2 weeks agoJimmie Johnson is clearly the greatest driver in Texas Motor Speedway history, with a record seven wins and 1,152 laps led. He even impressed in the 2022 IndyCar race at Texas as well, where he finished directly between multi-champion teammates Scott Dixon and Álex Palou in his first oval start. However, while it is one of his best tracks, he hasn't raced there since his retirement from full-time competition, and his races since his comeback have been extremely subpar. He crashed out of all three of his 2023 starts and in his only start this year, he finished four laps down, while his teammates Erik Jones and John Hunter Nemechek both got top tens. Johnson hasn't yet figured out the NextGen car, and after a practice crash relegated him to a backup car, it seems like it'll be a miracle if he even finishes on the lead lap this weekend in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoAustin Hill has finished in the top ten in his last four Texas Motor Speedway starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series and led 25 laps in this weekend's event on an alternate pit sequence, but he probably won't replicate that feat in Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series event. Hill will be making his first Cup start of 2024 for Richard Childress Racing, which certainly has faster cars than Beard Motorsports did last year, but he was assigned crew chief Keith Rodden, who was just fired from his teammate Austin Dillon's team after a season of underachievement. Both Dillon and Kyle Busch posted mediocre top speeds in practice and Busch will be going to a backup car after crashing in practice, which means that not only do they seem to lack speed but their focus will likely be elsewhere. Keep your expectations low for Austin Hill in his season debut this weekend.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoKaz Grala starts this weekend's Texas race from the 33rd position. Although Grala was the slowest driver to post a qualifying time in the first qualifying group, he did post a slightly faster lap than his teammate, Justin Haley, although Haley will be starting one position better because he ranked higher within his qualifying group. Grala has never finished better than 23rd on a non-drafting intermediate, and in that race (the 2022 Coca-Cola 600) he finished thirteen laps down, so he has never really had a car capable of contending. It looks like he won't this weekend either if his last-place finish in practice is any indication. Furthermore, in the Xfinity Series, Grala has never finished better than 15th at Texas and only finished on the lead lap once. The Rick Ware Racing driver is almost certain to be a complete afterthought on Sunday.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoAlthough Noah Gragson did not start last year's Texas race because it came after Legacy Motor Club suspended him for the season, he finished 21st in the fall Texas event of 2022, which was held the day after Gragson won from the pole in the Xfinity Series to complete his four-race win streak in that series. Gragson has generally struggled with the NextGen car, but he had an unexpected sixth-place finish at Las Vegas in the most intermediate race this season and he did outqualify two of his teammates (Josh Berry and Ryan Preece) for this one, although he is only starting 21st in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. His slow speed in both practice and qualifying will make him an unlikely contender, but the unexpected Las Vegas result may make him an interesting dark horse.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoChris Buescher may be Texas's current native son in NASCAR, but his record at his home track is lackluster. Not only has he never finished better than 14th at Texas, he's also never led a lap under green, as he performs better on short tracks and road courses than the 1.5-mile intermediates. However, Buescher had, by far, his best-ever run in last fall's event, where he started second, had an average running position of sixth, and had his best driver rating at the track. However, the Fords in general and the RFK cars in particular do not seem to have as much speed on the speedways as they did last year and Buescher is only starting 19th this weekend. He'll probably have an above-average run, but it's unlikely he'll seriously contend, and his track record at Texas Motor Speedway leaves a lot to be desired.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoJosh Berry qualified 25th for his first Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway and it's difficult to forecast his performance. Intermediates were arguably Berry's best track type in the NASCAR Xfinity Series as he scored a majority of his wins and laps led on them, but he never finished better than 6th at Texas. He led 46 laps in the 2022 spring event but he only led on strategy and didn't make a pass for the lead. Berry has the benefit of having Rodney Childers as his crew chief, who delivered Kevin Harvick all three of his Texas wins and also gave David Reutimann a pole, but the Stewart-Haas team has been lacking intermediate speed with the NextGen car and Berry has been much faster on short tracks in the Cup Series. Still, after Berry's bursts of speed in the recent short track races, he could emerge as a surprise sleeper on Sunday.
--Sean Wrona - RotoBallerSource: Racing Reference
2 weeks agoMartin Truex Jr. will start ninth in Sunday's Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Truex, who won the regular season championship in 2023, is quietly having another monster year in 2024. Although he has yet to find the winner's circle, he does have five top-10s
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2 weeks agoAfter a disappointing outing at Martinsville last weekend, John Hunter Nemechek will look to turn things around when he starts 30th in Sunday's Auto Trader EchoPark 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Heading into this weekend's race, the No. 42 looks like a driver that we will want to
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2 weeks agoOn Saturday afternoon, Joey Logano qualified 20th for the Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. After starting with four finishes of 28th or worse in the first five races of the season, Logano has finished in the top 11 three consecutive weeks, signaling a drastic
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2 weeks agoDaniel Hemric will start 38th in the Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Hemric's lackluster qualifying results come as no surprise as he posted the second slowest speed in Saturday's practice session (29.296), indicating that this team is still struggling to find the speed needed to be competitive. While practice and qualifying deficiencies can be overcome, his track history at Texas raises additional concern about the 33-year-old heading into this weekend. Although he does have four top-10 finishes in nine Xfinity starts in Fort Worth, he hasn't run a Cup race here since 2019, and when he did, he averaged 24.5 for his finishing position in two starts. With no Cup experience in the Next Gen Car on this course, and given his struggles in qualifying and practice, it is recommended that you treat the No. 31 as nothing more than a dart thrown when building your DFS lineups this weekend.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: NASCAR.com
2 weeks agoOn Saturday afternoon, Ross Chastain qualified 12th for the Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Despite not having a win in 2024, Chastain is off to a solid start this season, as he has four top-10 finishes and currently sits eighth in the playoff standings.
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2 weeks agoFresh off his third victory of the season, William Byron qualified sixth for Sunday's Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Based on Byron's success in the first eight races of the season, he has to be considered among the top drivers in DFS each week.
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2 weeks agoAlex Bowman will start 14th in the Auto Trader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway. Last Sunday at Martinsville was a monster weekend for Hendrick Motorsports as all four of the team's cars finished in the top eight. While a weekend like this should give a driver tremendous confidence, don't expect last week's momentum to carry over for the No. 48 as Texas is not one of his better tracks. In his 14 Cup starts in Fort Worth, the 30-year-old has just two top-10 finishes and has yet to win a race. In his two starts at this track in the Next Gen Car, he has an average finish of 20.5 and an average DraftKings score of 17.80. Despite posting the fifth fastest practice time (28.606), given his struggles at this track, it is recommended that you limit your exposure to Alex Bowman this weekend in DFS.
--Adam Erhardt - RotoBallerSource: Racing-Reference.info
2 weeks agoDon't sleep on Erik Jones in this weekend's Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. The Legacy Motor Club driver qualified back in 27th for this weekend's race, and although the No. 43 team wasn't able to find a ton of speed in practice or
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2 weeks agoChase Briscoe was one of the surprising names near the top of the speed chart during qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday afternoon, as the Stewart-Haas Racing driver made it to the final round and will roll off the grid from fifth when the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 goes green on Sunday afternoon. However, that fifth-place starting spot, paired with Briscoe's $7,700 salary on DraftKings, makes him an awful DFS pick for this weekend's race. The No. 14 Ford has an average finish of 23.29 on this track type since the start of the 2023 season, and for Briscoe's DFS salary to pay off on Sunday, he's going to need to dominate a portion of this race--an unlikely scenario. At Las Vegas earlier this season (another 1.5-mile track like Texas), Briscoe qualified sixth and ended up finishing 21st, scoring a total of just 7 DraftKings FPTS in that race. Another result like that wouldn't be surprising at all this weekend.
--Jordan McAbeeSource: Win The Race
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