NASCAR at Texas 2016: Start Time, Ticket Info, Lineup, TV Schedule and More
NASCAR returns to Texas one week after Kyle Busch's first career win at Martinsville Speedway for the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday.
Busch had never before secured a win at last week's track over all three levels of the sport, so it's a sign of two things. For one, the dominant players continue to get their wheels under them about a quarter of a way into the season. Two, the unpredictable can and still will happen.
That said, the 1.5-mile juggernauts will come out to play again in Texas, making for what should be a competitive event, albeit one filled with the usual suspects at the top unless someone comes out of nowhere to surprise.
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Here's a look at everything to know about one of the best dates on the calendar.
Viewing Details
Where: Texas Motor Speedway
When: Saturday, April 9, at 7:30 p.m. ET
Watch: Fox
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
Tickets: ScoreBig.com
Sprint Cup Standings
| 1 | Kevin Harvick | 220 |
| 2 | Jimmie Johnson | 216 |
| 3 | Kyle Busch | 215 |
| 4 | Carl Edwards | 206 |
| 5 | Joey Logano | 196 |
| 6 | Brad Keselowski | 178 |
| 7 | Austin Dillon | 176 |
| Kurt Busch | 176 | |
| 9 | Denny Hamlin | 172 |
| Dale Earnhardt Jr. | 172 | |
| 11 | Martin Truex Jr. | 150 |
| 12 | AJ Allmendinger | 147 |
| 13 | Jamie McMurray | 143 |
| 14 | Matt Kenseth | 140 |
| 15 | Ryan Blaney | 132 |
| 16 | Chase Elliott | 131 |
NASCAR at Texas Lineup
| 1 | Jamie McMurray |
| 2 | Brad Keselowski |
| 3 | Austin Dillon |
| 4 | Kevin Harvick |
| 5 | Kasey Kahne |
| 6 | Trevor Bayne |
| 7 | Regan Smith |
| 10 | Danica Patrick |
| 11 | Denny Hamlin |
| 13 | Casey Mears |
| 14 | Brian Vickers |
| 15 | Clint Bowyer |
| 16 | Greg Biffle |
| 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. |
| 18 | Kyle Busch |
| 19 | Carl Edwards |
| 20 | Matt Kenseth |
| 21 | Ryan Blaney |
| 22 | Joey Logano |
| 23 | David Ragan |
| 24 | Chase Elliott |
| 27 | Paul Menard |
| 30 | Josh Wise |
| 31 | Ryan Newman |
| 32 | Jeffrey Earnhardt |
| 34 | Chris Buescher |
| 38 | Landon Cassill |
| 41 | Kurt Busch |
| 42 | Kyle Larson |
| 43 | Aric Almirola |
| 44 | Brian Scott |
| 46 | Michael Annett |
| 47 | AJ Allmendinger |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson |
| 55 | Reed Sorenson |
| 78 | Martin Truex Jr. |
| 83 | Matt DiBenedetto |
| 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr |
| 95 | Ty Dillon |
| 98 | Cole Whitt |
Drivers to Watch
Kevin Harvick
Kevin Harvick sits snugly in first place in the standings right now thanks to his win in Phoenix back in March.
Like the aforementioned Busch, though, Harvick enters this weekend seeking his first win at a track, as he's never won a Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. To make matters worse, he's coming off his worst showing of the year, a 17th-place effort in Martinsville despite leading 72 laps.
"I just don't think we've ever had a whole day come together for whatever reason at Texas," Harvick said, according to Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press (via the Daily Journal). "We've had good runs there in the past, but just haven't gotten to Victory Lane. We just have to figure out how to get in there."
Harvick hasn't had much in the way of problems this year, finishing in the top 10 in every race before the last event. This makes Texas doubly interesting, as he has to pull off a bounce-back job and record what would be a career first.
The problem? Harvick has to combat other 1.5-mile experts while trying to shake off a track that has bested him his entire career.
Joey Logano
Where in the world is Joey Logano?
It's a fair question, as Logano hasn't been himself this year. He's fifth in the standings, which isn't terrible, but this is far from the ho-hum dominant season folks expect from the Penske Racing driver.
Logano has appeared in six races but finished outside of the top 10 in half of them. The iffy number includes last Sunday's 11th-place showing in Martinsville, a major disappointment considering he started from the pole but only wound up leading 21 laps.
"We've just got to go back and learn from our mistakes and learn from what happened today," Logano said, according to FoxSports.com's Tom Jensen. "It seems like this tire kind of threw us for a loop today, or at least for our car."
Logano has plenty of time to figure things out and punch his automatic bid with a checkered flag, but that doesn't make his start to the year any less disappointing.
While he's not going anywhere as a Chase contender who could hit on a run when he needs it most, it sure wouldn't hurt to see Logano turn things around in Texas.
Jimmie Johnson
Nobody will match Jimmie Johnson on Saturday night.
It sounds like a confident claim, but the man has won five races at the track since 2012. And one has to remember that Jeff Gordon is gone, meaning there's one less short-track monster in Johnson's way as he guns for a checkered flag.
Other than Johnson's crazy success at Saturday's venue and the absence of a legend, keep in mind he's looked great so far, boasting four top-10 finishes—two of those checkered flags, one in Atlanta and one in California. He finished ninth last week, but considering he started 24th, that goes down as a win.
To celebrate both his fans and one of his favorite venues, Johnson revealed he'll go with a more classic look in Texas, as captured by Hendrick Motorsports:
There's no reason for folks to pick against the yellow-infused car Saturday.
That doesn't mean they shouldn't tune into the event. After all, Busch pulled off a first last week. But Johnson owns Texas, and even with everyone giving him their best shot, he's the obvious favorite underneath the bright lights.
Stats and info courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.
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