TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY (1.5-MILE OVAL)
LOCATION: FORT WORTH, TEXAS
EVENT: NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES (RACE 7 OF 36)
TUNE IN: 7:30 P.M. ET, SATURDAY, APRIL 9 (FOX/PRN/SIRIUSXM)
No. 5 Quicken Loans Chevrolet SS / Kasey Kahne
Driver Kasey Kahne Hometown Enumclaw, Washington
Age 35 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
18th in standings
6 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
1 top-10 finish
0 laps led
Career
438 starts
17 wins
27 pole positions
86 top-five finishes
157 top-10 finishes
4,607 laps led
Track Career
23 starts
1 win
1 pole position
5 top-five finishes
7 top-10 finishes
224 laps led
WELCOME QUICKEN LOANS: Texas marks the first of two races this season for Quicken Loans as the primary sponsor on the No. 5 Chevrolet SS. Quicken Loans will also adorn Kasey Kahne’s Chevrolet SS at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in July. It will serve as a co-primary with Hendrick Automotive Group for May’s All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
KAHNE AT TEXAS: Kahne is a race and pole award winner at the Fort Worth, Texas, track. He led 63 laps and swept the April 2006 weekend with a pole and a win in only his fourth start at the mile-and-a-half track. Kahne started from the fourth position and took the checkered flag in eighth in last year’s Texas spring race.
TEXAS LOOP DATA: According to NASCAR’s loop data, Kahne ranks sixth in green-flag passes out of all active drivers at Texas with 1,600 passes completed. He has also spent 4,724 laps in the top 15 at Texas, which positions him seventh among all active drivers, and is eighth among active drivers in fastest laps run with 271.
INTERMEDIATE TRACK STATS: Ten of Kahne’s 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series wins have come at intermediate tracks one-to-two miles in length, along with 15 of 27 pole awards. Kahne has 47 top-five finishes and 82 top-10 finishes at intermediate tracks.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: On Sunday, April 10, Kahne will celebrate his 36th birthday. 2016 marks the Enumclaw, Washington, native’s 13th full-time season in the Sprint Cup Series.
QUICKEN LOANS TWITTER CHAT: On Saturday, April 9, Kahne will host a Twitter Q&A with fans from the @QLRacing account. Fans can submit their questions for Kahne using the hashtag #AskKasey and he will answer them beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
GREAT CLIPS WINE WEEKEND GIVEAWAY: Kahne fans can enter for a chance to win a wine tasting and dinner experience with the driver on June 25 at Ryan Hill Estates Winery. The Vineyard to Victory Lane experience also includes two tickets to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Sonoma Raceway on June 26. The promotion ends on April 29, for more information visit greatclips.com.
No. 24 NAPA AUTO PARTS Chevrolet SS / Chase Elliott
Driver Chase Elliott Hometown Dawsonville, Georgia
Age 20 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
16th in standings
6 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
4 laps led
Career
11 starts
0 wins
1 pole position
0 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
4 laps led
Track Career
0 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
0 top-five finishes
0 top-10 finishes
0 laps led
NAPA AUTO PARTS ON THE NO. 24 CHEVROLET SS: NAPA AUTO PARTS will be the primary partner on board Rookie of the Year contender Chase Elliott’s No. 24 Chevrolet SS this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. It will be the primary sponsor on the car for 18 additional NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races this year.
TOP-10 PROWESS: Elliott has earned three top-10 finishes in the 2016 season, and he will look to add to that total this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. The 20-year-old driver secured his first top-10 finish of 2016 at his home track, Atlanta Motor Speedway. He also earned Sunoco’s Rookie of the Race honors for his top-10 finishes at Phoenix International Speedway and Auto Club Speedway. Additionally, he was named the Problem Solver of the Race for his race effort at California.
YOUNG GUN IN THE LONE STAR STATE: While young gun Elliott will head to Texas Motor Speedway for the first time in a Cup car this weekend, the rookie shot to Victory Lane and donned the cowboy hat after he won the NASCAR XFINITY Series race at the track in 2014. Elliott led 38 laps en route to his first victory in the series.
DOUBLE DUTY: In addition to racing the No. 24 for Hendrick Motorsports in 2016, the 20-year-old rookie is running a limited schedule in the NXS, piloting the Nos. 5 and 88 Chevrolets for JR Motorsports. After participating in the NXS event this weekend at Texas, Elliott’s next NXS race will be on Saturday, April 30, at Talladega Superspeedway.
No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet SS / Jimmie Johnson
Driver Jimmie Johnson Hometown El Cajon, California
Age 40 Resides Charlotte, North Carolina
2016 Season
2nd in standings
6 starts
2 wins
0 pole positions
3 top-five finishes
4 top-10 finishes
171 laps led
Career
513 starts
77 wins
34 pole positions
210 top-five finishes
318 top-10 finishes
17,880 laps led
Track Career
25 starts
6 wins
1 pole position
13 top-five finishes
19 top-10 finishes
1,023 laps led
Jimmie Johnson will be available to members of the media on Thursday, April 7, in the Texas Motor Speedway media center at 3:45 p.m. local time.
YELLOW NUMBERS ARE BACK: In response to fan feedback and passion for Jimmie Johnson’s iconic yellow No. 48, Lowe’s Racing is bringing back the yellow numbers for both the Lowe’s and Lowe’s ProServices paint schemes starting this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway. Lowe’s Racing shared a video today to announce the return of the numbers: https://youtu.be/Dk0OxJuG8HY
GUNSLINGER: Johnson has won the last three consecutive races at Texas Motor Speedway. He has found Victory Lane in four of the last five and five of the last seven events at the track. In total, Johnson has won six times and led 1,023 laps in the process, both of which are the most all-time at Texas.
SERIES BEST: Johnson has many series-best accolades at Texas Motor Speedway according to NASCAR’s loop data. Among active drivers, Johnson has the series-best driver rating of 108.4. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. The maximum a driver can earn in each race is 150 points.
HELMET OF HOPE: The Jimmie Johnson Foundation is accepting nominations for the Blue Bunny Helmet of Hope program until Thursday, April 14. Non-profit organizations that support K-12 public education in the United States, including parent/teacher organizations, are eligible to be nominated. In all, five charities will be selected to receive a $25,000 cash grant, a Blue Bunny ice cream party and have their logo featured on six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Johnson’s helmet during the race on August 7, 2016, at Watkins Glen International. Visit www.helmetofhope.org to nominate a charity. Click here to read about how the Helmet of Hope has helped charitable organizations in the past.
JIMMIE JOHNSON WELLNESS CHALLENGE RETURNS: Registration is open for the 2016 Jimmie Johnson Foundation Wellness Challenge. Register now for early-bird pricing and register for all three events to receive a reduced rate. The first event is May 22, the Jimmie Johnson Foundation 5K in Huntersville, North Carolina. Log on to www.jjfwellnesschallenge.org for more details.
No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS / Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hometown Kannapolis, North Carolina
Age 41 Resides Mooresville, North Carolina
2016 Season
10th in standings
6 starts
0 wins
0 pole positions
2 top-five finishes
3 top-10 finishes
49 laps led
Career
583 starts
26 wins
13 pole positions
145 top-five finishes
249 top-10 finishes
8,183 laps led
Track Career
27 starts
1 win
2 pole positions
5 top-five finishes
16 top-10 finishes
448 laps led
TRENDING UPWARD AT TEXAS: At Texas Motor Speedway, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has an average finish of 13.9 in 27 races. Since 2010 — excluding a 43rd-place result due to an incident in the opening laps of the April 2014 race — his average finish has improved to 10.2. The Kannapolis, North Carolina, native hasn’t been to Victory Lane at Texas since winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in his first start at the 1.5-mile oval on April 2, 2000, at age 25. But he has finished in the top 10 in the last three events at the track, recording a third-place result and two sixth-place finishes. The 41-year-old driver has two poles at the Lone Star State track, earning the top starting spot in April 2001 and in April 2008, his first pole with Hendrick Motorsports.
QUALITY PASSES AND STATS: Earnhardt leads all active drivers during the last 10 years in the quality passes category. Quality passes are the number of times a driver passes another car that is running in the top 15 while under green flag conditions. The driver of the No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS has recorded 922 quality passes at Texas, 85 more than the next closest driver. Earnhardt has the sixth-best driver rating with a 92.2 average. The driver rating is a formula that combines wins, top-15 finishes, average running position while on the lead lap, average speed under green, fastest lap, most laps led and lead-lap finishes. He ranks third in the number of laps in the top 15 with 5,458 and he holds a solid ranking in many of the speed categories: average speed late in a run (third – 171.519), fastest laps run (seventh – 284) and green-flag speed (fifth – 173.574).
DOUBLE DUTY: Earnhardt will be making his first NASCAR XFINITY Series start of the season in Friday night’s 300-mile event, driving the No. 88 for his JR Motorsports team. He is scheduled to run two NXS races in 2016, the second of which falls on April 23 at Richmond International Raceway. He earned one NXS victory at the Fort Worth, Texas, facility in April 1998, and has finished in the top five in his last three NXS races at the track.
SAVE THE DATE: Next week, Earnhardt will unveil the throwback paint scheme that will be featured on his No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS for Darlington Speedway’s September race. For more details on the media-only event, please contact Tiffany Daniels.
ICYMI, EARNHARDT’S PLEDGE: Last weekend at Martinsville Speedway, Earnhardt announced his decision to pledge his brain to The Concussion Legacy Foundation after being inspired by other athletes who have recently made pledges to the organization as part of the #MyLegacy campaign. The Concussion Legacy Foundation collaborates with Boston University and the VA Boston Healthcare System on the brain bank, where donated brains are studied. For more information on the program, visit: http://concussionfoundation.org/get-involved/my-legacy.
Hendrick Motorsports
HENDRICK MOTORSPORTS AT TEXAS: Hendrick Motorsports has earned eight wins, 31 top-five finishes, 56 top-10s, six pole positions and 2,251 laps led at Texas Motor Speedway. Johnson has reached Victory Lane in each of the past three events at the track, including a sweep in the 2015 season.
ORGANIZATION STATS: To date, Hendrick Motorsports has totals of 242 victories, 207 pole positions, 985 top-five finishes and 1,648 top-10 finishes in Sprint Cup competition. Its teams have led 65,241 laps since 1984.
QUOTABLE /
“The racing has been really good at mile-and-a-half tracks so far this season with the new aero package. I think we will see another great race at Texas, and it being at night always adds extra excitement for the fans. Quicken Loans is on the car and I know they are excited about this weekend. We have a lot going on off of the track during the weekend – a special Chevy project, Blake Shelton and NBC shoot and a Twitter Q&A with Quicken Loans – those things should all be fun.”
Kasey Kahne on Texas Motor Speedway
“The first win at Texas was a big weekend for us on the XFINITY side. We were just getting into the swing of the mile-and-a-half races that year and our program was going really well. As a whole, JR Motorsports was really fast – Kevin (Harvick) had won a few races already so everybody at the shop was upbeat and ready to go. The team brought a fast car that weekend, they called a good race and we were able to get the win. It was a really special weekend and a big confidence and momentum booster for our entire team. It was definitely one that I never want to forget. I’m looking forward to getting back there and racing at Texas this weekend.”
Chase Elliott on his NXS win at Texas
“This 24 team has been very welcoming and easy to work with – from the guys on the team to (No. 24 team crew chief) Alan (Gustafson) and even my Hendrick Motorsports teammates and Jeff (Gordon). They’ve all been very outgoing with trying to help and I think all of that has made the transition to Cup as easy as it could be. As you go along and move up, racing doesn’t get any easier, but I think that everyone has helped to make that transition possible. We’re only a few races in and I still have a lot to learn, I’m still trying to get used to things and they have done a good job making me feel at home – that goes a long way.”
Elliott on the No. 24 team
“It’s crazy to think that we have won all those races in a row. Why? I don’t know, really (laughs). I think part of it is the surface at Texas is seasoned. It’s older, so it just fits my driving style and the No. 48 Lowe’s team. Plus, it’s such a long race and we have all that time to make the right adjustments. It’s fun – they always put on a good show at Texas.”
Jimmie Johnson on three consecutive wins at Texas
“Our loyal fans have spoken and as a result Lowe’s listened and brought back the yellow numbers on the No. 48. The fans have been asking me on Twitter for years to see what I could do to bring them back. They obviously were missed. I’m really excited they are back and just appreciate the partnership with Lowe’s – they have been with me since day one.”
Johnson on returning to yellow No. 48
“We’ve had really fast cars at Texas the last few times we’ve been there. I’m looking forward to going back. I’ve said it over and over — I like this new package. It’s great. Every week has been fun. The cars are fun to drive, slipping and sliding. It’s a good challenge and I’m enjoying it. I think the fans are going to see good racing again this weekend.”
Dale Earnhardt Jr. on racing at Texas
“I was inspired by Brandi Chastain (professional soccer player) and the (Oakland) Raiders players that donated their brains in honor of their teammate. I went through my experience in 2012 and met some amazing doctors at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. They gave me the confidence going through that process that I could be successful and get through it. I have been healthy and successful, and I learned a ton. I may even be a better race car driver today, and I’m definitely getting the results on the track that I’ve always wanted. I will be pledging my brain to the Concussion Legacy Foundation. They are in partnership with Boston University, where the brain bank is. I was an organ donor already for many years, as my driver’s license would attest. It seemed like a reasonable thing to do for me. Anything that I can do to help others.”
Earnhardt on his pledge to The Concussion Legacy Foundation
