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Cup drivers still facing a lot of unknowns at Texas Motor Speedway

After three practices plus qualifying, there are still a lot of unknowns facing the Monster Energy Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway.

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, crash

Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, crash

Michael C. Johnson

Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Ryan Blaney, Wood Brothers Racing Ford
Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing Ford
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford
Brad Keselowski, Team Penske Ford
Trevor Bayne, Roush Fenway Racing Ford
Trevor Bayne, Roush Fenway Racing Ford
Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, crash
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Dale Earnhardt Jr., Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

Ryan Blaney posted the fastest single-lap speed after the two-hour 55-minute practice on Friday. Kyle Larson had the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Average. Later that afternoon, Kevin Harvick earned his first pole on the 1.5-mile  track. Saturday’s practices had Brad Keselowski and Jimmie Johnson, leading the second and final sessions, respectively, while Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch topped the Best 10 Consecutive Lap Averages. 

No clear favorite

Clearly, however, there was no clear cut favorite for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500. 

“Anytime there is a reconfiguration, a new asphalt it’s a total game changer,” Johnson said. “All of past history is now out the window and it’s like we are coming here for the first time.”

Keselowski won at Kentucky Speedway when the track repaved and reconfigured the 1.5-mile track for the 2016 season. He also finished third on Watkins Glen’s new surface last season — behind winner Denny Hamlin and retiree Carl Edwards. Five drivers, including Keselowski, finished in the top 10 on the repaved track: Jamie McMurray, Martin Truex Jr., Trevor Bayne and the now retired Tony Stewart.

While Bayne hasn’t set the world afire in the No. 6 Ford, he was having a solid weekend at Texas before wrecking his primary car six laps into Happy Hour. He had transferred to the final round of qualifying for the first time all season and posted single-lap speeds in the top 15 in all three practices. 

What accounts for Bayne running so well on repaved surfaces?

“It’s just the way our cars are,” Bayne said. “They need that mechanical grip and when you are at a deficit and you are requiring more of the tire then I think that is something you are fighting at the older race tracks. This year we have seen the opposite. We have been better at Atlanta and California, better than Phoenix or Vegas for my team. We have seemed to make big aero gains and big mechanical grip gains with our setup but I think that is contributing a lot to our performance last year. 

“A lack of mechanical grip, go to a new race track and get that mechanical grip. We have made huge progress this season in a lot of areas. I have learned a lot about preparation as a driver. That is the next part about a re-pave. Everyone is on equal playing ground. Nobody has 10 years of notebooks to go to and say, ‘I am Kevin Harvick and I run the bottom at Atlanta and I am really good at it.’ You can’t do that now. You don’t know what you need to do. When we get here it is equal playing ground.”

Several top drivers starting from the rear of the field

Bayne was understandably upset after wrecking his primary car which he referred to as “the fastest car” he’d ever had. While Bayne is certainly at a deficit starting from the rear of the field on Sunday, he’ll join a gaggle of A-listers including Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Erik Jones and Dale Earnhardt Jr., all who failed to qualify due to not clearing tech in time on Friday.  

Jimmie Johnson, the only Hendrick Motorsports car to clear inspection before time trials, will also start from the rear of the field. Johnson spun during qualifying and flat spotted his tires. The team elected to change tires for the start of the race and accepted the penalty. Kasey Kahne, who also damaged his car in Happy Hour, went to a backup car. Kahne was already starting from the back after missing qualifying. 

Earnhardt, who accompanied his crew through the Laser Inspection Station on Friday, says he’s not worried about starting at the rear of the field. 

“The race is pretty long,” Earnhardt said. “Pit selection bothers you a little bit because we won’t be able to get out there and get a better pit stall. But, we’ll see where we end up on pit road.  

“I don’t know what was wrong with our car going through tech, but if you don’t make it you don’t get out there and I like that. I like the rules being the same for everybody.” 

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