Check back for more updates as the days wind down to events at Texas Motor Speedway in April 2015. During Race Weekend, look for more updates posted here.
To purchase tickets or for additional information, visit www.texasmotorspeedway.com or call the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500.
| Roush Fenway Racing’s “Young Guns” Not Satisfied |
| RFR’s trio of young stars find themselves at the top of the XFINITY Series standings |
A quick glance at the current NASCAR XFINITY Series driver standings shows a big youth movement at the top as the average age of the top five drivers is just over 21 years of age. Points leader Ty Dillon is just 23 years old and he is followed in the standings by Chris Buescher (22), Chase Elliott (19), Ryan Reed (21) and Darrell Wallace Jr. (21). These five already have combined for a win, nine top-five finishes and 13 top-10s this season. Reed has the lone win, which came in the season-opening race at Daytona. The series has been idle since March 21 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif., but the season resumes with Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway (7:30 pm CDT/Fox Sports 1/PRN/SiriusXM/KRLD-AM). Three of the five – Buescher, Reed and Wallace Jr. – compete for Roush Fenway Racing are coming off a race at Fontana where they all finished among the top 12. They were encouraged by their results, but far from satisfied. “We should have had a better finish,” Reed said of his 11th-place finish. “We’re improving and getting better every week. But I think we still have a lot of room to grow. I think we have a lot of work to do, but we have to look at the gains and we all ran better here (today) than we did last year.” To be a bit frustrated after a solid day of contending actually is a good problem to have for the RFR team, where the XFINITY Series drivers are leading the way for the organization. Buescher, a native of Prosper, Texas, has three top-five finishes in the fiveXFINITY Series races and is ranked second in the championship standings, five points behind Dillon entering the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. Reed, on the strength of his win, is fourth while the rookie Wallace has three finishes among the top 12 and is fifth in the standings. Not to be outdone by his younger teammates, the 39-year-old Elliott Sadler is eighth after picking up his first top 10 at Fontana. While a lot of young drivers would be happy with being fourth in the standings, Reed is taking what he is learned and looking to continually improve. “The win (at Daytona) was huge for us,” Reed said. “I think there’s just a lot more confidence. I had made a lot of mistakes by this point last year that I got to learn from. Obviously, at the time I hated making them, but I don’t think I’d change it now. I got to work a lot with Jack (Roush) and Ricky (Stenhouse Jr.) and a lot of people at Roush Fenway helped me learn from those mistakes and they helped me not to make them again. “We still want to continue to run better. Until we’re running top 10 consistently and winning races Roush Fenway isn’t where they want to be, so we still have to continue to get better on the race track, but everyone off the race track is doing everything they can. We’ve made improvements, but we’ve got to continue to make improvements and find speed.” A return to Texas Motor Speedway for Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 has Wallace Jr. confident that a good result may be in the cards. In his four NASCAR Camping World Truck Series starts at Texas Motor Speedway, he has recorded three top-10 finishes and the one he didn’t – November’s WinStar World Casino & Resort 350 – he had a dominant truck before an engine problem ended his bid. “You move all around and get to pick multiple lanes to see where your car or truck handles the best,” he said. “I’m always excited to race at Texas. We have a good baseline set up and just need to tweak it to my liking and get it ready to run.” Buescher also is pleased with the season’s start, but knows there is room to continue to grow. “I’m happy with the way the season has started,” he said. “We always have work to do and we know that. Until you’re winning every race you’re going to say the same thing every Monday, so we’re going to keep working at it. Everybody is working really hard.” Meanwhile as good as the XFINITY side is performing for RFR, the Cup side is struggling. Their NASCAR Sprint Cup Series counterparts Greg Biffle,Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. are ranked 20th, 26th, and 28th, respectively, in the standings and have only one top-10 finish among them (Biffle was 10th in the season-opening Daytona 500). The three have combined for only six top-20 finishes. “It’s really unfortunate because I know how hard those guys are working over there on the Cup side,” Reed said. “I know we’re working hard with them to see if anything we learn here can help them over there and vice versa. We’ve all just got to keep digging.” |
Texas Motor Speedway finally is taking the rap.
Caleb C., a seven-year-old rapper from Allentown, Pa., produced a special-edition NASCAR rap video –#NoLimitsRap – for Texas Motor Speedway that made its debut Tuesday on YouTube in anticipation of Saturday night’s Duck Commander 500 Sprint Cup Series race.
The 1-minute, 43-second video features Caleb of @LittleRappers rapping on everything from No Limits, Texas, to the speedway’s unique Victory Lane celebration as Texas Motor Speedway prepares for the first points-paying Saturday night race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season (6:30 p.m. CT / FOX).
Some of Caleb’s rap excerpts include:
- “This ain’t no ordinary track. That’s a fact. Everything is bigger in Texas. You know that. A place so big it’s got its own town. It’s called No Limits, Texas. Come on down.”
- “Winning at Texas, the name of the game. All the drivers love the cowboy hat in Victory Lane. Sunoco Victory Lane is insane. No joke. Texas-shaped confetti. Fire and Smoke. Shout out to Eddie G. – Big Boss.”
- “Can you believe the size of the screen. It’s Big Hoss. The biggest HD screen … in the world. In the world? Yeah, in the whole world.”
Caleb’s rap video will be featured on “Big Hoss TV” – the world’s largest, high-definition, LED video board – throughout the three-day race weekend, beginning with Thursday’s NLTX All-Access Day.
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY, LEVY RESTAURANTS
UNVEILING HAWG HEAVEN QUESO WING
AT NEXT WEEK’S DUCK COMMANDER 500
Next-Generation Hawg Heaven Concession Item Features Oversized Chicken Wing With Bacon Queso, Crumbled Doritos, Bacon Bits
Texas Motor Speedway and Levy Restaurants are bringing home the bacon once again to its fans.
The next generation of the highly successful Hawg Heaven line – the Hawg Heaven Queso Wing – will make its debut at next weekend’s Duck Commander 500 NASCAR doubleheader weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Hawg Heaven Queso Wing is an oversized chicken drummette that is French cut, doused in a bacon queso sauce and then topped with a mixture of crumbled Doritos and bacon bits. An order includes four wings, which is just under one pound of chicken. The item will sell for $12 and only be available at the concession stand on the concourse inside the Gate 4 main grandstand entrance.
“As we continue to expand our Hawg Heaven brand, we felt this was a perfect way to combine two items that our fans really love,” Levy Restaurants Chef Lincoln Engstrom said. “These oversized wings will make a great meal for fans during the Duck Commander 500 weekend. No one will be disappointed after they taste these bacon-infused wings!”
The Hawg Heaven concession line began in 2013 with the Hawg Heaven Bacon Cotton Candy and has featured the Shake ‘n Bacon Brew bacon-infused beer milkshake and most recently Hawg Heaven Bacon Nachos. The bacon-infused nachos also will be available during the Duck Commander 500 race weekend.
The upcoming race weekend at Texas Motor Speedway will be highlighted by the NASCAR XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 on Friday, April 10, and the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Duck Commander 500 on Saturday, April 11. Texas Motor Speedway also is featuring “NLTX All-Access” day on Thursday, April 9, with fan access to the Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY garages as well as Sprint Cup driver autograph and Q&A sessions. For tickets or additional information, please visitwww.texasmotorspeedway.com or call the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500.
Video of Levy Restaurants Executive Chef Lincoln Engstrom and his instructions for making Hawg Heaven Queso Wings is available below:
|
|
| How to Make the Hawg Heaven Queso Wing with Chef Lincoln. |
Texas Motor Speedway, following the recommendations and guidance of NASCAR officials, completed a two-day installation project Wednesday to add 250 feet of tire barriers in preparation for next week’s Duck Commander 500 NASCAR doubleheader weekend.
The tire bundles were added to five inner wall areas of the 1.5-mile oval per the instruction of NASCAR as to the specific locations, length of runs and general construction of the safety addition. The inner wall at the exit of pit lane was the most wide-ranging area with 115 feet of tire bundles while areas near pit lane entry, the jet truck staging area in Turn 1 and emergency vehicle cut-out areas in turns 1 and 4 varied between 30 and 35 feet each. Approximately 450 tires were used in constructing the barriers, which will complement the existing, extensive SAFER Barrier system that encompasses the majority of the walls.
“NASCAR officials were here last Sunday and examined the speedway,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. “We always follow their advice on safety matters, but they requested we only add 250 feet of tire barriers. Considering that the inside wall and outside walls total almost 16,000 feet, adding 250 feet of tire packs is a minor addition. To me, that means NASCAR found the track to be extremely safe.”
The tire bundles, which consist of a combination of racing and street tires, are bolted together using heavy-duty nuts, bolts and washers. The tires are secured to the wall with a 3/8-inch cable that runs through the top row of tires of each tire bundle as well as cable clamps that are also used on the speedway’s wheel fence. The purpose of the cable is to minimize the tires becoming dislodged should they be heavily impacted.
The cars go on track Thursday, April 9, with a pair of XFINITY Series practices, beginning at 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. CT, in preparation for the following evening’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 XFINITY Series race (7:30 p.m. CT). The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series begins its on-track activity Friday, April 10, in preparation for the following evening’s Duck Commander 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race (6:30 p.m.).
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY GEARS UP FOR RACING SEASON WITH REVAMPED MOBILE APP
Texas Motor Speedway’s free mobile app is getting a new look with upgraded features to help fans get ready for the new race season. Beginning today, fans can access the upgraded app – available for free in both the Android and iPhone marketplaces – that will provide exclusive content and promotions, helpful tools to navigate the speedway during race weekends, access to the Texas Motor Speedway fantasy league and more.
App users will receive unique news content which includes behind-the-scenes videos with NASCAR and INDYCAR superstars, weekly editions of Texas Motor Speedway’s app-only video series “Start and Park” with Katie of “The Great American Sweethearts” highlighting the latest news in motorsports, race weekend photo galleries and more.
The app is the exclusive home for the Texas Motor Speedway fantasy league that allows fans to set their fantasy race lineup each week for the chance to win unique prizes. The top three finishers heading into the Chase for the Sprint Cup will win a VIP package for November’s AAA Texas 500 weekend, while the overall champion will receive the one-of-a-kind No Limits, Texas championship buckle.
Fans with the previous Texas Motor Speedway app on iPhones can access the upgraded version by clicking on the update tab. Android-based users must delete the current version and go to their app store and download the newest edition. Fans must register before accessing the exciting features and promotions provided by the mobile app.
Tickets for the Duck Commander 500 – the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series nighttime race of the season set for Saturday, April 11 – are available and start as low as $49 for adults and $25 for children 12 and under. Tickets for the XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 on Friday, April 11, also are available beginning at $30 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. Tickets to both races can be purchased through the new Texas Motor Speedway mobile app.
Individual Tickets Available at Texas Motor Speedway
Individual tickets for the Duck Commander 500 – the first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series nighttime race of the season set for Saturday, April 11 – start as low as $30 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under. Tickets for the XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 on Friday, April 10, also will be available beginning at $30 for adults and $10 for children 12 and under.
The Casey Donahew Band will open the festivities for the Duck Commander 500 as the headliner for the Loud and Proud Pre-Race Show presented by AMDRO. The Texas Country band will take to the stage at 4:45 p.m. for a one-hour concert. The Duck Commander 500 will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Fans can purchase a special $79 “mosh pit” ticket for the Loud and Proud Pre-Race Show presented by AMDRO, providing them exclusive stage-side access for the concert and access to the driver introduction stage. The “mosh pit” ticket must be accompanied by a Duck Commander 500 grandstand ticket.
AMDRO has served in this role previously at Texas Motor Speedway, sponsoring the AMDRO Fire Ant Bait Pre-Race Show featuring Foreigner prior to this race in 2009.
“We are delighted to be partnering with the Texas Motor Speedway and look forward to spending time with race fans in Texas,” AMDRO Senior Brand Manager Andrea Fuller said. “Thanks to Lowe’s, we’re also able to offer unprecedented value to Texas area shoppers in April.”
Race fans can go to participating Texas-area Lowe’s stores between April 2 and April 30 and get a 1 pound AMDRO Fire Ant Bait or 24 ounce AMDRO Ant Block free with the purchase of a 39 pound Sta-Green Southern Weed & Feed, 34 pound Sta-Green Northern Weed & Feed, or 34 pound Sta-Green Lawn Fertilizer Plus 2 percent Iron.
The Casey Donahew Band has grown from playing Fort Worth-area bars to becoming one of the most popular acts in Texas Country. The group has continued its ascent in the charts since releasing its first album in 2006. Double-Wide Dream(2011) and Standoff (2013), the band’s two most recent albums, reached the top 10 on the country charts.
Fans of Texas Country also will be treated to the Running Rogue Post-Race Show featuring Kyle Park, which is free to all ticket holders. The infield concert will begin approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Duck Commander 500.
Park, an Austin, Texas native, is an artist on the rise in the Texas Country music scene. The talented singer/songwriter has shared the stage with some of the Texas Country’s most recognized artists, including Gary Allan, Jack Ingram and the Eli Young Band. Park’s most recent album Beggin’ for More features his hit single “The Night is Young,” which climbed to No. 3 on the Texas Country charts.
Fans interested in individual tickets for the Duck Commander 500 or O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 also can choose from multiple value packages, including season tickets that begin at $270 and include “mosh pit” passes to April’s Loud and Proud Pre-Race Show.
Other popular, budget-friendly ticket plans specific to the Duck Commander 500 currently on sale are:
- “Big Hoss TV” Package ($125) – Two Duck Commander 500 frontstretch tickets, a race scanner and two headsets.
- Family 4-Pack ($159) – Four Duck Commander 500 frontstretch tickets, four hot dogs and four Coca-Cola products.
- RaceDay University Presented by Coca-Cola ($199) – Fans enjoy a full day of “lessons” in NASCAR with some of the sport’s most esteemed “professors” during RaceDay University Presented by Coca-Cola prior to the Duck Commander 500. The package includes Q&A sessions with Sprint Cup Series drivers and VIPs in a hospitality area exclusively for RaceDay U participants. Along with the hospitality treatment, fans will receive a club-level seat for the Duck Commander 500, complimentary food and Coca-Cola beverages, a guided pit tour and pre-race pass for the Loud and Proud Pre-Race Show presented by AMDRO and driver introductions.