Track Description:
Everything is bigger in Texas, including this mammoth 1.5-mile speedway, which opened in 1997 amid controversy over torrential rains, track “weepers” and Woodstock-like traffic snafus. Since that rocky beginning, though, TMS steadily has grown over the years to be a favorite of fans and drivers alike, hosting some of the biggest and most dramatic events on the annual Sprint Cup calendar. This year for the first time, the spring Texas race will be contested under the lights on Saturday night, a big move. Texas is a place where you have to have it all: great aerodynamics, good handling and a ton of horsepower under the hood. Officially, Texas is the second-fastest non-restrictor-plate track in NASCAR, with Brian Vickers setting the track qualifying record of 196.235 mph in Nov. 2006. That’s second only to the 197.478 mph that Geoff Bodine put down at Atlanta in Nov. 1997, the first race in Atlanta after it was paved. With 24 degrees on banking in the corners, the exits to Turn 2 and 4 at TMS are abrupt and can be places where drivers get in trouble. Denny Hamlin swept both TMS races in 2010, giving him a series-best finishing average of 8.82 here. Matt Kenseth has an excellent average finish of 9.47, posting a series-high eight top-five finishes in his No. 17 Roush-Fenway Racing entry. Carl Edwards, another RFR shoe, leads with three race victories at TMS, while teammate Greg Biffle has led 612 laps at Texas, more than any other driver. As a darkhorse, consider Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won both his first NASCAR Nationwide and Cup races here. Avoid Juan Pablo Montoya and his average TMS finish of 25.12 and Kasey Kahne at 20.77.