Texas Sweep

“O’Reilly Auto Parts 300”




FORT WORTH, TEXAS- The Nationwide Series ran their sixth race of the year at TMS. Alex Bowman won the first pole of his career. He is 19 years old. Kyle Busch started second. There are many Cup drivers in this race. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Kasey Kahne, Regan Smith. There were 200 laps scheduled for the 300 mile race.

During the Opening Ceremonies, Jay Atwood Provided the Invocation, Charla Corn sang the National Anthem. Travis Pastrana is the In-Race Reporter. This will be his first race at the Texas track in a Patriotic schemed car.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. won his very first Nationwide race at Texas in 1998, and he won his very first Sprint Cup race at Texas in 2000. He is the only driver to win his first race in each series at the same track. The Pole Sitter started the race feeling ill.

The first caution came out on lap 25, for Robert Richardson (23) who spun out.

The second caution came out on lap 43, when Kyle Larsen (32) spun out coming to the start/finish line. This is also Larsen’s first time at the track. Before Larsen was able to get all the way around the track, Larsen blew out left side tires and almost hit a track truck on the backstretch. Larsen ran into the wall, to keep from hitting the truck filled with NASCAR safety workers.

The third caution came out for debris on the track. This caution came on lap 66.

The fourth caution came out on lap 99, for debris a second time.

On lap 120, Robert Richardson brought out the caution. Richardson spun through the grass as he lost it coming out of turn four. Matt Kenseth (18) was caught speeding on exit of pit lane. Travis Patrana (50) had a rear gear go bad, so he went to the garage for repairs.

Dexter Stacey (92) spun out. Richardson spun out a third time trying to stay from hitting Stacey. This happened on lap 135.

On lap 140, Jeremy Clements (51) and Sam Hornish Jr. (12) went sailing off track across the grass. It appeared that Clements may have moved up where Hornish Jr. was trying to go past him.

Caution came out for debris with 33 laps left. Pastrana returned to the track fourteen laps down.

There have been eleven leaders with twenty-two lead changes. That is a track record in both areas.

Kyle Busch (54) was able to hold off Brad Keselowski (22) for another win for JGR.

The rest of the top ten are: Austin Dillon (3), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (88), Kevin Harvick (33), Matt Kenseth (18), Regan Smith (7), Kasey Kahne (5), Brian Vickers (20) and Justin Allgaier (31).

The next race will be in two weeks on Friday Night, in Richmond at 7PM on ESPN



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“NRA 500”



FORT WORTH, TEXAS – The Sprint Cup series went to the 1.5 mile Speedway to run the seventh race of the season. There have been plenty of obstacles in running this race, due to all the gun debate that currently grips the country. Senator Chris Murphy D-Conn.has spoken out against the race using the sponsor, as well he has been trying to get FOX to not televise the race. FOX denied this request and the track president told the media this race has nothing to do with the gun debate or the events that happened in Newtown, Conn. NASCAR has been a supporter for them in the past, and now they are attacking the sport for something that has been a tradition for many years. One of this issues that is getting attention is the fact that the winner of the race, gets a cowboy hat and two revolvers filled with blanks that are shot into the air, by the winner in the celebration of the victory. Those who are against this race and sponsorship are claiming that it is way too soon since the horrific event that happened at that school. What they are ignoring, is the fact that NASCAR has done this for many years and they do not have control over the illegal use of weapons. There is and will never be an ability to stop bad people from getting a hold of weapons and creating havoc for the rest of society. This has been an issue, since the creation of the gun. The Texas Motor Speedway CEO and President Eddie Gossage reported that this weekend is all about fun, and they plan on it staying that way. Wayne Lapierre also spoke and said they would not change anything that has already been completed through contractual agreements. There are no political views being dealt with in NASCAR.

The Pole Position was won by Kyle Busch and starting beside him, his brother Kurt Busch. It was noted during the pre-race on FOX that Kevin Harvick will be driving for Tony Stewart next year. He will be leaving RCR at the conclusion of this season. There a few things to report at the start of the race. The Penske cars both had issues with the rear tow being outside of the specs, so both had to change the rear housings. Lagono barely made it to the track in time for the start due to going through the inspection, as the command to start engines came as he was still in the inspection process. Bobby Labonte also started the race in the car with the flu. Kevin Harvick went to the rear of the field for changing an engine twice prior to the race. Joey Lagono had to go to the rear because he was not on pit road as required. Brian Vickers will driving Denny Hamlin’s car for the remainder of his time being out from injury to his back. This weekend’s race will be Carl Edwards 300th start in the Cup Series.

In opening ceremonies, DR. Roger Marsh provided the Invocation. Sara Evans sang the National Anthem, and NBA Hall of Famer Karl Malone was the Grand Marshal. The race is scheduled for 334 laps, for the 500 mile race. Jack Roush was inducted into the Texas Motorsport Hall of Fame on Thursday.

The first caution that came out was on lap 38 for debris. Josh Wise (35) got the “Lucky Dog”

On the restart on lap 43, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. (17) shot across the track into the side of Austin Dillon (51) sending both into the wall. It appeared that a tire issue may have been the reason Stenhouse shot across the track. JJ Yeley (36) received the “Lucky Dog” At this point, Kevin Harvick (29) has been able to get up to the top twelve from the back of the field at the start of the race.

On lap 81, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has a lot of smoke coming from it, so the caution was thrown and it was only a tire rub. Josh Wise received the “Lucky Dog” again. Stenhouse had just returned to the track after being in the garage after having an early spin. As Matt Kenseth (20) left his stall, he started a fire in the pit box.

Green Flag stops began near lap 130. Tony Stewart (14) slid sideways in his pit box, costing him plenty of time.

The fourth caution came out on lap 150 for debris again. Joey Lagono (20) received the “Lucky Dog”

The fifth caution came out for hitting the wall on lap 232.

On Lap 281, Marcus Ambrose (9) and Jeff Burton (31) spun out.

There was a late caution with only 31 laps remaining that took a four second lead away from Martin Truex Jr. This is not the first time that Truex lost a race after having a significant lead prior to a “Phantom” Debris caution.

Kyle Busch (18) was able to get out front and win his first Texas race in his career. He also won the Friday Night race to sweep the weekend. Kyle won his 26th race in his 300th start. He has now won in all three series of NASCAR. Busch led 171 laps of the 334 run. Truex Jr. led 142 of the remaining laps.

The rest of the top ten were: Martin Truex Jr. (56), Carl Edwards (99), Greg Biffle (16), Joey Lagono (22), Jimmie Johnson (48), (43), Brian Vickers (11), Brad Keselowski (2) and Ryan Newman(39).

Jimmie Johnson remains the points lead after this race over Brad Keselowski.

The next race will be at Kansas Motor Speedway on Sunday for the STP 400. The race is scheduled to start at 12:30 PM EST on FOX.