April 12, 2013
- Pit Stall Selections: The selections of pit stalls for the NRA 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway have been made.
Pole sitter #18-Busch chose pit stall 1 [as do most pole sitters].
Outside pole sitter #78-Busch took pit stall 14, the first pitstall in front of it.
#43-Almirola, who starts 3rd took the 35th pit stall, the 2nd stall with an opening in front of it.
The 43rd and final pit stall was taken by #48-Johnson, who starts 7th.
To see where the drivers/teams pit stall is, see the pit selection chart on the Pit Stall Selection chart.(4-12-2013) - Kyle Busch wins Texas pole: #18-Kyle Busch won the pole for the NRA 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway with speed of196.299mph, a new track record, for his 2nd pole of 2013 and 12th of his career. #78-Busch will start 2nd, followed by #43-Almirola, #9-Ambrose, #56-Truex, Jr., #88-Earnhardt, Jr., #48-Johnson, #24-Gordon, #99-Edwards, and #42-Montoya.
Missing the race were: #95-Speed & #44-Riggs.
See the starting lineup, pole progression, qualifying results, qualifying order, qualifying rules on the Texas Starting Lineup / Qualifying Page.(4-12-2013) - Qualifying Fast Facts – Texas:
Kyle Busch won the Coors Light Pole Award for the 17th Annual NRA 500 with a track-record lap of 27.509 seconds, 196.299 mph.
This is his 12th pole in 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races.
This is his second pole and fifth top-10 start in 2013.
This is his first pole in 16 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Kurt Busch (second) posted his second top-10 start of 2013 and his seventh in 21 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
This is the second time the Busch brothers have started 1-2. The first was at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2009.
Aric Almirola (third) posted his first top-10 start at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his first in seven races this season.
(NASCAR Statistics)(4-12-2013) - Final practice for the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway is over after 90 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#9-Ambrose 191.354
#18-Busch 190.988
#43-Almirola 190.503
#78-Busch 190.476
#56-Truex, Jr. 190.255
slowest: #47-Labonte 181.555 & #87-Nemechek 179.892.
#29-Harvick blew an engine and will have to start at the rear of the field Saturday night.
notes: Qualifying is at 6:40pm/et this evening and will be broadcast on SPEED. There is no on-track activity tomorrow, other than the race.
See fastest speeds, laps run and more on the NRA 500 Practice 2 Speeds page (pdf).(4-12-2013) - Justin Original Workboots sponsoring Cassill: Justin Original Workboots, a leading workboot manufacturer, joins Landon Cassill and the Circle Sport Racing team as a primary sponsor for the NRA 500 this Saturday, April 13, under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. The #33 Chevy will display the nation’s colors with the Justin Workboots paint scheme, a fitting representation of the boot brand’s commitment to donating up to $15,000 to Camp Patriot, a non-profit organization that honors and supports disabled American veterans. Together, JOW and Landon Cassill are calling on the NASCAR community to show their support, too. During Saturday’s race, JOW will donate up to $10,000 to Camp Patriot based on Cassill’s performance. That’s a potential donation of $15,000 to support American heroes who’ve fought for our country and our freedom, in addition to the more than $50,000 JOW has donated to Camp Patriot since 2010.(Circle Sport Racing), see an image of the car on the #33 team paint schemes page.(4-12-2013)
- Qualifying Order for the NRA 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway is posted. 45 cars/drivers are listed.
The first of the drivers scheduled to go out is #11-Vickers.
The final driver scheduled to go out is #93-Kvapil.
Fastest in final Friday practice, #9-Ambrose, is scheduled to qualify 38th.
Qualifying order is set by a random draw, held about an hour before the first practice.
See the full qualifying order on the Texas Qualifying Page.(4-11-2013) - Friday’s first practice for the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway is over after 90 scheduled minutes, the top five, slowest and notes:
#56-Truex, Jr. 192.143
#88-Earnhardt, Jr. 192.123
#48-Johnson 191.510
#1-McMurray 191.347
#29-Harvick 190.853
slowest: #32-Hill 181.714 & #44-Riggs 181.488.
notes: there will be two practice sessions today, followed by qualifying at 6:40pm/et
See fastest speeds, laps run and more on the NRA 500 Practice 1 Speeds page (pdf).(4-12-2013) - Chip Ganassi selling to John Menard? One of the hottest stories in the garage Thursday was intense speculation that veteran team owner Chip Ganassi may be considering selling his two-team NASCAR operation to John Menard. Menard, who owns the Midwestern home improvement chain Menards, is a long-time racer, and he is currently sponsoring his son Paul’s NASCAR team, part of the Richard Childress organization. Ganassi and Childress are both Chevy men. Childress supplied Ganassi’s two teams (with #1-Jamie McMurray and #42-Juan Pablo Montoya) with engines until this season, when Ganassi switched to Hendrick motors. Of the sport’s top eight team owners, Ganassi this season ranks seventh in finishes. Of particular disappointment is Montoya, who is averaging a 27th place finish; Montoya’s last top-10 was at Michigan last June, and his last tour win was at Watkins Glen in the summer of 2010. McMurray’s seventh at Martinsville last weekend was his best finish in over a year.(MikeMulhern.net)(4-12-2013)
- NASCAR not planning any changes to Gen-6 cars: Thursday at Texas Motor Speedway Robin Pemberton, NASCAR’s vice president of competition, was asked if NASCAR is planning any rules changes for the new Gen-6 cars;
PEMBERTON: I don’t think so. I think we’re in a fairly good spot. The teams — one of the things we’ve learned over the years is if you keep moving the targets, people have a tendency to — it’s harder for them to keep chasing that. We feel like the playing field is fairly level. It looks like everybody has an equal opportunity to compete, and we don’t feel like that the teams are — they’re done developing their own packages for this car. And as long as the input is — it’s still pretty rock solid as far as being positive, they’ve got plenty to work with, we feel like there’s no reason to move the target on them right now.(NASCAR)(4-12-2013) - Keselowski going to the White House: #2-Brad Keselowski will visit The White House and meet with President Barack Obama on Tuesday for the annual NASCAR celebration with the Sprint Cup champion. Keselowski, car owner Roger Penske and other members of the #2 team will visit with the president. Keselowski, whose foundation focuses on events for wounded veterans, will also meet with wounded warriors. While NASCAR in the past has brought all of its Chase for the Sprint Cup drivers to Washington, it opted to just bring the champion this year. NASCAR spokesman David Higdon said the decision was made to bring NASCAR in line with other sports, which bring their championship team and not multiple teams to the White House.(Sporting News)(4-12-2013)
- NASCAR will evaluate future race sponsorships: With the NRA 500 drawing attention just for the name of the race, NASCAR will take a closer look at race sponsorships in the future, the sanctioning body said in a statement Thursday. Tracks negotiate their own naming rights deals, and Texas Motor Speedway announced last month that the National Rifle Association would sponsor its Sprint Cup Series race, scheduled for Saturday night. The sanctioning agreement tracks have with NASCAR states that “NASCAR reserves the right to approve or disapprove any advertising, sponsorship or similar agreement in connection with the event.” NASCAR approved the sponsorship, and Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said Thursday there has been no public outcry over the sponsorship. But NASCAR spokesman David Higdon released a statement that indicated the timing of a sponsorship and the perception of NASCAR will be used to determine whether to approve race sponsorships in the future. “The NRA’s sponsorship of the event at Texas Motor Speedway fit within existing parameters that NASCAR affords tracks in securing partnerships,” the NASCAR statement said. “However, this situation has made it clear that we need to take a closer look at our approval process moving forward, as current circumstances need to be factored in when making decisions.”(Sporting News)(4-12-2013)
- Bowman on pole at Texas: #99-Alex Bowman won the Coors Light Pole for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway with a speed of 183.418mph. It is his first career pole. #54-Kyle Busch will start second. The rest of the top 10: #3-Austin Dillon, #12-Sam Hornish, Jr., #22-Brad Keselowski, #7-Regan Smith, #33-Kevin Harvick, #77-Parker Kligerman, #18-Matt Kenseth, and #11-Elliott Sadler. Did Not Qualify: #47-Scott Riggs, #52-Joey Gase, #46-Chase Miller, #27-Jason White, #00-Michael McDowell. The starting lineup is posted on the Texas Motor starting lineup page (pdf).(4-12-2013)
- Texas Motor Qualifying Notes:
Alex Bowman won the Coors 21 Means 21 Pole Award for the 17th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 with a lap of 29.441 seconds, 183.418 mph.Alex Bowman won the Coors 21 Means 21 Pole Award for the 17th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 with a lap of 29.441 seconds, 183.418 mph.
This is his first pole in ten NASCAR Nationwide Series races.
This is his third top-10 start in 2013.
Bowman is the third Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate to win the pole at Texas Motor Speedway. Kyle Busch (2004) and David Ragan (2007) also did it.
Kyle Busch (second) posted his fourth top-10 start of 2013 and his 13th in 15 races at Texas Motor Speedway.
Austin Dillon (third) posted his third top-10 start at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his fifth in six races this season.
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(4-12-2013) - Kyle Busch wins at Texas: #54-Kyle Busch won the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway, for his 4th win of the season, his 6th at Texas and the 55th of his career. He put on another dominating performance, leading 91 laps and winning by more than 2 seconds. #22-Brad Keselowski finished second followed by #3-Austin Dillon, #88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr., #33-Kevin Harvick, #18-Matt Kenseth, #7-Regan Smith, #5-Kasey Kahne, #20-Brian Vickers, and #31-Justin Allgaier. #12-Sam Hornish, Jr., the points leader, was involved in an accident and finished 34th. He now has just a 2 point lead over #7-Regan Smith. There were 8 cautions for 42 laps and 22 lead changes among 11 leaders. Complete results are on the Texas Motor Speedway race results page (pdf).(4-12-2013)
- Texas Race Fast Facts:
Kyle Busch won the 17th Annual O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, his all-time series leading 55th victory in 250 NASCAR Nationwide Series races. He now has 110 NASCAR national series victories.
This is his fourth victory and fifth top-10 finish in 2013. Busch is the first driver to win four of the first six races in NASCAR Nationwide Series history.
This is his sixth victory and 13th top-10 finish in 15 races at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch now owns sole possession of first on the all-time Texas series wins list.
Brad Keselowski (second) posted his ninth top-10 finish in 13 races at Texas Motor Speedway. It is his second top-10 finish in 2013.
Austin Dillon (third) posted his third top-10 finish in three races at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 22 lead changes among 11 leaders were both track records at Texas.
Sam Hornish Jr. leads the point standings by 2 points over Regan Smith.
(NASCAR Integrated Marketing)(4-12-2013) - Driver standings following Texas:
1) #12-Sam Hornish Jr. 221
2) #7-Regan Smith 219 -2
3) #3-Austin Dillon 213 -8
4) #31-Justin Allgaier 212 -9
5) #2-Brian Scott 212 -9
6) #77-Parker Kligerman 186 -35
7) #11-Elliott Sadler 185 -36
8) #99-Alex Bowman # 183 -38
9) #20-Brian Vickers 182 -39
10) #6-Trevor Bayne 181 -40
See complete standings on the driver standings page (pdf).(4-12-2013) - Owner Standings following Texas are posted (pdf).(4-12-2013)
- Bayne may have substitute crew chief at Texas UPDATE: Roush Fenway Racing will have team engineer Seth Barbour standing by for crew chief Mike Kelley with the team’s #6 NASCAR Nationwide Series Ford Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway. Kelley, who won the Nationwide Series championship twice with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., currently oversees the effort with driver Trevor Bayne. Although Kelley traveled with the team to Texas, he was under the weather on Friday. Barbour was recruited as the crew chief for the #16 Roush Ford during its limited runs in the NNS. Chris Buescher is scheduled to race that car at Texas. Mike Tam will step up for Barbour as crew chief with RFR general manager and veteran crew chief Robbie Reiser chipping in.(Fox Sports)(4-12-2013)
UPDATE: Seth Barbour will fill in atop the #6 Cargill pit box for Roush Fenway and Trevor Bayne in tonight’s 300-mile Nationwide Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Barbour, who normally serves as the #6 team’s head engineer, was slated to crew chief the #16 Roush Fenway NNS entry with rookie Chris Buescher in tonight’s race. #6 team crew chief Mike Kelley left the track earlier in the day after not feeling well and is being treated at a local area hospital with flu-like symptoms. Former Sprint Cup championship crew chief and current Roush Fenway vice president of competition Robbie Reiser will now serve as crew chief for Buescher and the #16 team in tonight’s race.(Roush Fenway Racing)(4-12-2013) - Smith fastest in happy hour: #7-Regan Smith was quickest during happy hour for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 with a speed of 185.427mph. He was followed by:#99-Alex Bowman, #77-Parker Kligerman, #32-Kyle Larson, #88-Dale Earnhardt, Jr., #6-Trevor Bayne, #11-Elliott Sadler, #30-Nelson Piquet, Jr., #31-Justin Allgaier, and #19-Mike Bliss.All 45 drivers participated in the session. See complete results on the Texas Motor practice 2 speeds page (pdf).(4-12-2013)
- HOOVEY the Movie to sponsor McDowell at Texas: Michael McDowell is proud to have a new Dallas-based sponsor onboard his car this week at Texas Motor Speedway. EchoLight Studios’ movie HOOVEY serves as primary sponsor on McDowell’s #00 Toyota Camry fielded by SR2 Motorsports in Friday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.HOOVEY is the title of a movie inspired by the true story of Eric “Hoovey” Elliott’, who when faced with a possible terminal illness, beats the odds to fulfill his dream of playing college basketball. His family pulls together in faith and love to prove that anything is possible. Directing the film is award-winning filmmaker Sean McNamara who directed Soul Surfer, the true life story of Bethany Hamilton. The movie is based on the book, “Rebounding From Death’s Door”, written by Jeff Elliott. Spearheading the movie is Dallas based EchoLight Studios, a producer and distributor of high-quality movies for families of faith. The film will hit theaters in 2014. Information about the film can be found at its website www.hooveythemovie.com and on www.facebook.com/HooveyTheMovie.(SR2 Motorsports), see an image of the car on the #00 team paint schemes page.(4-12-2013)
- Daytona Beach Half Marathon Returns To Speedweeks: The Daytona Beach Half Marathon returns to the Budweiser Speedweeks lineup in 2014. Scheduled for Sunday, February 16, the sixth annual Daytona Beach Half Marathon, hosted by Volusia County, Daytona International Speedway and the Central Florida Sports Commission will take place one week before the 56th annual “The Great American Race” – the Daytona 500. Registration will open on Wednesday, April 17, with the advanced entry fee for the Daytona Beach Half Marathon set at $85 per person. The half marathon will start at 6:30am/et, just hours after The Sprint Unlimited At Daytona finishes up under the lights on Saturday night, and lead into DAYTONA 500 Qualifying Presented By Kroger on Sunday afternoon. The Daytona Beach Half Marathon’s route, named one of the seven most scenic half marathons in America by Active.com, features one of the most unique courses in the running world. With the legendary pavement and historic grandstands of Daytona International Speedway serving as the backdrop, runners will start on pit road and run the first two miles on the track. The course then winds through the streets of Daytona Beach, finally reaching “The World’s Most Famous Beach” at approximately the 7.1 mile mark. Runners will then run on the beach for approximately two-tenths of a mile, getting an unobstructed view of the ocean as the sun rises on the beautiful horizon. Returning to the roads of Daytona Beach, runners then head back to the Speedway for the finish and a trip to Gatorade Victory Lane.(DIS)(4-12-2013)
- Tate Stevens performing National Anthem at Kansas: Season Two X Factor winner Tate Stevens is returning home to sing the national anthem prior to the April 21, 2013 STP 400. Stevens, who hails from Belton, MO, is making his first appearance at Kansas Speedway prior to two concerts in Kansas City on April 21 and April 22, and the release of his debut album on April 23, 2013. Stevens’ first hometown concert in Kansas City, scheduled for the evening of April 21, sold out in 30 minutes, leading him to add a second concert on April 22. He will also make several appearances in conjunction with the release of his self titled album before joining country music star Alan Jackson on several tour dates this year.(Kansas Speedway) (4-12-2013)
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