Ryan Blaney, driver of the #21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center Ford, races during the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo – Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images
Ryan Blaney couldn’t have asked for a better start to Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Grabbing the top-spot from polesitter Kevin Harvick on two straight restarts within the first 37 laps, Blaney led 148 of the first 172 laps and in the process picked up a pair of stage wins and two playoff points toward the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championship. Continue reading →
Dale Earnhardt Jr., driver of the #88 Axalta Chevrolet, practices for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 8, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo – Sarah Crabill/Getty Images
Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally had a car he could enjoy—but a balky cooling unit took some of fun out of his fifth-place run in Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The driver of the No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was a fixture in the top-ten for most of the afternoon, with a car that could run with the machines that have dominated the action in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series thus far this season. Continue reading →
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe’s Chevrolet, celebrates with a burnout after winning the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on April 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo – Sean Gardner/Getty Images
Chad Knaus, crew chief for race winner Jimmie Johnson, was pleasantly surprised at how racy Texas Motor Speedway became as Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 progressed.
But NASCAR’s premier driver / crew chief duo had to deal with a new racing surface to pull off their seventh victory at TMS. That meant the notes from the six previous wins no longer applied. Continue reading →
Erik Jones gained two seconds over Ryan Blaney on his final trip to pit road, and that was all the driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota needed for a convincing victory in Saturday’s My Bariatric Solutions 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.
In winning for the second time at Texas, the first time this season and the seventh time in his career, Jones led 112 of the 200 laps and stretched his advantage to more than three seconds in the late going before driving conservatively over the last three laps and beating Blaney to the stripe by 0.512 seconds. Continue reading →