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Odds and Ends - Texas
November 3, 2009
By VI News
VegasInsider.com
Texas Motor Speedway
History
Construction on Texas Motor Speedway began in 1995.
The first NASCAR race at Texas was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on April 5, 1997.
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas was on April 6, 1997.
In 1998, Turn 4 at Texas was reshaped to ease the transition from the turns to the front straightaway.
A second renovation started after the 1998 race and eliminated dual banking and gave the track its current configuration.
Notebook
There have been 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one per season 1997 through 2004 and two races per year since 2005.
Four drivers have competed in all 17 Texas races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.
Jeremy Mayfield won the first timed qualifying on April 4, 1998. Qualifying for the inaugural race in 1997 was canceled.
Jeff Burton won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
12 drivers have scored poles at Texas, led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte and Ryan Newman with two each.
14 drivers have won races, led by Carl Edwards, with three. Jeff Gordon won at Texas for the first time, in April. Gordon has won at every track he has run except Homestead-Miami Speedway.
13 of 17 races have been won from a top-10 starting position. Only one has been won from the pole (Kasey Kahne in 2006).
Matt Kenseth started 31st en route to his victory at Texas in 2002, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started.
Both Jeff Burton (1999) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (2000) scored their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win at Texas.
Five of the last six races have had a margin of victory under one second.
Jimmie Johnson (8.5) and Matt Kenseth (9.7) each average a top-10 finish.
NASCAR in Texas
There have been 26 NASCAR Sprint Cup races in Texas.
71 drivers in NASCAR’s three national series (all-time) have their home state recorded as Texas.
There have been seven race winners from Texas in NASCAR’s three national series:
Texas Motor Speedway Data
Race #: 34 of 36 (11-8-09)
Track Size: 1.5 miles
Race Length: 501 miles
Banking/corners: 24 degrees
Banking/straights: 5 degrees
Frontstretch: 2,250 feet
Backstretch: 1,330 feet
Driver Rating at Texas
Matt Kenseth 105.8
Tony Stewart 105.4
Jimmie Johnson 103.8
Carl Edwards 102.4
Greg Biffle 95.7
Denny Hamlin 95.2
Kyle Busch 94.8
Dale Earnhardt Jr. 94.1
Jeff Gordon 92.2
Kurt Busch 89.3
Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2009 races (9 total) at Texas.
Qualifying/Race Data
2008 pole winner: Jeff Gordon (188.469 mph, 28.652 secs.)
2008 race winner: Carl Edwards, 144.219 mph, 11-2-08)
Track qualifying record: Brian Vickers (196.235 mph, 27.518 seconds, 11-3-06)
Track race record: Carl Edwards (151.055 mph, 11-6-05)
Pit Window: Every 50-55 laps, depending on fuel mileage.
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