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Sprint Cup
CUP: Everything’s Bigger In Texas
Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton nearly came to blows at Texas in 2010…
Texas Motor Speedway is hosting the Sprint Cup Series this weekend. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
From the time it hosted its first NASCAR Sprint Cup race in April 1997, Texas Motor Speedway has been the sight of some action that can best be described as, well, Texas sized. Which is to say, huge, and at times just plain wild.
Following are some of the defining Sprint Cup races at the 1.5-mile track.
Nov. 7, 2010 — At a track known for big moments, no race was bigger, more contentious or crazier than this one. Denny Hamlin won his eighth race of the season, taking over the points lead from Jimmie Johnson with two races to go. But that wasn’t even the day’s biggest story.
Under caution on Lap 192, Jeff Burton deliberately — and inexplicably — wrecked Jeff Gordon and took himself out in the process. Seconds later, the two nearly came to blows on the backstretch, Gordon understandably infuriated by what happened.
What came next was even stranger. With Gordon out of the race, Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, benched the No. 48 over-the-wall crew after a series of botched pit stops and moved Gordon’s entire crew to the No. 24, where they would remain for the end of the season.
After the race, Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Ford, ripped into Knaus and the Hendrick organization in a move that ultimately proved badly flawed, as Hamlin would go to lose the championship due to mistakes in the final two races.
April 1, 2000 — Dale Earnhardt Jr. was just 12 races into his NASCAR Sprint Cup career when he won the DirecTV 500 as a rookie in 2000. Earnhardt, then just 25 years old, started fourth and led 106 laps in scoring his milestone first victory at the track where two years earlier he also won his first NASCAR Nationwide Series race.
At the time of his Cup victory, Earnhardt Jr. drove for his father’s team, Dale Earnhardt Inc., and the scene between father and son in victory lane was extremely emotional for both father and son. “I tell you, he’s something else,” the elder Earnhardt said of his son. “ … We knew the kid could do it.”
Nov. 7, 2007 — With 34 laps to go in the Dickies 500, Jimmie Johnson pitted for four fresh tires and when he did, crew chief Chad Knaus, got on the radio. “Ready to pull out your cape?” Knaus asked his driver. “Man, I’ve been waiting all night,” Johnson responded, ready to play the part of Superman again.
And that’s exactly what he did. Johnson ran down leader Matt Kenseth and nearly wrecked trying to pass him as the two waged a fantastic battle, lap after lap. Forced to back off, Johnson regrouped. Finally, with three laps to go, he made a daring move around Kenseth to win his third consecutive race and take the NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead.
It proved to be the turning point in the season, as Johnson would never again trail in the standings and went on to score his second consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, making him the first repeat winner since teammate Jeff Gordon a decade earlier.
Nov. 6, 2005 — The team now known as Roush Fenway Racing has always excelled at 1.5-mile tracks and this day would prove to be no exception, as the team swept the top three spots in the Dickies 500, with Carl Edwards winning over Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth.
But for another Roush Fenway Racing driver, Texas would prove to be a nightmare. Greg Biffle, who had won at Texas earlier that year, had a car that was certainly as good as what his teammates had.
During the race, Biffle spun early on the frontstretch, but he kept his car off the wall, avoiding calamity. Unfortunately, he went down one lap in the process. Worse yet, his second loose wheel of the race doomed him to a 20th-place finish. Had Biffle finished in the top five as his teammates did, he would have won the championship and been the only man in history to win titles in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions. Instead, Biffle finished the equivalent of 9 points behind Tony Stewart.
April 6, 1997 — The inaugural race at Texas Motor Speedway was a debacle of epic proportions. Weeks of heavy rains meant that many of the track’s parking lots never got paved at all and became mud bogs. The track was plagued with “weepers” — water coming through the track surface. When asked how he got the track open at all, given the myriad weather and construction obstacles, Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman and CEO Bruton Smith infuriated many race fans by saying, “It's like if a woman is trying to get pregnant. If she can't do it, you get more men in to do the job.”
On race day, the interstate highways leading to the track were complete parking lots — literally, in some cases, as fans abandoned their cars in droves by the side of the road and walked the last few miles to the track.
When the race finally began, there was a huge crash in Turn 1 that snared Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield, Kyle Petty, Morgan Shepherd and others. The wreck began when Johnny Benson turned Waltrip, and from there it was on. There would be several other hard crashes in the race, taking out a number of top contenders, including Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace and Ernie Irvan.
When the dust settled, Jeff Burton was in Victory Lane for the first time, with the dominant image being wife Kim atop Burton’s pit box in the closing laps, weeping as she urged her husband to a historic triumph, even as his engine appeared on the verge of failing.
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
Following are some of the defining Sprint Cup races at the 1.5-mile track.
Nov. 7, 2010 — At a track known for big moments, no race was bigger, more contentious or crazier than this one. Denny Hamlin won his eighth race of the season, taking over the points lead from Jimmie Johnson with two races to go. But that wasn’t even the day’s biggest story.
Under caution on Lap 192, Jeff Burton deliberately — and inexplicably — wrecked Jeff Gordon and took himself out in the process. Seconds later, the two nearly came to blows on the backstretch, Gordon understandably infuriated by what happened.
What came next was even stranger. With Gordon out of the race, Johnson’s crew chief, Chad Knaus, benched the No. 48 over-the-wall crew after a series of botched pit stops and moved Gordon’s entire crew to the No. 24, where they would remain for the end of the season.
After the race, Hamlin’s crew chief, Mike Ford, ripped into Knaus and the Hendrick organization in a move that ultimately proved badly flawed, as Hamlin would go to lose the championship due to mistakes in the final two races.
April 1, 2000 — Dale Earnhardt Jr. was just 12 races into his NASCAR Sprint Cup career when he won the DirecTV 500 as a rookie in 2000. Earnhardt, then just 25 years old, started fourth and led 106 laps in scoring his milestone first victory at the track where two years earlier he also won his first NASCAR Nationwide Series race.
At the time of his Cup victory, Earnhardt Jr. drove for his father’s team, Dale Earnhardt Inc., and the scene between father and son in victory lane was extremely emotional for both father and son. “I tell you, he’s something else,” the elder Earnhardt said of his son. “ … We knew the kid could do it.”
Nov. 7, 2007 — With 34 laps to go in the Dickies 500, Jimmie Johnson pitted for four fresh tires and when he did, crew chief Chad Knaus, got on the radio. “Ready to pull out your cape?” Knaus asked his driver. “Man, I’ve been waiting all night,” Johnson responded, ready to play the part of Superman again.
And that’s exactly what he did. Johnson ran down leader Matt Kenseth and nearly wrecked trying to pass him as the two waged a fantastic battle, lap after lap. Forced to back off, Johnson regrouped. Finally, with three laps to go, he made a daring move around Kenseth to win his third consecutive race and take the NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead.
It proved to be the turning point in the season, as Johnson would never again trail in the standings and went on to score his second consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship, making him the first repeat winner since teammate Jeff Gordon a decade earlier.
Nov. 6, 2005 — The team now known as Roush Fenway Racing has always excelled at 1.5-mile tracks and this day would prove to be no exception, as the team swept the top three spots in the Dickies 500, with Carl Edwards winning over Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth.
But for another Roush Fenway Racing driver, Texas would prove to be a nightmare. Greg Biffle, who had won at Texas earlier that year, had a car that was certainly as good as what his teammates had.
During the race, Biffle spun early on the frontstretch, but he kept his car off the wall, avoiding calamity. Unfortunately, he went down one lap in the process. Worse yet, his second loose wheel of the race doomed him to a 20th-place finish. Had Biffle finished in the top five as his teammates did, he would have won the championship and been the only man in history to win titles in all three of NASCAR’s top divisions. Instead, Biffle finished the equivalent of 9 points behind Tony Stewart.
April 6, 1997 — The inaugural race at Texas Motor Speedway was a debacle of epic proportions. Weeks of heavy rains meant that many of the track’s parking lots never got paved at all and became mud bogs. The track was plagued with “weepers” — water coming through the track surface. When asked how he got the track open at all, given the myriad weather and construction obstacles, Speedway Motorsports Inc. Chairman and CEO Bruton Smith infuriated many race fans by saying, “It's like if a woman is trying to get pregnant. If she can't do it, you get more men in to do the job.”
On race day, the interstate highways leading to the track were complete parking lots — literally, in some cases, as fans abandoned their cars in droves by the side of the road and walked the last few miles to the track.
When the race finally began, there was a huge crash in Turn 1 that snared Dale Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip, Jeremy Mayfield, Kyle Petty, Morgan Shepherd and others. The wreck began when Johnny Benson turned Waltrip, and from there it was on. There would be several other hard crashes in the race, taking out a number of top contenders, including Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace and Ernie Irvan.
When the dust settled, Jeff Burton was in Victory Lane for the first time, with the dominant image being wife Kim atop Burton’s pit box in the closing laps, weeping as she urged her husband to a historic triumph, even as his engine appeared on the verge of failing.
Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEED.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100.
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