focus to win Sunday’s race?

Texas Motor Speedway is one of the more unique mile-and-a-half race tracks that the Cup Series visits. With varying degrees of banking at each end and temperatures that can make the racing surface slippery, crew chiefs must ensure the balance is just right to set up for success.

“The two ends are very, very different,” said James Small, crew chief for the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota driven by Chase Briscoe. “You know, we don’t really go to many tracks outside of Darlington that have this much of a difference between (Turns) 1 and 2 and 3 and 4.”

Chevrolet crew chief Travis Peterson, who oversees Michael McDowell’s No. 71 Spire Motorsports entry, echoed Small’s sentiments about the evolving challenges that Texas presents, emphasizing the importance of achieving the perfect balance to handle everything that Turns 3 and 4 throw at you.

“It’s such a fast corner that it almost feels like a straightaway,” Peterson told NASCAR.com. “So you really kind of plan the whole thing for one end, and then it’ll change the way you approach your setup and your body builds and things like that. It’s tough because the things that you do that get you close for that bump to be a problem are making speed, so you’re always painting that line, and it really comes down to how aggressive you make some choices and how much the driver says he can handle. So it’s really important that he gets into that situation, right?”

MORE: Power Rankings for Texas

At the heart of the conversation with any crew chief this weekend is strategy. A softer left-side Goodyear tire and the ability for the track to take rubber at high speeds and high temperatures give the Cup Series competitors multiple options to capitalize.

Brian Wilson, who recently came away as the winning crew chief at Talladega Superspeedway with Austin Cindric’s Team Penske No. 2 Ford, touched on the importance of having those multiple strategy options.

“It’s one thing that we’ve been talking about a lot with this intermediate package,” Wilson said. “How do you get better in traffic? I think we’ve made gains. It’s really interesting to look back at a setup from one year ago and see what you’ve learned and what’s different.

“So, one, you think about the setup, but two, I also think about the strategy. This is a track that typically you can do two tires, you can flip stages and you could possibly stay out. You review last year’s race, and there were a lot of varying strategies and tire calls. So, you’ve got options there. You’ve got the ability to try to move yourself forward at the end of the race.”

— Chris Murdock

Michael McDowell suits up for practice and qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway
Logan Riely | Getty Images

RELATED: See where drivers will pit for Sunday’s race

History tells us …

Big momentum for bowties. The last four Texas Motor Speedway races have been snapped up by Chevrolet drivers. Moreover, three of those victors are Hendrick Motorsports pilots; an Alex Bowman win on Sunday would make it a clean sweep for the four-car organization in a five-year span.

He may not be the favorite to win, but watch out for …

BRAD KESELOWSKI. The glaring 32nd-place spot in the Cup Series standings might be a deterrent, but Keselowski’s recent run of consistency at Texas makes him well worth the consideration. The RFK Racing driver/owner has finished in the top 10 in six consecutive Texas races — a series-leading streak that nets out to another series-best with a 6.0 average finish in that time frame.

Fantasy update

NASCAR Fantasy Live expert Dustin Albino provides insight for your race-day lineup.

Carson Hocevar backed up his pace from practice, scoring his first pole award in 56 career starts. Entering the weekend, Hocevar was in my lineup, so it wasn’t unforeseen that he would excel, given that he earned his first career top 10 at Texas last year. Two additions were made to my lineup, bumping in Ty Gibbs and Austin Cindric to replace Chase Briscoe and Brad Keselowski. Cindric commanded the scoring chart on 10-, 15-, 20- and 25-lap averages during practice. Meanwhile, Gibbs displayed the most consistent pace of the Toyotas.

Lineup: William Byron, Bubba Wallace, Tyler Reddick, Carson Hocevar, Ty Gibbs.

Garage: Austin Cindric.

MORE: Get lineup advice in Fantasy Fastlane

Speed reads

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.
• NASCAR at Texas: Key information, links, results through the weekend | Read more
• Kyle Busch at 40: ‘Rowdy’ reflects on a full career, fatherhood and the future | Read more
• Elliott’s Lone Star defense: No. 9 driver aims for another streak-snapper | Read more
• Honoring and remembering: Bell lays wreath at Tomb of Unknown Soldier | Read more
• Battle of All-Stars: Joey Logano ‘surprised’ by Chipper Jones’ rant | Read more
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• Turning Point to Texas: Ten races in, how the playoff picture shakes out | Read more
• At-track images: Best photos, scenes from a Texas tripleheader | View gallery
• NASCAR Classics: Dip into the Lone Star archives with full-race replays | Watch races
• Paint Scheme Preview: Fresh designs ready to tackle Texas | View gallery

The Cup Series field lines up for the green flag on the frontstretch at Texas Motor Speedway
Jared C. Tilton | Getty Images