Thursday, April 12, 2012

Texas Driver Previews

Not all teams announce their weekly race previews'. Here is a list of those teams that do reveal the information in the teams race preview: 


#1- Jamie McMurray - McMurray looks to make his 17th NSCS start at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. In his previous 16 starts at the 1.5-mile track, the driver of the No. 1 Chevrolet has led 70 laps, earning three top-five and six top-10 finishes. He has an average start and finish of 25.9 and 18.1, respectively. McMurray’s highest starting position of fourth came in the fall of 2008 and his highest finishing position of second came in the spring of 2005.


#2- Brad Keselowski - Keselowski made his first Cup Series start at TMS in November of 2008. After starting the race from the 37th position, the then 24-year-old Keselowski raced his way to a respectable 19th-place finishing position. In November of the following year, Keselowski made his first NASCAR start with Penske Racing at TMS, as he finished 35th in that race. Additionally, in the 2011 spring race at TMS, Keselowski led 32 laps – his first laps led at the track – before finishing 18th. Brad is still looking for his 1st top-10 finish at Texas.


#5- Kasey Kahne - Kahne earned his win at Texas Motor Speedway on April 9, 2006, after starting from the pole position and leading 63 laps. The driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet also has four top-five finishes and four top-10s in 15 Cup starts at the Fort Worth, Texas, oval. Kahne, who owns an average start of 12.1 at Texas, most recently started ninth and finished third there last November.


#9- Marcos Ambrose - Ambrose has seven NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway. His best finish (sixth) and his best start (seventh) came in last spring’s event at the 1.5-mile track. Ambrose has completed 2,215 of 2,338 laps attempted in Cup Series competition at the track, leading one of them. His average starting position is 19.6 and his average finishing position at Texas is 17.6.


#10- David Reutimann - Reutimann made 25 starts at Texas Motor Speedway, nine in the NSCS. In the NSCS, he tallied one pole, one top-10 finish of 10th and three top-15 finishes since his debut in 2007. In his 10 starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, he posted one pole and five top-10 finishes, with a best finish of sixth in 2007. He finished in the top-10 in five of his six NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts. He is ranked 12th among the entries for this weekend’s race for posting the fastest lap during the race.


#14- Tony Stewart - Stewart has one pole, two wins, five top-fives, 11 top-10s and has led a total of 727 laps in his 20 career Sprint Cup starts at Texas. His average start is 17.5, his average finish is 12.6 and he has a lap completion rate of 98.5 percent.


#15- Clint Bowyer - Bowyer will make his 13th career NSCS start at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night. In 12 previous starts, he has three top-five and seven top-10 finishes. He finished a career-best second and led 44 laps last spring. On average he starts and finishes 13th. Bowyer has three straight top-10 finishes at Texas.


#16- Greg Biffle - In 16 starts at Texas, Biffle has earned one win, six top 5's and nine top 10's, along with one pole.


#17- Matt Kenseth - Kenseth has achieved two wins, 10 top-five and 13 top-10 finishes at Texas in the Cup series. Kenseth holds the record for the most top five (10) and the most top 10’s (13) in Cup action at Texas.


#22- A J Allmendinger - In eight career starts at Texas, Allmendinger is still looking for his first win and top-five finish. He has scored two top-10s, including the 10th in the most-recent visit to TMS for last November's AAA 500. Dinger has an average start of 18.8 and average finish of 20.6 at Texas. He has completed 92.7 percent of possible laps (2,477 of 2,672) and is still looking to lead his first lap at TMS.


#24- Jeff Gordon - At Texas, Jeff Gordon has One win, seven top fives, 10 top 10s; two poles. Average finish of 16.8. Average Running Position of 14.3, 11th-best. Driver Rating of 90.3, 10th-best. 216 Fastest Laps Run, sixth-most.


#27- Paul Menard - In his 11 previous starts at TMS, Menard has one top-five and two top-10 finishes, completing 95.1 percent of his laps (3,503 of 3,684) and leading for two circuits. He has an average starting position of 20.4 and an average finishing position of 21.1, with his best finish of fifth coming in his April 2011 visit to the 1.5-mile facility. Menard logged his best start of fifth in the April 2009 NSCS event at TMS.


#29- Kevin Harvick - Harvick has made 18 Sprint Cup Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway since 2001. During that time he has scored three top-five and eight top-10 finishes. He has completed 99.8 percent of the laps run in that time (6,008 of 6,022) and has led five laps at the track. Harvick holds an average starting position of 21.0 and an average finish of 12.9 at Texas.


#31- Jeff Burton - Burton was Texas Motor Speedway’s first two-time Sprint Cup Series race winner after visiting Victory Lane in the inaugural Sprint Cup Series event in 1997 and again in 2007. Burton has also tallied three top-five and nine top-10 finishes while leading 180 laps at the 1.5-mile facility.


#36- Dave Blaney - Since his 2000 debut at the 1.5-mile racetrack, Blaney made 18 starts and tallied one top-10 and three top-15 finishes. He achieved his best start of 12 in the spring of 2005 and best finish of sixth in 2001. He also made five starts in the NASCAR Nationwide Series with one top-10 and one pole.
#39- Ryan Newman - The Samsung 500 will mark Newman’s 375th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start and his 18th Sprint Cup start at Texas Motor Speedway. Newman’s only win at Texas came in the spring of 2003. It was his second career victory in the Sprint Cup Series. In that race, Newman started third and led 77 laps en route to victory. 


#42- Juan Pablo Montoya - Montoya has made 10 NSCS starts at Texas Motor Speedway, leading 12 laps and accumulating two top-10 finishes. He has an average starting position of 14.6 and an average finishing position of 23.2 at the 1.5-mile track. His best starting position of third came in the fall of 2007, while his highest finishing position came in April 2009, when the No. 42 Chevrolet crossed the line in seventh.


#43- Aric Almirola - Aric Almirola will be making his third Sprint Cup start at Texas Motor Speedway. His best finish in the Sprint Cup Series at the track is 21st in November 2010.Smithfield will again be the primary of the No. 43 Ford and will debut a new paint scheme this weekend.


#48- Jimmie Johnson - One win in 17 starts. Has never qualified on the pole at the 1.5-mile track. Seven top-five (41.2 percent) and 12 top-10 finishes (70.6 percent) in 17 starts.
An average start of 9.2 and an average finish of 10.2. One DNF (did not finish) that occurred in April 2007.  5,484 of 5,688 laps completed (96.4 percent) and 119 laps led. Sprint Cup’s fifth-best driver rating (98.4). 



#51- Kurt Busch - Busch has scored one win, three top-five finishes, 11 top-10s and 235 laps led in 18 career Sprint Cup starts at Texas. Busch’s average Texas finish is 14.5.


#55- Mark Martin - At Texas, Mark has scored One win, seven top fives, 12 top 10s.  Average finish of 13.7.  Average Running Position of 14.8, 12th-best.  Driver Rating of 87.1, 12th-best.


#88- Dale Earnhardt Jr -  In 19 Sprint Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway, Earnhardt has scored one win, two pole positions, three top-five finishes and 10 top-10s. He has an average starting position of 11.2, which is his second-best at all tracks, and he has led at least one lap in 13 of those starts for a total of 448 laps.


#99- Carl Edwards - Edwards has accumulated three wins at the 1.5-mile Texas track, the most of any active Sprint Cup driver.  Edwards’ average start at Texas is 14.4 and his average finish is 15.5.  He is one of only two drivers to win both the spring & fall events in the same year at Texas.


- Reported in Team News/Press Releases

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