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T E X A S M O T O R S P E E D WAY
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SPEEDREADS APRIL 5, 2016
NATIVE TEXAN AGAIN? Brennan Poole is gunning to be the second consecutive XFINITY Series champion to hail from Texas PAGE 2
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR CHASE OFF TO STRONG START
Close race has taken shape in the first five races of 2016 PAGE 3
JGR Team to beat in early going
Kyle Busch has won three of the five races this year PAGE 5
NEWS AND NOTES
Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, Logano, among Sprint Cup drivers in field PAGE 6
O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 defending champion Erik Jones
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LEAD LAP
TOP NEWS FROM TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
NATIVE TEXAN BRENNAN POOLE LOOKING TO BE NEXT NASCAR XFINITY SERIES CHAMP FROM THE LONE STAR STATE his home-state track 10th in the XFINITY Series standings through five races. He has finished among the top 15 in every start, including a best of 10th at Phoenix, and has qualified 13th or better in four of those starts.
Brennan Poole, who hails from The Woodlands, Texas and is driving his first full season in the XFINITY Series, is looking to become the second native Texan in a row to win the series title in 2016 after Chris Buescher won the trophy a year ago.
Last year, the only full-time native Texan in the XFINITY Series – Prosper’s Chris Buescher – went on to capture the series championship in just his second full season in that NASCAR national series. Now Brennan Poole will carry the Texas flag moving forward in the series as a rookie and is aiming for the same success as Buescher soon.
Poole, a 24-year-old from The Woodlands on the outskirts of Houston, is in the midst of his first full XFINITY Series season with Chip Ganassi Racing as he prepares for Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway (7:30 p.m., FOX Sports 1/95.9 The Ranch Locally/PRN/SiriusXM Channel 90). Driving the No. 48 DC Solar Chevrolet, Poole arrives at
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“There was a time when I thought I wasn’t going to get the call that I was hoping to get,” Poole said. “I had some success on the ARCA Series and was still in the sport doing some spotting and trying to get in a car whenever I could, but I knew I could drive on this level.” Poole actually has enjoyed success on every level he has competed on, beginning with quarter midgets as a youth where he earned 90 wins and a national championship in 2002. He dominated Legends Cars next with 96 wins in two years and then moved to dirt racing, where he won seven times, including the Texas World Dirt Track Championship right here at TMS. He transitioned to the late-model series and won a championship in the United Auto Racing Association Series, along with 10 wins, from 2009-11. He made
SPEEDREADS the move to ARCA and stock cars in 2011 and won his debut race at Salem (Ind.) Speedway. Over three seasons in the series, he won six races and four poles. The call he was waiting for came before the 2015 season with an offer to drive a half season in the XFINITY Series for the partnership between HScott Motorsports and Chip Ganassi Racing. It didn’t take him long to jump at the chance. “I had wanted to get that call my entire career,” Poole said. “You always hope others recognize what you have done coming up through the ranks and hope they think enough of you to give you a chance and that’s what happened.” Poole ran a limited XFINITY schedule last season, splitting seat time with Sprint Cup regular Kyle Larson in the No. 42 entry. In 17 starts, he finished among the top 15 on 10 occasions with a best result of ninth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The Las Vegas start was his first in the series. While an opportunity to be behind the wheel is what he was looking for, Poole also spent the weeks he wasn’t driving helping Chip Ganassi Racing by working as a spotter for Sprint Cup driver Jamie McMurray.
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field Poole in the No. 48 Chevrolet with sponsorship from DC Solar for the entire season. “It’s emotional, you really can’t put it into words,” he said when he thinks back to getting that news. “To run for a championship at the NASCAR level is something I’ve wanted to do for as long as I can remember. “I can’t put into words what it means to be part of such a great team. There are only so many owners in the garage, and I’m with one of the best. To have someone like that believe in you, it’s crazy.” Poole will be making his second XFINITY Series start at Texas Motor Speedway, finishing 13th in last April’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. He returns in the No. 48 entry and is hoping to borrow a little thunder from the No. 48 in the Sprint Cup Series.
“Now that I’m in the 48 car, maybe I can get some wins at Texas Motor Speedway like another 48 has been doing,” Poole said of Jimmie Johnson, who drives the No. 48 on the Sprint Cup series and has won a TMS-record six times in the series. “After racing on the big track at Texas last year, I have raced on every track they have there, and it would be unbelievable to win a NASCAR series race in my home state.”
His dedication paid off in February of this year when Chip Ganassi Racing announced it would Te x a s M o t o r S p e e d w a y | O ’ R e i l l y A u t o P a r t s 3 0 0 A d v a n c e
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Rookie of the Year Chase Starting Strong Erik Jones leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings through the first five XFINITY Series races, sitting 13 points ahead of Brandon Jones and 27 ahead of Brennan Poole. It should be an interesting battle throughout the season as this young trio all find themselves among the top 10 in the overall driver standings. Erik Jones, the 19-year-old Michigan native who drives the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Toyota, is seventh in the Erik Jones leads the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standXFINITY Series championship standings, 30 points ings in the XFINITY Series. behind leader Daniel Suárez. He has a pole, three topfive finishes and an average finish of 10.8 in the first five races. He arrives at Texas Motor Speedway as the defending pole sitter and race winner of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. Jones, the 2015 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion, is looking to become the fourth driver to win a truck series title and a NASCAR XFINITY Series crown, joining Greg Biffle, Johnny Benson and Austin Dillon. Brandon Jones, the 19-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia that drives the Richard Childress Racing No. 33 Chevrolet, is fourth in the XFINITY Series championship standings, 21 behind Suarez. He has posted three top-10 finishes and has an average finish of 10.6 in five starts. Poole, the 24-year-old Texan for Chip Ganassi Racing, is 10th in the overall standings on the strength of finish among the top 15 in every start with a best finish of 10th.
Series Juggernauts of the 1.5-Mile Tracks The XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway is one of eight 1.5-mile tracks that the series will compete on throughout the season. In the past three seasons, Joey Logano has had the best average finish on 1.5-mile tracks in the NASCAR XFINITY Series (3.4). Among this season’s series championship contenders, the three drivers with the best average finishes on this size track over the past three seasons are Erik Jones (7.0), Ty Dillon (8.6) and Daniel Suárez (9.1). Kyle Busch has the most wins on 1.5-mile tracks in the XFINITY Series over the last three seasons with 10, followed by Brad Keselowski with seven, Kevin Harvick with five Ty Dillon has the second-best average finish on 1.5-mile tracks, like Texas Motor Speedway, over the and Austin Dillon with three. last three years in the XFINITY Series.
Erik Jones (two) and Brendan Gaughan (one) are the two active series title contenders who have won on 1.5mile tracks in the past three seasons.
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TEXAS TECH GRAD GUIDING POINTS-LEADING TEAM
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JOE GIBBS RACING TEAM TO BEAT IN EARLY GOING Joe Gibbs Racing has dominated the XFINITY Series in the early stages of this season, in large part to defending Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch who has won three of the first five races and led 85% of all laps run. With Busch ineligible for the series championship as a Sprint Cup regular, JGR teammate Daniel Suarez leads the standings while rookie Erik Jones is seventh.
Scott Graves, the crew chief of XFINITY Series points leader Daniel Suárez and the No. 19 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, may hail from upstate New York, but he has Texas connections. Graves, a native of Clifton Springs, New York, is a 1994 graduate of Texas Tech, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He also teamed last season with native Texan Chris Buescher, who grew up in Prosper, and won the XFINITY Series title with Roush Fenway Racing. He has not missed a beat transitioning to JGR and Suarez as the sit atop the series standings and they have not finished worse than eighth through the first five races.
“We have a lot of good people putting in a lot of hard work to get to the point we are at,” Jones said. “To be as fast as we are is a great feeling, but at the same time a little frustrating as we are racing our teammates. We all have pretty much the same stuff, and when you get outrun by a teammate, it’s never fun knowing it was probably you holding the car back. We are going to do the best we can. We have been close to Kyle and right there with Daniel and hopefully we can break through at Texas this week.” The duo will have to contend with Busch once again this weekend as he is entered in Friday night’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300. He is the all-time XFINITY Series victory leader at Texas Motor Speedway with seven while Jones is the defending pole sitter and race winner of the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300.
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Starts defending O’Reilly Auto Parts
300 champion Erik Jones needed in the XFINITY Series to win his first career race last year at Texas Motor Speedway.
DID YOU KNOW? ...the last time a driver successfully defended his O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 title was in 2010 when Kyle Busch won the last of his three consecutive spring XFINITY Series races at Texas Motor Speedway. Those were part of five consecutive XFINITY Series wins by Kyle Busch from 2008-2010 at TMS.
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SPLASH ’N GO
NOTES FROM TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
TEXAS RANGERS TO SPONSOR THE NO. 33 IN O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 300 The Texas Rangers have definitely added some major speed to their line-up for the opening week of the season. The Rangers will be sponsoring the No. 33 Chevrolet Camaro of Brandon Jones for Friday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 NASCAR XFINITY Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. The car will be wrapped in Texas Rangers blue and red with baseballs on the doors and the team’s logo on the hood. In addition, Jones’ driver suit will feature Rangers marks and be modeled after the team’s blue jersey top with gray pants and blue and red piping. Jones is scheduled to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Rangers game with the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Park in Arlington Wednesday for a 1:05 p.m. start. Jones, a 19-year-old driver for Richard Childress Racing, currently is fourth in the XFINITY Series championship standings through the first five races. The series makes its next stop Friday at Texas Motor Speedway for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 300, with qualifying beginning at 3:45 p.m. CT and the race at 7:30 p.m.
Cup Feel in XFINITY Race There will be a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series flavor in Friday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 at Texas Motor Speedway with Dale Earnhardt Jr., defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Aric Almirola all scheduled to be in the field.
STRONG START FOR SUAREZ
Joe Gibbs Racing’s Daniel Suarez is off to a strong start this season, leading the NASCAR XFINITY Series championship standings by 10 points over Elliott Sadler after the first five races. He sits atop the standings on the strength of top-10 finishes in every start thus far, including three among the top five. How strong is that start? Consider Suarez’s start in the first five races is better than those of the last five series title winners. The chart below compares Suarez to the previous five champions in their respective championship-winning seasons through the first five races of the season. Driver Daniel Suarez Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chris Buescher Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Chase Elliott Austin Dillon
Avg. Finish 4.8 6.2 7.8 8.2 8.8 9.8
Driver Rating 112.8 114.7 100.5 108.0 99.5 95.2
Season 2016 2012 2015 2011 2014 2013
CHASE FORMAT NASCAR announced earlier this year that the XFINITY and Camping World Truck Series will have a similar Chase format that has become popular in the Sprint Cup Series. The final seven races of the season, including the series second stop at Texas Motor Speedway in November, will decide the champion from the 12 drivers that will qualify over the season. “The Chase format is going to add a little bit of stress in my life,” XFINITY Series driver Ryan Reed said. “We have seen what it has done on the Cup side with all the drama and excitement and I think it will do the same thing on the XFINITY Series. It should provide a tight championship battle and go to those last three races, including Texas.”
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ENTRY LIST
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O’REILLY AUTO PARTS 300
20th Annual O'Reilly Auto Parts "300" - NASCAR XFINITY Series - Texas Motor Speedway - 4/8/2016 Last Update: Entry Veh #
4/4/2016 5:03:00 PM Driver
Owner
Crew Chief
Veh Mfg
Sponsor
1
0
Garrett Smithley
Gary Cogswell
Danny Gill
16 Chevrolet Enlyten
2
01
Ryan Preece
Johnny Davis
Zach McGowan
16 Chevrolet GK Services
3
1
Elliott Sadler
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Kevin Meendering
16 Chevrolet OneMain
4
2
Austin Dillon(i)
Richard Childress
Danny Stockman Jr
16 Chevrolet Ruud / Smurfit Kappa
5
3
Ty Dillon
Richard Childress
Nick Harrison
16 Chevrolet Bulwark
6
4
Ross Chastain
Gary Keller
Bryan Berry
16 Chevrolet Flex Seal
7
5
Chase Elliott(i)
Dale Earnhardt Jr
Ryan Pemberton
15 Chevrolet TaxSlayer.com
8
6
Darrell Wallace Jr
Jack Roush
Seth Barbour
16 Ford
9
7
Justin Allgaier
Kelley Earnhardt-Miller
Jason Burdett
16 Chevrolet Breyers
10
07
Ray Black Jr
Bobby Dotter
Jason Miller
16 Chevrolet Scuba Life
11
10
Jeff Green
Mark Smith
Doug Miller
16 Toyota
12
11
Blake Koch
Matt Kaulig
Chris Rice
16 Chevrolet LeafFilter Gutter Protection
13
13
Carl Long
Danielle Long
Michael Rathje
15 Dodge
Braille Battery / Grafoid
14
14
TBA
Mark Smith
Edd Pardue
16 Toyota
Tri-Star Motorsports
15
15
Cody Ware
Rick Ware
TBA
16 Ford
Lilly Trucking / CarportEmpire.com
16
16
Ryan Reed
Jack Roush
Phil Gould
16 Ford
Lilly Diabetes / American Diabetes Association Ford Mustang
17
18
Kyle Busch(i)
J D Gibbs
Chris Gayle
16 Toyota
NOS Energy Drink
18
19
Daniel Suarez
Joe Gibbs
Scott Graves
16 Toyota
Juniper Networks
19
20
Erik Jones
Joe Gibbs
Chris Gabehart
16 Toyota
GameStop / Turtle Beach
20
22
Brad Keselowski(i)
Roger Penske
Brian Wilson
15 Ford
Discount Tire
21
24
Matt Tifft(i)
Gregg Mixon
Ken Evans
16 Toyota
Youtheory
22
25
TBA
Rick Ware
TBA
16 Chevrolet TBD
23
28
Dakoda Armstrong
James Whitener
Steve Lane
16 Toyota
24
33
Brandon Jones
Richard Childress
Mike Hillman Jr
16 Chevrolet Texas Rangers
25
39
Ryan Sieg
Rod Sieg
Kevin Starland
16 Chevrolet RSS Racing
26
40
Matt DiBenedetto(i)
Danielle Long
Sebastian Laforge
15 Toyota
27
42
Kyle Larson(i)
Chip Ganassi
Mike Shiplett
16 Chevrolet ENEOS
28
43
Jeb Burton
Richard Petty
Drew Blickensderfer
16 Ford
J. Streicher
29
44
David Starr
Mark Smith
Frank Kerr
16 Toyota
Zachry
30
48
Brennan Poole
Chip Ganassi
Chad Norris
16 Chevrolet DC Solar
31
51
Jeremy Clements
Tony Clements
Tony Clements
15 Chevrolet RepairableVehicles.com
32
52
Joey Gase
Jimmy Means
Tim Brown
16 Chevrolet TBD
33
62
Brendan Gaughan
Richard Childress
Shane Wilson
16 Chevrolet WIX Filters
34
70
Derrike Cope
Mary Louise Miller
Danny Ketterman Jr
16 Chevrolet E-Hydrate / Ice-Aid
35
74
Mike Harmon
Mike Harmon
Rb Bracken
15 Dodge
TBD
36
78
B J McLeod
B J Mcleod
David Ingram Jr
16 Ford
TBD
37
88
Dale Earnhardt Jr(i)
Rick Hendrick
David Elenz
16 Chevrolet Goody's Mixed Fruit Blast
38
89
Morgan Shepherd
Cindy Shepherd
Tony Furr
15 Chevrolet Courtney Construction
39
90
Martin Roy
Michelle Gosselin
Mario Gosselin
15 Chevrolet BuckedUp Apparel
40
93
Dylan Lupton
Pamela Sieg
Harry McMullen
16 Chevrolet RSS Racing
41
97
TBA
Victor Obaika
Todd Myers
15 Chevrolet VroomBrands
42
98
Aric Almirola(i)
Fred Biagi
Jon Hanson
16 Ford
Fastenal Ford Mustang
TBD
JGL Racing
TLC Vacation Club
Carroll Shelby Foundation
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PUBLIC SCHEDULE
DUCK COMMANDER 500 WEEKEND EVENTS
SATURDAY, APRIL 2 8a
VIP & Outside Campgrounds open
TUESDAY, APRIL 5 9a-5p
Texas Motor Speedway Credential Office Hours
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
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