Cup Teams Take It To Texas Motor Speedway            

From a NASCAR Fan’s View

The Cup Teams take it to the challenging Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. There are a lot of possibilities, and there are a lot of drivers who need to get a good race under their belt. It looks like the weather is going to cooperate, and the racing will be intense. Well, maybe that’s a little bit of a strong word, but I do believe the race will be at the very least challenging.

Once again, the Toyotas showed up off the trucks with speed. Practice proved they also showed up with long run speed. That could mean trouble for the rest of the teams, but it doesn’t mean the race will go the way we might think. The qualifying showed the lap times are very close, and that could mean just about anything can happen.

So what does that mean?

Well… just look at which of them took the pole position. That’s right, Carson Hocevar, last week’s winner at Talladega. Not only that, but his teammate, Daniel Suarez is starting on the front row with him. That’s not really what I expected. That means Spire has the two fastest qualifiers on the day. Unfortunately, qualifying at the top of the field doesn’t mean they will finish in that same spot.

I have to admit, but I never really expected Spire Motorsports to be leading the way this weekend at all. Sure, I know Carson won last weekend at Talladega, and I know he has been close to winning before, but still, I didn’t expect the Spire Teams to be leading the way at Texas. From this fan’s view, it appears things have changed a bit when it comes to the strength of the teams. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that Daniel Suarez and Carson of Spire Motorsports have been much improved this season. So, actually, it shouldn’t be any big surprise that they are on the front row, leading the field to the green and quite possibly to the final checkers.

Now you might be asking the question, what were you expecting? To tell you the truth, and judging from the practice, I really expected the Hendrick Chevys to be more at the front of the field than where they are right now. I at least expected them to be in the top 10 or at least a couple of them, anyway. However, it was totally unexpected to see Alex Bowman of the Hendrick camp qualifying ninth. I say that in particular because of his practice earlier in the day, where he was basically 30th. Now, I’m not expecting the rest of the Hendrick teams to be running in the rear all day, but I do know they have their work cut out for them. I say that even though Kyle Larson won the O’Reilly race on Saturday. Do I think it’s possible he could pull off the win today? I have to answer with a definite affirmative, yes, I do. He has definitely had a rough start to the year, but his fortunes could change starting today.

The same goes for William Byron. He’s struggled this season, also, and even though he had the fastest time in practice, he qualified fifteenth. Right before him in the fourteenth qualifying position is his teammate, Chase Elliott. They just didn’t qualify at all well. From this fan’s view, I’m betting they do better and could be contenders when this one is over.

Before mentioning anything about the Fords, I just can’t help but talk about the Toyotas once again. They definitely haven’t been struggling for speed this season. In fact, between Tyler Reddick and Denny Hamlin, they’re looking pretty tough. In fact, all of the Toyotas are showing strength. They just haven’t necessarily been able to beat Tyler Reddick with any regularity. I’m not saying the Toyotas are gonna win today, but I am saying that they’re gonna make it tough on the rest of the field.

I have to bring up the Fords because they usually do show strength at Texas. In particular, the RFK Fords have been running well this season but qualifying poorly. That has probably been the biggest thing that has stood in their way of reaching Victory Lane this season, because they just have too much ground to cover to get to the front from where they qualify. Since Chris Buescher Qualified third for the race today, RFK’s fortunes could change today, just like some others that I’ve mentioned. I’m not saying it will happen, but I am saying it could.

Penske Fords did struggle a bit in qualifying, and that is unusual. It may not be a disaster but it does mean that they have their work cut out for them also. I’m not sure whether or not they will be around the front when this one is over, but I’m not discounting the possibility of them being there either.

The Texas track is one of the most challenging tracks on the circuit, and there is no guarantee, even if they qualified well, that they will end up at the front when this one’s over. All I know is that there are several that I haven’t mentioned, it could also be taking the win. Who will win? I assure you, this is another weekend that I really have no idea…