Texas Motor Speedway - Samsung Mobile 500 (News & Notes)

[HacheMan]

Samsung Mobile 500
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series moves to Texas Motor Speedway for the eighth race of the 2010 season, the Samsung Mobile 500. Brian Brown took a look at past performances, season trends, and spoke with NASCAR contacts to predict how the field should finish on Sunday.


When: Sunday, April 18, 2010; 3:16 p.m./et.


Weather: Scattered T-storms with a high around 71; wind out of the SE at 11 mph. There is a 40 percent chance of precipitation.


The Track: Texas Motor Speedway

Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 quad-oval. It has intermediate 24 degree banking on the turns. Roush-Fenway cars dominate 1.5 mile tracks and they will be tough to beat on Sunday.


Key to Race: A RACE FOR THE BIG BOYS

Anytime the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series visits a 1.5 mile track Roush-Fenway Racing is expected to be fast. The lack of success the Roush Boys have on short-tracks is the exact opposite to the continued success they show on the 1.5 mile tracks. The surface at Texas has great grip and thus cars can run wide-open the entire way around. The multi-car teams like Roush-Fenway and Hendrick Motorsports have a huge advantage in the funding of their engine programs. If a Roush-Fenway car doesn't find victory lane a Hendrick car likely will.


Qualifying Procedures:

46 cars will attempt to qualify for 43 spots. Cars not in the top 35 in the 2010 owners points will have to qualify based on speed. Starting positions 1-43 are determined during qualifying on Friday, April 16 at 4:40 pm/et.


Fantasy Cheat Sheet:

Top 5

No. 24 Jeff Gordon: Gordon dominated Texas last April leading the most laps and winning the race. He will be fast in the Lone Star State again this season.
No. 48 Jimmie Johnson: Johnson won the November 2007 race at Texas and in 12 career starts at the track he has nine top 10 finishes. As always he is a great pick to find victory lane on Sunday.
No. 99 Carl Edwards: Edwards proved his love for 1.5 mile ovals by sweeping both races at Texas in 2008. He is one of our favorites to take the checkers this weekend.
No. 16 Greg Biffle: Biffle has been great in the past three races at Texas. He is worth using in all leagues this weekend.
No. 17 Matt Kenseth: Kenseth has led at least one lap in 10 of the last 13 races at Texas. He could return to victory lane on Sunday.


6 to 10

No. 5 Mark Martin: Martin has a win and six top five finishes in his career at TMS. He will cruise around in the top 15 and should sneak into the top 10 by the time the race is over.
No. 2 Kurt Busch: Busch has nine top 10 finishes in 14 career starts at Texas during his career. He is a great second driver on most fantasy teams this weekend.
No. 18 Kyle Busch: Rowdy has finished inside the top six in three of the last five races at Texas. He is a fine pick.
No. 14 Tony Stewart: Smoke has 10 top 10 finishes (including a win) in 16 career starts at Texas. He is a great pick this weekend.
No. 11 Denny Hamlin: Hamlin has finished in the top 10 in all but three of his career starts at Texas. We like his chances this weekend.


11 to 20

No. 31 Jeff Burton: Burton has finished in the top nine in five of the past seven races at Texas Motor Speedway. He is a solid pick.
No. 29 Kevin Harvick: Harvick has been great in six of the last nine races in the Lone Star State. His success at the track and this season makes him a top 15 choice.
No. 42 Juan Pablo Montoya: Montoya has been hit-or-miss at TMS during his career. We expect he will miss the top 10 this weekend.
No. 20 Joey Logano: "Sliced Bread" has improved each start he has made at Texas. This could be the weekend he breaks into the top 15 in the Lone Star State.
No. 33 Clint Bowyer: Texas isn't one of Bowyer's favorite tracks, but he has found some recent success at the track. He should finish just outside the top 10.
No. 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Junior has led laps in five of the last six races at Texas, but we doubt he will get his second win at the track this weekend.
No. 56 Martin Truex Jr.: Truex Jr. has finished in the top 15 in seven of his last nine starts at Texas. This isn't a bad weekend to sneak the No. 56 driver onto your team
No. 1 Jamie McMurray: Jamie Mac has six top 10 finishes in 11 career starts at TMS. This is a good weekend to get him active on your roster.
No. 39 Ryan Newman: Newman has averaged just a 20th place finish the past nine races at Texas. He is just an okay pick this weekend.
No. 00 David Reutimann: Reutimann has led 45 laps in the past three Texas races. He will bring a fast car to the track once again this weekend.


21 to 30

No. 9 Kasey Kahne: Kahne, who just announced he will join Hendrick Motorsports at the end of this season, won the April 2006 race at Texas, but that is his only top 15 finish at the track in the past nine races.
No. 98 Paul Menard: Menard is a great sleeper pick this weekend and should be added in all leagues.
No. 47 Marcos Ambrose: Ambrose blew an engine at Texas last April. He has never cracked the top 10 at this track and isn't a top pick.
No. 6 David Ragan: Ragan had success at Texas last year, but suffered a blown engine in April. He could crack the top 20 this weekend with a little luck.
No. 82 Scott Speed: The man with the worst hair in NASCAR finished 18th last year at Texas and is a great fourth or fifth driver in all fantasy leagues.
No. 43 A.J. Allmendinger: Allmendinger has run well just one time at Texas during his career. He will miss the top 20.
No. 83 Brian Vickers: Vickers has never had much success at Texas Motor Speedway during his career. He is normally a good fantasy pick, but stay away from him this weekend.
No. 12 Brad Keselowski: Keselowski should improve on his 35th place finish at TMS last season, but not enough to carry your team.
No. 19 Elliott Sadler: Sadler hasn't had much success at Texas since he won at the track in 2004. There are far better options this weekend.
No. 77 Sam Hornish Jr.: Hornish Jr. has averaged a 28th place finish at Texas Motor Speedway during his career. He is a decent pick as a fifth driver for those of you in deep leagues.


31 to 35

No. 71 Bobby Labonte: Texas is the track Labonte looks forward to racing at all season. He could surprise some people with where he finishes on Sunday.
No. 78 Regan Smith: Smith has been terrible at Texas. He isn't an option.
No. 7 Robby Gordon: Gordon has cracked the top 20 just once in 11 career starts at Texas. He isn't a fantasy option.
No. 38 Kevin Conway: Don't even consider him.
No. 34 Travis Kvapil: We wish Kvapil could get back in a good ride. He has decent talent.


Field Fillers

No. 55 Dave Blaney
No. 21 Bill Elliott
No. 32 Reed Sorenson
No. 26 David Stremme
No. 37 David Gilliland
No. 87 Joe Nemechek
No. 66 Michael McDowell
No. 46 Terry Cook
No. 36 Mike Bliss
No. 09 TBD


Brownie's Picks

Top Four:

1.Jeff Gordon
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Carl Edwards
4. Greg Biffle

Sleepers:

1. Paul Menard
2. Martin Truex Jr.

Bust of the Week:

Kasey Kahne

 

[HacheMan]

Samsung Mobile 500
Track history: NASCAR speedway owner Bruton Smith announced plans to build a multi-million dollar superspeedway in the Fort Worth/Dallas market late in 1994. Construction started in August 1995 on the 1.5-mile dual-banked Texas Motor Speedway. Dual-banked turns angled at 8 and 24 degrees allow NASCAR and Indy-style racing.

On the first lap of the inaugural Cup race in 1997, as the field entered Turn 1, 13 of the 43 car starting field were involved in a massive wreck. Darrell Waltrip's car was the only one to be retired after the accident. TMS did some reconstruction work in 1998, eliminating the 8-degree dual-banking, resurfaced the track, all to the tune of $4 million. They also added 4,800 seats in 1998.

In 1999, TMS spent $2.5 million on the 4/10-mile clay-surfaced dirt track to host the World of Outlaws sprint cars. 10,000 more seats were added in 1999, bringing the total capacity to 154,861. The sold-out 1999 PRIMESTAR 500 was the largest attended sporting event in Texas history. In 2000, TMS had to fix some track flaws, a dip, caused by erosion, under turn 4 and other problem areas in turns 1 and 2.

Late in 2001, TMS was in the resurfacing mode again. This time, the entire 1.5-mile speedway was repaved with a granite-based asphalt compound over a concrete base. The track had been extremely fast since it opened and after that resurfacing, the straightaway speeds approached 200 mph.

First Texas Cup race: The 1997 Interstate Batteries 500, the inaugural Cup race at TMS, was run on April 6, 1997. Qualifying was rained-out, so the current point leader at the time, Dale Jarrett, lined up in front of the field with his No. 88 Quality Care Ford. Jarrett led 42 of the 334 lap event and finished 2nd. Jeff Burton drove the No. 99 Exide Batteries Ford from 5th in the lineup, led 60 laps, and scored the victory. With an average race speed of 125.111 mph, due to several wrecks, it was the slowest Texas Cup race on record.

2009 Samsung 500: David Reutimann put up a 190.517 mph lap in the No. 00 Aaron's Dream Machine Toyota to earn the pole for the April 5, 2009 Samsung 500. Reutimann led 40 laps but went down a lap due to a penalty for pitting outside the pit box. After getting back on the lead lap, he finished 11th. Jeff Gordon, from a 2nd place start, had the 334 lap event covered by leading 105 laps. On the final lap, Gordon crossed the finish line with the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet 10 car-lengths ahead of 2nd place finisher, Jimmie Johnson (No. 48).

Last TMS Cup race: The November 8, 2009 Dickies 500 was brought to the green flag by pole-sitter Jeff Gordon and the No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet. Gordon would struggle after leading 11 laps and went a lap down. After the race turned into a fuel mileage event over the last 40 laps, he finished in 13th place. Kyle Busch led the most laps (232 of 334) but his No. 18 Toyota ran out of gas with 3 laps to go. He also finished a lap down (in 11th). His brother, Kurt Busch, was able to conserve enough of the No. 2 Miller Lite Dodge's fuel to make it to the end. Kurt earned his 2nd 2009 victory after leading 89 laps.

Your fantasy game won't allow you to pick all track favorites so Mid-Pack Attack is here to help. A mid-packer may not win the race but has as good a shot at a top 15 finish as track favorites Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth. There were 46 cars on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Cup race.

Mid-Pack picks

Juan Pablo Montoya is making his sixth Cup start at Texas Motor Speedway. He has a 15.3 average start at this track. This should improve since he qualified in the top ten in six of the seven races (Martinsville was set by owner's points) so far this season. In 2009, Montoya finished 7th in this race and 37th in the November fuel economy run. He's 2nd in the "Quality Passes" (passing while running in the top 15) category per NASCAR Statistics over the last ten TMS races. Actually, he's first since he only drove in the last six. Montoya ran in the top five most of last Saturday night's race in Phoenix and finished 5th. Give him a look for a top 15 this weekend.

Jamie McMurray had a rough 2009 in his last season at Roush Fenway. He had the transmission replaced during the April race and finished 79 laps down in 38th. He finished 20th in the fall race at Fort Worth. Prior to 2009, McMurray racked up seven top-tens in ten starts at this track. According to NASCAR's loop data, he's 3rd among "Closers" (improving positions in the last 10 percent of the race). Over the last 10 races, McMurray has gained an average of 2.6 positions near the end of each race. He's ranked 2nd in their "Green Flag Passes" category as well. McMurray passed cars 650 times under green flag conditions in those ten races.

With the exception of Martinsville, where he got caught up in someone else's wreck, AJ Allmendinger has been running well over the last month and a half. He scored the pole and finished 15th last weekend at Phoenix. He was terrible in his first three TMS starts while drive Toyota's and Dodge's. He picked up his best finish of 20th at Fort Worth in November driving the No. 43 Ford. Allmendinger has adapted the most to the blue oval engines of all the Richard Petty drivers. He's a decent choice for your fourth or fifth driver.

We're going with Denny Hamlin as our deepest pick this week only because of his recent knee surgery. Otherwise, he would be among the track favorites. He toughed it out for the full event last weekend at Phoenix. Hamlin said this week: "Unlike Phoenix where we had to use a ton of brake, Texas is much different so I will be in the car and expect to go the full distance just as I did at Phoenix last weekend." His 10.6 average finish at TMS is second best (behind favorite Kenseth). He was also one of the drivers who did an excellent job of fuel conservation last November and brought home a runner-up finish.