NASCAR Preview: Texas Race Weekend
- DIVEBOMB Motorsport
- May 2
- 6 min read
Written by Gabriel Tsui, Ashleigh McGregor & Bailey Defoor
Returning back to the more traditional style of tracks, all three touring series’ travel to Fort Worth, Texas for the 11th weekend of the season. This will be the only visit to Texas.
From 1998 to 2016, Texas Motor Speedway had each corner banked at 24 degrees and looked like a traditional 1.5-mile (2.41-kilometre) D-oval track. However, during the repaving in 2017, the track also received a reconfiguration, it remains at 1.5 miles, with banking of 20 degrees in Turn 1 and 24 degrees in Turn 2. This provides great difficulties for engineers who will be trying to maximise every bit of pace this weekend.
Below are the start times for each race plus lap count:
Trucks: Friday, 2 May, 19:00 local (01:00 UK) – 167 laps
Xfinity: Saturday, 3 May, 13:00 local (19:00 UK) – 200 laps
Cup: Sunday, 4 May, 14:30 local (20:30 UK) – 267 laps)
Below are the defending winners of each race:
Trucks: No. 7 - Kyle Busch (Spire Motorsports)
Xfinity: No. 1 - Sam Mayer (JR Motorsports)
Cup: No. 9 - Chase Elliott (Hendrick Motorsports)
Cup Series: Wurth 400 Race Preview
Written by Gabriel Tsui
Kicking off the month of May, we head down to the lone star state for the second time of the year, this time taking the contest to Texas Motor Speedway. The track is under a four-year-long Chevrolet dominance, and coming off a strong weekend for the manufacturer in Talladega, will they extend the winning streak at the track or would someone else break the streak?
The drivers will be rolling around Fort Worth for 267 laps, with 80 laps in the first stage, 85 laps in the second stage, closing off the race with 102 laps, totalling a distance of 400 miles (644 kilometres) run around the one-and-a-half mile long track.
The weather report indicates there will be thunderstorms on Friday, but Saturday and Sunday will be sunny skies, with temperatures around 23 degrees Celsius (76 degrees Fahrenheit). The race will commence on the Sunday of May 4th, at 14:30 local (12:30 PST, 20:30 UK).
Race Predictions
Austin Cindric took his third career win at a relatively quiet Talladega race, but not with a train of Chevrolet behind him looking to pounce on any mistakes. In the past three races, the Chevys have put up quite a few impressive performances, highlighted by a dominating showing in Bristol.
The two drivers who showed up the most are undoubtedly the championship leaders, Kyle Larson and William Byron. Larson had a complete showing in Bristol, leading 411 laps out of the possible 500 laps. On the other hand, Byron has three consecutive top-ten finishes, including a strong performance in Darlington where the 27-year-old led 243 laps out of the 297 laps, but unfortunately had to settle for a second place finish on Denny Hamlin’s big night.
And to cut straight to the chase, the pick will be William McComas Byron Jr. from Charlotte. The star driver for Hendrick Motorsports has been the best performer in the Cup Series so far into the season, with only two finishes below 20th place and seven top-ten finishes.
For Byron, he has been oh-so-close for a win since his win in the season opener in Daytona Beach. The championship leader is overdue for a win, and the expectation is for Byron to take his second win of the season.
Three things to look out for
Internal struggles in Penske
Despite Austin Cindric securing another qualification back to the playoffs, the talk of the garage is Joey Logano’s outburst against Cindric following the end of stage two in Talladega. The three-time champion discussed his comments with the media members post-race, indicating that he stands by what he said. It will be interesting to see if this internal conflict further expands, but for now it seems the two will keep the peace.
Ryan Preece and Joey Logano’s disqualifications
Ryan Preece and Logano were found to have spoiler violations in post-race inspection following Talladega, and both teams decided against an appeal, as they were dropped to 38th and 39th place respectively. This penalty hurted Preece the most, as the RFK driver fell four places from 14th place to 18th place, dropping him out of the playoff zone. These next two races will be crucial for Preece, as he must find a way to carry some momentum into the All-Star weekend.
Chevrolet’s bid for five consecutive in Texas
Chevrolet has won four consecutive races in Texas, with three of those wins coming from the Hendricks drivers. This will be an opportunity to win five straight at the track, a feat that has never been achieved before. However, it will not be a walk in the park as drivers such as Tyler Reddick and Ryan Blaney will be looking for their first win of the season, so the Chevys must stay focused.
Xfinity Series: Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 Preview
Written by Ashleigh McGregor
Last race saw Austin Hill take the top step at Talladega Speedway. Marking his third win of the 2025 season. The series now moves to the sizable state of Texas. Where everything is bigger, better and hotter.
Race Weekend Guide
In the championship picture, Austin Hill moves up to second place, demoting Sam Mayer to third. As of the Talladega race, Hill is 79 points behind championship leader Justin Allgaier.
Hill now holds more race wins, three to Allgaier's two wins this season. Hill also has five stage wins compared to Allgaier's three. Both drivers are going to be aiming for their best race weekend.
Connor Zilisch, currently sixth in the drivers championship standings, will be missing the Texas race. After a nasty crash in Talladega on the last lap, he is sitting out due to a back injury. NASCAR Cup star Kyle Larson is jumping back on the track this season and replacing him in the No. 88 car for Texas.
Larson will be looking to dominate this weekend. Previously, he has expressed the desire to "embarrass the field," but also teach the drivers that they can extract more out of themselves. Larson is definitely someone to keep an eye on for this race.
Track Insights
The Texas Motor Speedway will host the twelfth round of the Xfinity series. Drivers are covering 300 miles over 200 laps. Stage one and stage two are 45 laps. 113 laps will make up the final stage of the race.
Practice is on Friday May 2nd at 16:00 local followed by qualifying at 17:05. The weather is expected to be cloudy with some winds.
Race day is on Saturday May 3rd at 13:00 local. A beautiful day for the race with the weather expecting to be 72 degrees.
Truck Series: SpeedyCash.com 250 Preview
Written by Bailey Defoor
A couple of weeks ago, the Trucks Series headed to Rockingham for the first time in 12 years, where Tyler Ankrum took his second career victory, ending his 130-race win drought.
This week, the Trucks head to Texas Motor Speedway. Spire Motorsports’ Kyle Busch secured his 66th Truck series win, and his sixth at Texas Motor Speedway. With his win, Busch tied Todd Bodine with the most Truck series wins at Texas Motor Speedway.
This is also the start of a six consecutive stretch of races, the longest stretch of the season, and it will go through to Michigan in early June.
Race Predictions
This driver has shown they are reliable, currently leading the championship, and they are consistent around this track. He finished second at the last spring race here, so it’s time for Corey Heim to take his first victory at Texas Motor Speedway.
Storylines
1. Last lap changes
In five of the last six Truck series races at Texas Motor Speedway, the final lead has changed with nine or fewer laps to go. Two of those were in the final lap. Texas is also tied for the most last-lap passes, so expect to see some last-minute changes.
2. 5-for-5
In the last five races at Texas Motor Speedway, we have seen no repeat winners. Will there be another new winner this weekend, or will one of the previous winners break the streak?
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