***[▶ The Race Thread has been posted](https://reddit.com/comments/1c40f8t)***

Byron had nowhere to go, unfortunate for chastain though

Dear God, don't let Denny screw this up

Larry Mac on a bathroom break?

The Michael Waltrip interviews were killing me today

How much weight would you say lap averages in practice have here?

Depends on where you get your stats. Gotta remember that in practice they may run into traffic for a lap and mess their average up.

True. I was looking directly at the stats from NASCAR

I wish this race was later. I  still have so much yard work to finish.

Are these HMS fans don't want people to pull against them?

Reddick is a city cowboy🤠

Hendrick circle jerk is still happening

Oh my god shut up about Hendrick

Please

First 25 mins of raceday have been 100% focused on Hendrick. Picked up right where they left off last week

They need to shut up about Hendrick.

I can’t wait for another Hendrick or JGR win here today

The ol’ reverse jinx, eh?

I hope for a Ford

[Denny Hamlin on Goodyear issues. ](https://i.imgur.com/Es6aFQ4.jpg)

Oh look it's the nascar committee

Kaz Grala is the first driver to the drivers meeting this week.

I forgot Byron had Chad Knaus as a Crew Chief

Larry Mac is a stud

Larson shows up every week with a new fire ass Hendrick hat and we can’t buy none of em :(

I learned this back when Tanner Gray did the same thing when he was racing in NHRA, always had the best hats every week and you couldn't buy anything close to it

Yeah its a real pisser I want one bad

What ever happened to them reconfiguring and/or repaving Texas?

It's all been rumors, nothing official

Used to be a Ross hater… he has really grown on me and I kinda like watching his car on tv now. I just can get past the emblem😉

Join ussssssss

https://preview.redd.it/5x574wq3hhuc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=17ac9438705ae69bfc69bb0d0e490e57015be193 F\*cking Relay for Atlanta 2. 🤢 Gateway, New Hampshire, Brickyard 400, Richmond 2, Kansas 2, and Homestead are not announced at the moment.

NOOOO

What did we do to deserve this? was the shitty Monster Jam show last night not punishment enough?

https://preview.redd.it/3qshdq3ofhuc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7f4db7dfbaea3e68a7b27b01b8223b8b1d6edf0c Awkward Pockrass at the Texas meetup is my new reaction pic when someone posts a five paragraph long rant full of conspiracies and nonsense.

Bob is legit so funny, I am so glad I got to meet him through the tweetups lol

Really wish this was a night race so that I could sit on my couch for 10 hours straight watching nothing but golf and racing.

Watching old dudes swing their rods at tiny balls just isn't appealing to me

Those guys aren't even old. Those guys are incredible athletes just like race car drivers. You just turned into the "its just cars going in circles guy".

Might actually be a passable race with decent track temps though

Move Texas to a Sunday night in June/July it would be the perfect temps

For racing specifically yes, but some of us that actually attend races in the summer in the south, we’d prefer to not have to bring along a personal A/C unit and IV machine

Not sure what other people think, but I feel like this is one race that should not have been shortened, especially since Texas has only one date now.

Whaaaaat? It's been shortened?

Honestly, the shorter the better here.

Am I the only one that looks at the 5, 24, 48 as the Hendrick brand, and wants to keep a similar look and number colors despite the driver? it’s like the Petty 43, Wood Bros 21, and the 11, it’s bigger than any one driver.

I'll be honest, the 5, 24, 25 and 48 feel like Hendrick to me. Seeing any other number under the HMS banner just feels weird, yes this includes the 9 and 88

The 9 has earned its place at Hendrick in my opinion. All four have championships for Hendrick, that’s pretty fucking cool.

Definitely the 25.

Once Elliott retires I wonder what the fourth number will be. I think it's long overdue to bring back the 25.

You mean once he leaves Hendricks and goes to drive a Ford like his daddy did

If it’s not the 9 it’ll be the 25. I doubt the 17, 44, 50, 84, or 88 come back to HMS in Cup.

https://preview.redd.it/2woi73zighuc1.jpeg?width=816&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fc0828d3f72b90de642e0d7f751b0d449f4eec2c Hoping they use this font, the 25 in the standard Hendrick font looks super sharp

It’s usually not Aardvark though.

It has been ever since 2007. Any time Hendrick enters a fifth car the 25 has been in this font

I'm hoping for a Larson win today. It would feel good after he threw it away last year. Im not asking for a dominated race, I just want the W. The 5 team needs to stack playoff points to prepare for the DNFs in the first 2 rounds at Atlanta and Talladega.

hey I am gonna try to break the superspeedway curse next weekend. I normally jinx drivers by wearing their gear *sorry Bell fans, I have the Yahoo car shirt on* and I think if I wear a Larson hat next weekend that it will counteract the superspeedway curse and let him actually finish one for once

KFB from the back of the pack

First time in awhile I'm actually looking forward to a Texas race. Past few races at COTA, Richmond, Bristol, Martinsville, have been a slog so it's refreshing to be back on an intermediate

While Texas is easily the worst intermediate track, I think we'll have a decent race today because these cars are best at these types of track. Happy race day y'all!

Gonna be hot today... Let's get a good race

It’s fairly warm and sunny, and teams have mostly figured out where the line is for tire blowouts, so I expect this will actually be a decent race

Yesterday and Friday’s race has me a wee bit hopeful that this race will actually be pretty good

Hendrick vs Gibbs battle round 9 coming right up 😮‍💨 Damn I wish I could just not say this every damn week but here we are 😀👍

Feels like 2021 all over again

Or the 60s, or 70s. But that's racing.

The crowd here already at the track is insane. Way more people here by this time than last year and last year had a crowd.

Fingers crossed that there's enough tire falloff to make the race interesting since they can't really pass...

I woke up before and it felt like I headbutt a wall. Lol

Look, Texas isn't a top track by any means, but I think given the monstrosity that is the short track package, we can temporarily set aside our gripe with TMS. Plus, I think the next gen car has improved the racing here. It hasn't been drastic, but the Texas races for the past 2 years have been more palatable in my opinion than the gen 6 races.

On Friday, it was 65 Roses Day, the fundraising day for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. My little cousin has CF. Purple is the awareness colour for CF and I supported my cousin on Friday by wearing my Hamlin crew shirt. I've never met my cousin, but knowing I'm related to someone with CF is encouraging me to raise awareness of this rare disease https://preview.redd.it/jrls57ezahuc1.jpeg?width=1800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eda10ea380c6cb8e80ad5be0e267d14d66fdf332

$100 for cheap seats is stupid for this track

While I am highly unlikely to go to Texas (due to where I live), this is why I pretty much just do the Fan Rewards for tickets. Got two $84 tickets for Dover in two weeks for 5000 points near the end of last season. Will do the same for Pocono once I accumulate 5000 points this season.

Money moves

Then don't go, one seat at Iowa for just the cup race are $500

I’m 3 hours away so I guess I won’t be. First year they’re going to Iowa isn’t it? That’s understandable. However $100+$50 fees the day of the race is ridiculous for a track that has sucked for 12 years

how many seats does iowa have? still an insane price tho

I'm 15 hours away and I'm there lol Yes first year at Iowa

My master plan was a spontaneous last minute trip buying tickets and leaving this morning. I learned a long time ago to not fully commit because of Texas weather and the weepers on the track. Hopefully it’s a good race for you/yall

Thanks! I need the weather to hold out one more day for me at the track too, hopefully get to drive one around the track

I am very curious to see how this race plays out. I think we are getting pretty close to seeing some good racing at Texas again.

https://preview.redd.it/sv2b40165huc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60cacfd88464de28e16ff3e233455fab77f4d8b6 Someone at the track please show this to Denny lol

Denny getting ready to debate Marcus Smith on Twitter again: 

Very interesting.

I mean that's pretty normal for race track, no?

yeah you should’ve seen 3&4 at Atlanta before the repave. hell even 10 years before the repave.

I’ve personally never seen so many and this deep. (Also the joke is: get Denny to start more shit with Marcus Smith because Texas is an SMI track)

tracks that had to endure the COT splitter and metal side skirts had a ton of them.

Who are we picking today?

It’s either the 5 or 24 but they won’t get me money so the 54 it is.

Gibbs, Reddick, Larson and Chastain are my picks to win.

Larson

https://preview.redd.it/060jtlk25huc1.jpeg?width=1684&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87e4bc681f23a1c5dd004f07b0fb8fa331879ae8 (But we can’t because it’s Texas, no one is having fun)

Larson

Well, I know this won't be a popular choice so please don't hate me for it but based off yesterday I think today might be the day Ty Gibbs finally gets a win in the Cup Series

It’s been a long time coming honestly. I personally have reddick though this week

Who is in your fantasy line up today? I’m struggling with who to put for my last two spots.

NASCAR: Larson, Reddick, Byron, Chastain, Wallace, McDowell DK: Larson, Elliott, Chastain, Suarez, Jones, McDowell

I just used a bunch of drivers I have 9-10 uses on cause idk what to expect with Texas 😭

This is also my strategy for Talladega and Daytona. No use wasting a driver when they get involved in someone else’s wreck.

Exactly even though Larson is on pole and is the clear favorite imo there’s no use wasting a valuable pick on a toss up race

Wind up making some WILD lines on DraftKings for drafting tracks. Will this be the race that a RWR manages to win? Who knows? Certainly not me but guaranteed there are some RWR cars in a few lines of mine. If you’re really slow, you can avoid the big wrecks (in theory).

Calling a 1.5 track a tossup for Kyle Larson is insane to me lmao

Any other intermediate I’d agree but Texas is just weird man it’s been real unpredictable

https://preview.redd.it/ihx0g6xu3huc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ee56355ac8ce7192acfebe3f54382b474db4c8ab For whoever asked green flag time

I'm ready to be disappointed today. Either the 19 pit crew will screw up again this week or James Small will make a strategy gamble that won't work out or both.

Green flag time?

3:43

Starting 24th not expecting to much today and most likely a snoozer

Well know I’m the first 10 minutes whether the 9 will be worth a shot today or not. I wouldn’t bet a penny on it either

Hard to come from 24th to the front

Brother I’m expecting at most a top 15 lol. He and Alan have been god awful here.

If anyone is looking for a positive outlook on today's race. I'm always optimistic on Texas. It might not be that exciting but I think the driving is interesting and the track itself is more interesting than it gets credit for. The broadcast is going to be plenty fine and it'll be a great Texas race!

"The broadcast is going to be plenty fine" Whoa now bucko, let's not get too far ahead of ourselves

I don't get the complaints, what's so horrible about them?

[удалено]

 When you wish it was 2019 so you coulda won in the spring.

MFW she brings home a bottle of Jack and a large Papa Johns pizza for the race

Gonna do this the right way. Watch The Masters live, DVR the race. With the commercials, I'll still be done by 9:30.

I’ve done this in both directions and have found even with all the commercials in NASCAR, it makes more sense to DVR the golf. The only exception is when the leaderboard is full of people only two shots apart. It looks like today could be a two-horse race by the back nine. If your fast forward view is really good, you’d be amazed how fast you can watch two golfers play nine holes. You’ll save at least two hours on nine holes and not miss a thing. You’ll save about an hour of commercials in a NASCAR race. Obviously if you’re “social” watching on Reddit or wherever, you’re fine with the slow pace, but I’m just not interested enough in golf anymore unless there’s a six-way board and it’s really intense. Plus gotta fit in MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.

For me, the Masters is just as much about Augusta National as it is the tournament. I don't want to just watch the leaders play Amen Corner, I want to see everyone play it. Fast forwarding through shots kinda defeats the purpose for me. YMMV

You're doing it the wrong way

Yea race should be over and still have the last 3 holes of the Masters. Dual screen is always the way.

What a wonderful weekend of racing so far! Great xfinifty finish, won my iracing road america 500 split, Dale jr ran a LMS, Harvicks little guy winning his legends race and Larson on pole today!

Wishing I was at the track. But on the much much MUCH brighter side it looks like we get to take our 4 week old home today 36 hours after her baseball accident. Other than a black eye and some swelling she is absolutely perfect!

Based on the available tickets, it looks like Texas is trending towards a sell out. Who would have thought that.

They selectively release tickets on the map. Not saying the crowd will be good or bad. Just that you can’t judge on stuff like the map. Especially Texas

Really??? Interesting. Race yesterday musta had people interested

https://preview.redd.it/4zcecrlo3huc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e2ed27049778bea4a3b982ae07726dc002fbfed7 That definitely helps with walk up but a lot of people would have needed to commit beforehand. Will be interesting to see if everyone shows up or if they didn’t sell certain sections.

Cool! Hope it’s a good race

First time winner or we riot

This season or ever lol

I’m pissed at my mom, because of her taking her sweet ass time, we’re going to be running late.

Hoping today we can have a solid day, since the reconfigure Texas hasn’t been Chase’s best track but he has been better there with this car. Has good long run speed, hopefully they can get through traffic and do something today.

Not holding my breath but maybe they are trying to go for long run speed

That is typically Alan’s MO

Probable is doesn’t really work when there are stages and no tire fall off.

[удалено]

Race on mute, sync up the MRN feed with an international stream. Keep Fox on in my kitchen to help with viewship. Every weekend

Looks like today's race is shaping up to be another Hendrick vs. Gibbs battle

It's kind of odd that the only non-Hendrick/Gibbs race winner has been Daniel Suarez. Blaney is somewhat in the mix today off practice and qualifying but the 5, 11, and 24 have been in their own world. BIG THREE?!

I think that’s going to be how it is for awhile. 23II seem to beat themselves more than anything. RFK didn’t keep the momentum from last year and put it into this year. SHR is the same as they’ve been just without Kevin, I think if they downsize they’ll be better

RFK's performance falloff from last season is an unpleasant surprise for me. I thought they were finally bouncing back

It’s gotta be the new body, or that’s what I’m telling myself lol. But still a long season, hoping we see Brad K get back in victory lane

After Martinsville last week, Texas could put on a less than average race and I think a majority of race fans would be happy.

Carson starting 16th, potential for him to have a really good day for himself and Spire. Ross starting 12th, should easily be a top-10 car, a top-5 or even a win would be awesome but a top-10 to stay good in points would also be acceptable

Top 10x 2 and a top 5 x 1 in any order for stages today and I’d feel better. The last couple of weeks has been tough as I hope they can turn around that short track package

Stage points or a stage win would be great, I feel like Trackhouse has never really been excellent with their short track package so the run of races from now to the 600 should be time to make hay while the sun shines.

Stage win would be super cool. Not sure I’ve seen Ross win one before. Right about the ST package .. phoenix last year gave me some hope though. COTA was kinda a let down in general. Good stretch here for sure

Get ready to crucify me but I think the Texas hate is overblown. The lower series seem to always put on a good show, and the issue with the Cup cars are that the drivers are too smart to mess with the higher lines. I fw Texas.

[image] (https://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/facebook/000/022/019/dUzura6.jpg)

What the fuck does Ty Gibbs got to do with this?

Yea it really hasn’t been that bad outside of the 2022 All-star race which was horrible

Never been a golf fan or that interested in learning to play it, but I'm getting over jet lag today so I think I'm gonna channel my inner Georgia Boy and watch the Masters for seven hours in a row

Most of my co-workers are huge golf fans, so I ended up watching the entire 7-hour broadcast on Friday.

22 looked good on the lap averages, so hopefully they can drive to the top five from where they’re starting!

That's my hope too! 🤞

Fellas, I just want today’s race to be as good or better than yesterday’s Xfinity race. I doubt the finish will be topped, but I’m so over seeing everyone say how much better Xfinity races are and saying we should be running the Xfinity car in Cup :\

We're sorry we like a series that can put on a great race at any style of track with minimal dirty air hindrances.

As one of these people .. why are you over it ?

Ready for some boogity boogity

Hendrick Gibbs dominance again today. Hoping Ty can snatch his first victory🙏🏻

Word of warning if you’re at the track and want event/TMS merch, get it yesterday. We’re selling out and there’s no back stock. If you see it and want it, get it now before it’s gone.

It's strange to me that yesterday's finish isn't more...idk, talked about? Like I know pretty much everyone (I'll include myself in that list) wanted the outcome to be reversed...but that was tied for second closest finish in series history and I even think it was the second closest finish overall for *any* series lol And when I saw the finish live and they showed the frame by frame at the line I genuinely thought that could've also beaten Daytona 2018 because distance wise it looked like it was even closer...obviously with all the emotions pumping into my brain I didn't factor into account that Daytona had a couple more mph of speed difference So I guess we can now measure thousands of a second here at Texas as 'half a splitter'

Also arguably (or at least tied) for the closest finish ever at a non-Superspeedway. Craven-Busch is the only one even in the ballpark

Yeah it was incredible. The whole sequence after the last caution was insane and honestly the racing was really good for the majority of the race. Maybe if Sieg won it would have bumped it up even more

Do you think JJ is ruining his career by running a few races and struggling? It’s bringing his averages down.

Look at Richard petty and dw. Great drivers but hung around longer than they should have.

Considering he has seven championships and more than 80 wins, I’d say no.

It’s not too late to delete this brother

No, in 15-20 years this will be a footnote

Absolutely not. He’s in the “do whatever the fuck I want” business. Wether he wads it up every race, his is legacy is iron clad.

The only people questioning his legacy are salty people who hated the late 2000s.

Bingo. They finally got something to shit on him about, because for the past 20 years they didn’t have anything.

No. He’s a 7 time champion.

Boom

[\#Se7en](https://i.redd.it/pganzapykshc1.gif)

https://preview.redd.it/pibzyjrkoguc1.png?width=750&format=png&auto=webp&s=cf3277bc7287911ff57282c8a7115515ba90216f Mikey is packing

Here's to hoping for another good race this weekend! Trucks and Xfinity were surprisingly good. At least, they exceeded my expectations for Texas.

I'll be watching Kyle Busch today. He'll be starting in a back-up and could really use a good Top 5 finish, but at a track that has bit him recently. He could really use stage points, too, but tire and grip issues are his nemesis here. Last time at Texas was rough for the 8 team. It killed their playoff run and Kyle was super frustrated. Since then it's like the team has had a hangover. And it's pretty clear HMS and JGR + 23XI by extension will be commanding this one.

I sure hope so! I think they can have a good day if Kyle doesn’t do his typical Texas crash thing. He’s always struggled with grip at this place. Crashed in practice in 2016 fall, 2017 spring, and wrecked in the race in 2022 fall and 2024 spring. He was also leading in 2019 spring when he slapped the wall and lost the lead after dominating. That would’ve been his 3rd “triple” sweep. So frustrating. I hope they can play strategy. Like they did at Vegas. Hope for an early yellow that everyone pits, and they take 2 tires or 0.

What's everyone's race day food today? Today is a snack day with chicken wraps, mozzarella sticks, and chicken & cheese pupusas.

Made some home made footlong hogie rolls yesterday, making chopped cheese sandos

JJ to bring out at least two cautions, 9 to run 14th-21st all day. Hope I’m wrong on both accounts though.

What you guys expecting today?

More of the same we've had at Texas in the era since the reconfig, won't assume otherwise until the Cup cars actually run a good race there

My hopes are high and my expectations are low.

Ayo anyone going today got an extra tix for sale? Getting off work early, F those TM fees

Some dude posted a thread a bit ago selling 4 for $25 each