NASCAR Cup Series

ERIK JONES, No. 77 Sport Clips Toyota Camry, Furniture Row Racing - You have a special paint scheme on your car on Saturday with your sponsors from the state of Texas. Talk about racing in their backyard. “It's cool. Both sponsors located here in Texas, so always fun to race at home for a sponsor. They get to bring all their folks out from the headquarters, join in on the race. It's just cool to see a lot of people you don't get to see throughout the year too much. I always want to put on a good show for them. We've done a good job for GameStop in the XFINITY Series, able to grab a couple wins for them. This is my first time racing for Sport Clips in Texas. Looking forward to everybody coming out and hopefully putting on a good race for them.”

Team Penske and Discount Tire announced today that beginning in 2018, the world’s largest independent tire and wheel retailer will build on its established and successful partnership with the motorsports team and become a primary sponsor of the No. 2 Ford Fusion driven by 2012 champion Brad Keselowski in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series (MENCS).

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Texas Motor Speedway and discussed his position in the Playoffs, what advice he has given Chase Elliott, his success at Texas and many other topics.

CHASE ELLIOTT, NO. 24 HOOTERS CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Texas Motor Speedway and discussed his chances for victory at Texas, last week’s race at Martinsville Speedway, his thoughts on younger drivers competing with veteran drivers and many other topics.

RYAN BLANEY, No. 21 Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford Fusion -- WHAT DO YOU AND YOUR TEAM NEED TO DO HERE TO PUT YOURSELF IN POSITION TO WIN THE RACE AND ADVANCE IN THE PLAYOFFS? “I think we just need to have a solid weekend like we had in the spring race and try to finish it out better. We got behind there and slid through my box the last pit stop which put us back. We need to have a good, solid race. That is the best thing we can do. Cut down on mistakes like we have the whole playoffs. We haven't had huge mistakes. We have been consistent and gotten good finishes. We are coming to a track that has been decent for us in the past and the 1.5 mile stuff has been really good for us. Hopefully we can have a solid weekend and a good run on Sunday and put ourselves in a decent spot going into Phoenix.”

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., NO. 88 NATIONWIDE/JUSTICE LEAGUE CHEVROLET SS, met with members of the media at Texas Motor Speedway and discussed his upcoming Appreci88ion event during banquet week at Las Vegas, last weekend’s race at Martinsville, what Texas Motor Speedway has meant to his career and many other topics.

Team Penske and Miller Lite announced today that the original light beer will continue its relationship with the No. 2 Ford Fusion team and driver Brad Keselowski in 2018 and beyond. The renewal continues a partnership that began on the No. 2 Team Penske Ford in 1991 with driver Rusty Wallace.

Leavine Family Racing (LFR) and Michael McDowell will celebrate their homecoming at Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500.

NASCAR heads to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend with all three national series as the Playoffs continue. The Truck Series hits the track Friday for the JAG Metals 350 followed by the XFINITY Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 300 Saturday night. The Cup Series closes out the action Sunday at 2 p.m. on NBCSN with the AAA Texas 500.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is right when he says NASCAR needs more Martinsville-like dramas to play out every week. What they need is “drama and exciting finishes — the fans sitting there in the grandstands cheering like crazy, and booing, and cheering and booing after every interview, for 15 minutes after the race — we need that every weekend.” Damn right.