Good news, bad news for NASCAR teams ahead of Texas Cup weekend
The NASCAR Cup Series makes its only visit to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.
The next three points races are at 1.5-mile tracks — Texas, Kansas and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte.
Here is a look at the good news and bad news for Cup teams heading to Texas.
Dustin Long,
23XI Racing — Good news: Bubba Wallace ranks second in the series in stage points with 94 this season. … Wallace's pit crew has gained him a net 37 spots on four-tire stops this season, most of all teams. … Tyler Reddick's average finish in Cup at Texas is 9.3. … Reddick has scored at least one stage point in every race this season. Bad news: Riley Herbst has five finishes of 28th or worse in the last seven races.
Front Row Motorsports — Good news: Noah Gragson finished a season-best fourth at Talladega. … Zane Smith won the pole at Talladega last weekend, his first career Cup pole. … Todd Gilliland has finished 16th or better in three of the last four races. Bad news: Gilliland has not finished better than 28th in three Cup starts at Texas.
Haas Factory Team — Good news: Cole Custer finished a season-best 13th last weekend at Talladega. Bad News: Custer's average finish this season is 26.3.
Hendrick Motorsports — Good news: Kyle Larson has scored a series-high 100 points in the last two races on 1.5-mile tracks. He won at Homestead and finished ninth at Las Vegas, winning a stage there. … Larson's six top-five finishes and seven top 10s are the most in his career through 10 races. … Alex Bowman has seven consecutive top-10 finishes on 1.5-mile tracks, the longest active streak in the series. … Chase Elliott is the only driver to finish in the top 20 in each of the season's first 10 races. … William Byron has a series-best average finish of 8.5 this year, the best average by a Hendrick driver since Jimmie Johnson had an average finish of 7.0 in the first 10 races of 2013. … Byron has finished third or better in three of the last four Texas races. … The organization has won three of the last four Texas points races with three different drivers: Elliott in April 2024, Byron in September 2023 and Larson in October 2021. … Hendrick is the only team to have at least one car finish in the top five in all 10 races this year. Bad news: Elliott is winless in his last 37 starts in points races (he did win the Clash in early February).
Hyak Motorsports — Good news: Ricky Stenhouse Jr. has six top-20 finishes this season. Bad news: Stenhouse has only two top 10s in his last 20 starts on a 1.5-mile track. … Stenhouse is 18th in the playoff standings although he ranks 32nd in passing, 31st in speed and 35th in pit crew, according to Racing Insights.
Joe Gibbs Racing — Good news: Denny Hamlin has finished in the top two in three of the last four races. … Hamlin has finished on the lead lap in 21 consecutive races, the longest active streak. … Chase Briscoe's average finish of 9.0 at Texas is the best all time by any driver. … Briscoe has three top 10s in the last five races. … Christopher Bell has finished in the top three in half of the 10 races this season, including three wins. … Ty Gibbs has four consecutive top-20 finishes after placing in the top 20 only once in the first six races of the season. Bad news: Briscoe has scored stage points in only three of 10 races this year.
Kaulig Racing — Good news: AJ Allmendinger has top 10s in the last four races on 1.5-mile tracks. Bad news: Ty Dillon has had fuel issues in each of the past two races. He was forced to pit with less than 10 laps left at Bristol for fuel and ran out of fuel last weekend at Talladega while in position to score his first top 10 of the season.
Legacy Motor Club — Good news: Erik Jones makes his 300th career Cup start this weekend. Bad news: John Hunter Nemechek has finished 30th in two of the last three races.
Richard Childress Racing — Good news: Austin Dillon has scored back-to-back 10th-place finishes, his only two top 10s of the season. … Kyle Busch has six top 10s in his last eight starts at Texas. Bad news: Busch has not finished in the top 10 in the last six races at 1.5-mile tracks. … Busch has had a pit road speeding penalty in each of the last two races. … This is the second year in a row RCR has had only one top-five finish in the first 10 races of the season.
Rick Ware Racing — Good news: Cody Ware scored his first stage points of the season last weekend at Talladega. Bad news: Ware's best finish at Texas was 33rd in 2022, his most recent Cup start at the track.
RFK Racing — Good news: Brad Keselowski has six consecutive top 10s at Texas. … Ryan Preece has finished in the top 10 in both races at 1.5-mile tracks this season. He placed ninth at Homestead and third at Las Vegas. Bad news: Preece's second-place finish at Talladega was taken away when his car was disqualified for failing post-race inspection (had three shims instead of required two with spoiler). He lost 39 points, which dropped him from 12th to 18th in the points. … Chris Buescher finished 34th at Talladega after he was collected in a crash with Christopher Bell on a restart while they were at the front of the field. … Keselowski finished 36th at Talladega due to a crash as cars slowed to come to pit road in the opening stage.
Spire Motorsports — Good news: Carson Hocevar's 40 stage points this season are more than five drivers who are in a playoff spot after 10 races. … Michael McDowell scored the bonus point for the fastest lap in the race at Talladega. That is the third time he has done that this season. Bad news: Justin Haley has one top-10 finish in his last 15 starts on 1.5-mile tracks. … Hocevar has four finishes of 30th or worse in the last seven races.
Team Penske — Good news: Austin Cindric comes into Texas off his Talladega win. Bad news: Ryan Blaney has failed to finish four of the last seven races this season, including last weekend's race at Talladega. Those four DNFs are the most in the series this year. … Joey Logano lost 40 points with his car being disqualified at Talladega for failing post-race inspection (missing a spoiler bolt). He went from finishing fifth to placing last in the 39-car field. He fell from eight to 11th in points.
Trackhouse Racing — Good news: Ross Chastain has gained 21 positions on restarts at 1.5-mile tracks this season, the most in the series. … Chastain has finished in the top 10 in four of the last six races. … Daniel Suarez has three top-10 finishes in the last four races at Texas. Bad news: Shane van Gisbergen has five pit road speeding penalties in the last three races.
Wood Brothers Racing — Good news: Josh Berry won earlier this season at Las Vegas, a 1.5-mile track. … Berry has started in the top 10 in five of the last nine races. Bad news: Berry finished 36th last April in his only Cup start at Texas after an accident eliminated him.
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