SPEEDREADS
T E X A S M O T O R S P E E D WAY
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SPEEDREADS APRIL 6, 2016
TIME FOR FIRST WIN
Kevin Harvick hopes to end winless streak at Texas Motor Speedway PAGE 2
Johnson dominance
Will Jimmie make it four consecutive wins at TMS? PAGE 3
Earnhardt jr. looks back at 20 years at texas Fan favorite won first career Sprint Cup AND XFINITY races at Texas PAGE 4
Duck Commander 500 defending champion Jimmie Johnson Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | D u c k C o m m a n d e r 5 0 0 A d v a n c e
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SPEEDREADS
LEAD LAP
TOP NEWS FROM TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
HARVICK READY TO PUT BRAKES ON TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY WINLESS SKID Stewart-Haas Racing driver and 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kevin Harvick is accustomed to winning. His 32 career wins are fifth most among active Sprint Cup Series drivers, but there is nary a victory at Texas Motor Speedway where he enjoyed plenty of success in NASCAR’s other national series. Harvick is in the midst of a 26race winless streak at the 1.5mile speedway, which is tied for the longest streak without a victory among Sprint Cup Series drivers who have competed at Texas Motor Speedway. Texas native Bobby Labonte competed in 26 Sprint Cup Series races during his career without securing a victory. Harvick, however, does own six NASCAR national series wins at Texas Motor Speedway over the course of his career, five in the XFINITY Series and one in the Camping World Truck Series. That Sprint Cup streak nearly came to an end last year as Harvick led 96 laps only to finish runner-up to Jimmie Johnson in last year’s Duck Commander 500. Harvick arrives at Texas Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s Duck Commander 500,
Kevin Harvick will be looking to get his Sprint Cup first win at Texas Motor Speedway in Saturday night’s Duck Commander 500.
NASCAR’s third-highest paying race, (6:30 p.m. CT on FOX/ Radio: PRN, SirusXM Channel 90, 95.9 FM The Ranch local) once again as one of the more dominant drivers in the series. He sits atop the driver standings buoyed by a win at Phoenix and five top-10 finishes, including three among the top five, in six starts this season. He also has finished third or better in his last three starts at Texas Motor Speedway and among the top 10 in six of his last eight visits. “I think with the way we’ve run well the last couple of years – we’ve finished second two or three times – we can get that win,” Harvick said. “I just really
Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | D u c k C o m m a n d e r 5 0 0 A d v a n c e
keep thinking about every time I have to drive into the tunnel and the first time I see Eddie (Gossage, Texas Motor Speedway president) to give me grief about not having accomplished that. Hopefully at one point we can knock that off the list, but if we do I don’t know what Eddie and I am going to have to talk about any more.”
DID YOU KN O W? After leading just eight laps in his first 24 Sprint Cup starts at TMS, Kevin Harvick has led 107 in his last two visits, including 96 in last year’s Duck Commander 500.
SPEEDREADS
JOHNSON LOOKS TO CONTINUE TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY DOMINANCE
Jimmie Johnson celebrates his victory in the 2015 Duck Commander 500 last year by shooting off the traditional six-shooters.
Six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson, already with one win in this young season, arrives at Texas Motor Speedway for Saturday night’s Duck Commander 500, NASCAR’s third-highest paying race, as a heavy favorite … once again. Johnson will be chasing his fourth consecutive victory at Texas Motor Speedway and fifth in the previous seven races. Over that stretch, he has led a total of 748 laps to push his career total at Texas to a record 1,023. Last season, he also became the third driver in speedway history to sweep the season’s Sprint Cup races (Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin are the others) to push his career wins at TMS to six, another track record. “Texas is one of the tracks with an older surface on it and it just fits me,” Johnson said.
“The longer the race, the more adjustments that need to be made. I’ve always thought a big thing has been our ability to communicate and talk through what I’m feeling and where we think things are going to go and making the right adjustments.” Johnson already has demonstrated he has a handle on NASCAR’s new aero package at 1.5-mile speedways. He collected his first victory of the season at Atlanta Motor Speedway, a sister Speedway Motorsports, Inc. track similar to Texas Motor Speedway. He also led 73 laps en route to a third-place finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, another SMI facility, last month. “It’s always fun to go to Texas,” Johnson said. “It’s a place that always seems to give us a great opportunity to win.”
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Brad Keselowski is in the midst of love/hate relationship with Texas Motor Speedway. He has led in eight of the previous 10 races, including a record 312 laps in last November’s AAA Texas 500, but has no wins to show for it. He does own a pair of runner-up finishes (fall of 2012 and ‘15) and has tallied six top-10 finishes during that span, but that elusive victory continues to haunt Keselowski. Already with a win at a 1.5-mile track this season (Las Vegas), he is looking to snap that streak during the Duck Commander 500, NASCAR’s third-highest paying race. “When I think of Texas Motor Speedway I think of finishing second there way too many times,” Keselowski said. “I need to win and get that cowboy hat and six shooters. We just need to close the race out. It seems at the end of the race something comes up. Whether it’s a mistake I’ve made or something else. We’ve just got to close it out.”
Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | D u c k C o m m a n d e r 5 0 0 A d v a n c e
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SPEEDREADS
EARNHARDT JR. SHARES MEMORIES OF TMS AS speedway CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY Texas Motor Speedway has ushered in some of NASCAR’s most memorable moments since opening its doors in 1997. The speedway will celebrate its 20th season of racing beginning with this weekend’s Duck Commander 500, the traditional April spot on the Sprint Cup schedule the speedway has held since ‘97. For NASCAR’s most popular driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., Texas Motor Speedway has hosted a pair of special moments for him during his career. Texas was where he earned his first career victories in both the XFINITY (1998) and Sprint Cup Series (2000). “I just remember how good the car was,” Earnhardt Jr. said of his Sprint Cup Series race-winning car. “We had an awesome setup and some pretty unique stuff in the car. It really was a new direction for us in setups. I just remember being in the car and it being so amazing. It was so easy to drive.” Earnhardt Jr. became the first Sprint Cup Series rookie to win at Texas Motor Speedway, leading 106 of 334 laps. While the celebration in Victory Lane with his father Dale Earnhardt Sr. provided a lasting memory, the win could have nearly been derailed. “A lot of people don’t know this but the clutch broke 40 to 50 laps to go,” Earnhardt Jr. said. “After the last pit stop the clutch was broke so if we would have had a restart or late race pit stop I would have had a lot of trouble trying to get out of the pit stall. We were fortunate that didn’t bite us at the end.”
DUCK CALL Birds of a feather flock together and the famed Robertson family will do just that this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The family, known for their antics on A&E’s popular reality show Duck Dynasty as well as for their booming business that serves as the title sponsor for the Duck Commander 500, will visit with fans leading up to the start of Saturday evening’s race. The Duck Commander compound, located between Gates 1 and 2 along the FanZone, will be the place for fans to get autographs of their favorite Duck Dynasty personality. The signings are free and open to the public. 10 – 11:30 a.m. – Phil Robertson, Ms. Kay, Jase Robertson, Missy Robertson, Alan Robertson, Lisa Robertson and John Godwin 12:30 – 2 p.m. – Willie Robertson, Korie Robertson, Sadie Robertson, Si Robertson, Jep Robertson, Jessica Robertson and Justin Martin.
HOMETOWN FAVORITE TAKES OVER TMS INFIELD
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie Chris Buescher, a Prosper, Texas native and 2015 XFINITY Series champion, is returning to his home track and on Friday he will be giving back to his loyal hometown supporters. Buescher, driving the No. 34 Love’s Travel Stops Ford for Front Row Motorsports, is set to take over the Texas Motor Speedway infield campground as he will be rolling through to give away hats, take photos and sign autographs with fans from 3-4 p.m. CT. Fans can keep tabs on Buescher’s whereabouts by following @ chris_buescher, @roushfenway and @team_FRM on Twitter or by following the Live broadcast on Roush Fenway Racing’s Facebook page. Buescher also will be in attendance at Revin’ Up Roanoke in nearby Roanoke, Texas. Buescher will sign autographs at the event which begins at 5 p.m. on Oak St. Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | D u c k C o m m a n d e r 5 0 0 A d v a n c e
SPEEDREADS
ENTRY LIST
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DUCK COMMANDER 500
20th Annual Duck Commander "500" - NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Texas Motor Speedway - 4/9/2016 Last Update: Entry
4/4/2016 10:12:00 AM
Veh #
Driver
Organization
Crew Chief
Veh Mfg
Sponsor
1
1
Jamie McMurray
Chip Ganassi Racing
Matt McCall
16 Chevrolet Cessna
2
2
Brad Keselowski
Team Penske
Paul Wolfe
16 Ford
3
3
Austin Dillon
Richard Childress Racing
Slugger Labbe
16 Chevrolet Dow - Solar
4
4
Kevin Harvick
Stewart-Haas Racing
Rodney Childers
16 Chevrolet Jimmy John's
5
5
Kasey Kahne
Hendrick Motorsports
Keith Rodden
16 Chevrolet Quicken Loans
6
6
Trevor Bayne
Roush Fenway Racing
Matt Puccia
16 Ford
7
7
Regan Smith
Tommy Baldwin Racing
Tommy Baldwin
16 Chevrolet Fire Alarm Services, Inc. Chevrolet
8
10
Danica Patrick
Stewart-Haas Racing
Billy Scott
16 Chevrolet Nature's Bakery
9
11
Denny Hamlin
Joe Gibbs Racing
Michael Wheeler
16 Toyota
10
13
Casey Mears
Germain Racing
Bootie Barker III
16 Chevrolet GEICO
11
14
Brian Vickers
Stewart-Haas Racing
Mike Bugarewicz
16 Chevrolet TaxAct Military Files Free Chevrolet SS
12
15
Clint Bowyer
HScott Motorsports
Steve Addington
16 Chevrolet Visine
13
16
Greg Biffle
Roush Fenway Racing
Brian Pattie
16 Ford
Kleen Performance Ford Fusion
14
17
Ricky Stenhouse Jr
Roush Fenway Racing
Nicholas Sandler
16 Ford
Zest Ford Fusion
15
18
Kyle Busch
Joe Gibbs Racing
Adam Stevens
16 Toyota
Interstate Batteries
16
19
Carl Edwards
Joe Gibbs Racing
Dave Rogers
16 Toyota
Stanley
17
20
Matt Kenseth
Joe Gibbs Racing
Jason Ratcliff
16 Toyota
Dollar General
18
21
Ryan Blaney
Wood Brothers Racing
Jeremy Bullins
16 Ford
Motorcraft / Quick Lane Tire + Auto Center
19
22
Joey Logano
Team Penske
Todd Gordon
16 Ford
Shell Pennzoil
20
23
David Ragan
BK Racing
Patrick Donahue
16 Toyota
Dr. Pepper
21
24
Chase Elliott
Hendrick Motorsports
Alan Gustafson
16 Chevrolet NAPA Auto Parts
22
27
Paul Menard
Richard Childress Racing
Justin Alexander
16 Chevrolet Pepsi / Menards
23
30
Josh Wise
The Motorsports Group
Dave Fuge
16 Chevrolet Curtis Key Plumbing
24
31
Ryan Newman
Richard Childress Racing
Luke Lambert
16 Chevrolet Caterpillar
25
32
Jeffrey Earnhardt
GO FAS Racing
Wally Rogers
16 Ford
Can- Am
26
34
Chris Buescher
Front Row Motorsports
Bob Osborne
16 Ford
Love’s Travel Stops
27
38
Landon Cassill
Front Row Motorsports
Donnie Wingo
16 Ford
MDS Transport
28
41
Kurt Busch
Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Gibson
16 Chevrolet Monster Energy / Haas Automation
29
42
Kyle Larson
Chip Ganassi Racing
Chad Johnston
16 Chevrolet Target
30
43
Aric Almirola
Richard Petty Motorsports
Trent Owens
16 Ford
Smithfield
31
44
Brian Scott
Richard Petty Motorsports
Chris Heroy
16 Ford
Albertons Co. / Shore Lodge
32
46
Michael Annett
HScott Motorsports
Jay Guy
16 Chevrolet Pilot Flying J
33
47
AJ Allmendinger
JTG Daugherty Racing
Randall Burnett
16 Chevrolet Kroger / Bush's Beans
34
48
Jimmie Johnson
Hendrick Motorsports
Chad Knaus
16 Chevrolet Lowe's
35
55
Reed Sorenson
Premium Motorsports
Patrick Tryson
16 Chevrolet TBA
36
78
Martin Truex Jr
Furniture Row Racing
Cole Pearn
16 Toyota
Bass Pro Shops / TRACKER Boats
37
83
Matt DiBenedetto
BK Racing
Gene Nead
16 Toyota
Cosmo Motors
38
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Hendrick Motorsports
Greg Ives
16 Chevrolet Nationwide
39
95
Ty Dillon(i)
Circle Sport-Leavine Family
Dave Winston
16 Chevrolet Nexium 24HR Chevrolet SS
40
98
Cole Whitt
Premium Motorsports
Mark Hillman
15 Chevrolet TBA
6
Sprint Cup Series race winners that have started outside the top
10 at Texas Motor Speedway in 31 career races. The previous 10 race winners have all started 10th or better.
Miller Lite
AdvoCare Ford Fusion
FedEx Office
3
Pole sitters that have gone on to win a Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. Kasey Kahne was the first in the spring race of 2006 and was followed by Jimmie Johnson (fall of 2012) and Kyle Busch (spring of ’13).
Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | D u c k C o m m a n d e r 5 0 0 A d v a n c e
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SPEEDREADS
PUBLIC SCHEDULE
DUCK COMMANDER 500 WEEKEND EVENTS
WednesDAY, APRIL 6 9a-5p 10a 10a
Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours Reserved Infield Camping Opens (South Tunnel) Burnout Alley Load In (closes midnight Friday)
ThursDAY, APRIL 7
9a-6p Texas Motor Speedway Credentials Office Hours 9:30a NXS Haulers Enter 11a NSCS Haulers Enter 11:30a-6p NXS Registration Open 12p-8p NXS Garage Open 2p-6p NSCS Registration Open 2:30p-7p NSCS Garage Open 2:30 pm Gate 4 Open 2:30 pm Gate 2 Open for Victory Lane Club Access Only 3p-4:25p NXS Practice 4:30p-5:55p NSCS Practice 6p-6:55p NXS Final Practice
FRIDAY, APRIL 8
9a-7:30p Texas Motor Speedway Credentials Office Hours 9a-7p NSCS Registration Open 9a-8:30p NSCS Garage Open 10a-7p NXS Registration Open 10a NXS Garage Open 1p Gates 3, 4 & 5 Open 1p Gates 2 & 6 Open for Luxury Suites and Victory Lane Club Only 1:15p3:30p NSCS “HOT PASS” IN EFFECT 1:45p-2:45p NSCS Qualifying 3:45p-4:45p NXS Qualifying 5p-7:30p NSCS “HOT PASS” IN EFFECT 5:30p-6:50p NSCS Final Practice 7:30p NXS O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 (200 Laps, 300 Miles) 12 am Burnout Alley Closes
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
12p-6:30p Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours 12:30p-7p NSCS Registration Open 12:30p NSCS Garage Open 2 p Gates 2-8 Luxury Suites and Victory Lane Club Open 4:40p Loud & Proud Pre-Race Show powered by the Texas Lottery Concert featuring Lynyrd Skynyrd 5:30p-11p NSCS “HOT PASS” IN EFFECT 6:30p NSCS Duck Commander 500 (334 Laps, 501 Miles) 30 min Portacool Post-Race Show featuring post race Charlie Robison
TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY ticket info www.texasmotorspeedway.com 817.215.8500 Facebook: Texas Motor Speedway Twitter: @txmotorspeedway Instagram: txmotorspeedway
Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | D u c k C o m m a n d e r 5 0 0 A d v a n c e