Kansas Speedway Schedule

  

Friday, April 20th

11:20 AM 12:20 PM     NCWTS PRACTICE
12:30 PM 1:50 PM      NSCS PRACTICE
2:00 PM 3:20 PM       NCWTS FINAL PRACTICE
3:30 PM 5:00 PM       NSCS FINAL PRACTICE

Saturday, April 21st

9:35 AM (10:35 AM)    NCWTS QUALIFYING ( TWO LAPS, ALL POSITIONS)
10:30 AM 11:00 AM     TV EXHIBITION RUN (TIME PERMITTING)
10:30 AM 11:30 AM     NCWTS Minors Admitted in the NASCAR Garage Area*
11:10 AM (12:10 PM)   NSCS QUALIFYING (TWO LAPS, ALL POSITIONS)
12:30 PM              NCWTS DRIVER INTRODUCTIONS-SECURITY –CLEAR PIT ROAD
1:00 PM (2:00 PM)     NCWTS RACE (167 LAPS, 250.5 MILES)

Sunday, April 22nd

7:00 AM 10:30 AM      NSCS Minors Admitted in the NASCAR Garage Area*
11:30 AM              NSCS DRIVERS INTRODUCTIONS-SECURITY –CLEAR PIT ROAD
12:00 PM (1:00 PM)    NSCS RACE (267 LAPS, 400.5 MILES)

Kahne rallies from back to win at Rockingham

ROCKINGHAM, N.C. -- Kasey Kahne capped a successful weekend of triple-duty Sunday afternoon, winning the Good Sam Roadside Assistance 200 to mark NASCAR's return to Rockingham Speedway for the first time since 2004.

Kahne -- who finished seventh in the Sprint Cup Series on Saturday and third in the Nationwide Series on Friday at Texas Motor Speedway -- surged to the front in the 155th lap of 200 to notch his fourth win in five starts in the Truck Series.

Brad Sweet qualified the No. 4 truck fifth, but Kahne had to start at the rear of the field because of the driver change. Even with traveling from Fort Worth overnight, getting approximately 4 1/2 hours of sleep and having no track time in preparation for the race, Kahne was poised to pounce in the late stages.

"This is probably the best weekend I've had in a long time," Kahne said. "I got out of that truck and I've got three clean race cars and I ran three hard races this weekend, and everything's clean -- not a dent on 'em. ... It was a good weekend, tons of energy, and I'll sleep good tonight when I finally decide to go to bed."

Kahne played a prominent part in NASCAR's last race here, when Matt Kenseth edged him at the line for a Cup Series victory. The memory of that race was on his mind when he returned to the mile oval.

"I've watched it on video and I can run it through my head and remember so many things about how that race finished," Kahne said. "Those are kind of the memories that I have."

Until now.

Kahne withstood Buescher's last-ditch effort on a restart with 20 laps left and had nowhere near as close a finish as last time around. Kahne was a comfortable 1.478 seconds ahead at the checkered flag.

Kahne withstood Buescher's last-ditch effort on a restart with 20 laps left and had nowhere near as close a finish as last time around. Kahne was a comfortable 1.478 seconds ahead at the checkered flag.

Pole-starter Nelson Piquet Jr. -- Kahne's next-closest competition -- dominated the early stages of the race, leading 85 of the race's first 100 laps. But Piquet became mired in traffic after a lengthy pit stop shuffled him back to fifth during the third of the race's four cautions.

Piquet worked his way back to second place until incurring a pit-road speeding penalty during the final caution period. He rallied to finish seventh.

Biffle Earns Long Awaited Win

Since 2010, Roush Fenway driver Greg Biffle has longed for his next Sprint Cup victory. After a surprising rough year last season, not making the Chase, The Biff wasn't sure when a win would come. 2012 has definitely been more promising. Early and consistant success allowed him to lead the points multiple times this season. It was obvious Biffle's time in victory circle was not far away. His moment to shine came at Texas last night, and at a Roush dominated track. How fitting.

The Biff was running up front all night long. He started alongside pole sitter, Martin Truex Jr. and ran in the Top 5 for most of the 334 laps. Leading or not we were sure that he was one of the cars to beat. The race, I have to admit, was extremely tedious and down right boring. Long green flag runs and little bumping and shoving. But, as one would expect in NASCAR it got a little more lively during the final 20 laps. We find Jimmie Johnson leading, and many thought (as they did at Martinsville) that this would be it! Finally, Hendrick's 200th win! But sorry to the Hendrick fans, last night was not the time for the 200th. Biffle charged, with less than 25 to go, and passed Johnson for the lead. He was not about to break the Roush streak after Ricky Stenhouse's victory in the Nationwide series Friday night. Biffle knew he had to get it done! He pulled ahead as the leaders did all night and was able to FINALLY catch his break. Winning his first Cup win since 2010! And boy did his burnout show it! Roush has always been good at Texas, and I think everyone knew the Cat in the Hat [Jack Roush] would continue the momentum. 

I've got to say, even through all the yawning and slight napping during those 334 laps, it was a well deserved finish for ole' Greg Biffle. A marvelous performance from all of the Roush teams this weekend. Not to mention a record amount of green flag runs. It only took 2 cautions to get to the checkers.

RACE LINEUP Samsung Mobile 500 | Texas Motor Speedway

1 56 Martin Truex Jr.
2 17 Matt Kenseth
3 16 Greg Biffle
4 55 Mark Martin
5 5 Kasey Kahne
6 39 Ryan Newman
7 9 Marcos Ambrose
8 2 Brad Keselowski
9 1 Jamie McMurray
10 48 Jimmie Johnson
11 27 Paul Menard
12 22 AJ Allmendinger
13 11 Denny Hamlin
14 20 Joey Logano
15 29 Kevin Harvick
16 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr.
17 18 Kyle Busch
18 15 Clint Bowyer
19 21 Trevor Bayne
20 99 Carl Edwards
21 34 David Ragan
22 13 Casey Mears
23 43 Aric Almirola
24 31 Jeff Burton
25 42 Juan Montoya
26 78 Regan Smith
27 51 Kurt Busch
28 83 Landon Cassill
29 14 Tony Stewart
30 47 Bobby Labonte
31 10 David Reutimann
32 26 Josh Wise*
33 98 Michael McDowell
34 24 Jeff Gordon
35 38 David Gilliland
36 249 J.J. Yeley
37 93 Travis Kvapil
38 195 Scott Speed
39 32 Reed Sorenson
40 23 Scott Riggs
41 36 Dave Blaney+
42 33 Tony Raines+
43 119 Mike Bliss
Did Not Qualify
44 30 David Stremme
45 87 Joe Nemechek
46 74 Stacy Compton Chevrolet

Race Schedule for Texas Motor Speedway

Track At Rockingham Speedway Rockingham, NC 

Thursday April 12th, 2012 (*Texas Time*)

• 4:30 p.m. EST - 5:30 p.m. CT Sprint Cup Series (On Speed)
• 6:40 p.m. EST - 7:40 p.m. CT Nationwide Series (On Speed)

Friday April 13th, 2012 (*Texas Time*)

• 10:00 a.m. - 11:00am CT Nationwide Series (On Speed) 
• 12:00 p.m. EST CT Truck Series Practice (Not Televised)
• 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 EST CT Sprint Cup Series
• 3:30 p.m. EST Truck Series (Not Televised)
• 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. CT Nationwide Series Qualifying (On ESN2)
• 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. CT Sprint Cup Series Qualifying (On Speed)
• 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. CT Nationwide Series Race at Texas (On ESPN2)

Saturday April 14, 2012 (*Texas Time*)

• 11:00 a.m. Truck Series Practice (Not Televised)
• 3:35 p.m. EST Truck Qualifying (Not Televised)
• 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. CT Sprint Cup Race (on FOX)

Sunday April 15th, 2012

• 12:30 p.m.Truck Series Race (On Speed)

Texas Motor Speedway History and Notes

At Texas Motor Speedway:
History

· Construction began in 1995.

· The first NASCAR race was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on April 5, 1997.

· The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race was on April 6, 1997.

Notebook
· There have been 22 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Texas Motor Speedway, one per season from 1997 through 2004 and two races per year since 2005.

· Four drivers have competed in all 22 Texas races: Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Bobby Labonte and Mark Martin.

· Jeremy Mayfield was the first pole winner, in 1998. Qualifying for the inaugural race in 1997 was canceled.

· Jeff Burton won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

· 16 drivers have scored poles, led by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman and Jeff Gordon with two.

· 16 drivers have won races, led by Carl Edwards, with three. Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Tony Stewart and Jeff Burton each have two wins.

· 16 of 22 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, and 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne made his first series start at Texas (11/07/10).

· Martin Truex Jr. (11/04/07) and David Ragan (04/09/11) scored their first series poles at Texas.

· Matt Kenseth (8.7) is the only active driver to average a top-10 finish at Texas.

· Jimmie Johnson (9.2) is the only active driver to average a top-10 starting position at Texas.

· Roush Fenway Racing leads all owners in victories, with eight. Joe Gibbs Racing and Hendrick Motorsports have three wins each.

· There has been two season sweeps, by Carl Edwards in 2008 and Denny Hamlin in 2010.

· Youngest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway winner: Ryan Newman (03/30/2003 – 25 years, 3 months, 22 days).

· Oldest NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Texas Motor Speedway winner: Dale Jarrett (04/01/2001 – 44 years, 4 months, 6 days).

Texas Motor Speedway Data:
Race #: 7 of 36 (04-09-12)
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

Top 12 Driver Rating at Texas:
Matt Kenseth............................. 106.5
Tony Stewart............................. 105.8
Greg Biffle................................ 100.8
Carl Edwards............................ 100.0
Jimmie Johnson.......................... 98.4
Kyle Busch................................. 97.5
Denny Hamlin............................. 95.2
Dale Earnhardt Jr........................ 92.7
Clint Bowyer............................... 92.1
Jeff Gordon................................ 90.3
Kurt Busch.................................. 89.6
Mark Martin................................. 87.1

Note: Driver Rating compiled from 2005-2011 races (14 total) at Texas.

Austin Dillon, Legendary No. 3, Featured in New ESPN NASCAR Spot

Rising young NASCAR star Austin Dillon and the legendary black No. 3 made famous by the late Dale Earnhardt are featured in a new ESPN promotional spot entitled “The Next Generation” that will begin airing next week. The 21-year-old Dillon is the leading rookie in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.

All 33 races in the series will air on ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC this season and Dillon is the second Nationwide Series driver this year to be featured by ESPN in its promotional campaign for the series, joining 2011 series champion Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

The 30-second spot, which continues ESPN’s “Names Are Made Here” marketing campaign for the NASCAR Nationwide Series, traces Dillon’s career through go karts, dirt tracks and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, where he was series champion last year. At the end of the spot, a team member opens a garage door to reveal the No. 3 car that Dillon is driving this season. “Here you go, Austin,” the man says. “She’s ready when you are.”

The No. 3, owned by Dillon’s grandfather, longtime NASCAR team owner Richard Childress, has returned to regular use on a car this year for the first time since Earnhardt’s death in the 2001 Daytona 500 and the new ESPN spot reflects the magnitude of the return of the number. Dillon won the Truck Series championship last year driving a Childress-owned No. 3 truck.