AAA Texas 500 - Texas Motor Speedway

[HDT05]

AAA Texas 500

NASCAR Sprint Cup Race #34 of 36 for the 2012 season
Chase for the Sprint Cup race #8 of 10
Race Analysis
Track Length: 1.5-mile quad oval
Race Length: 334 laps, 501 miles
Pit Road Speed: 45 mph

April 2012 Pole Sitter: #56-Martin Truex Jr., 190.369mph, finished 6th
April 2012 Race Winner: #16-Greg Biffle, 160.577mph, started 3rd

TV Team:
In the Booth: Allen Bestwick, Dale Jarrett, Andy Petree
Pit Reporters: Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Dr. Jerry Punch, Vince Welch
NASCAR Countdown: Nicole Briscoe, Brad Daugherty, Rusty Wallace, Ray Evernham

2012 Sprint Cup Driver Championship Points Standings:
[after Martinsville, race 33 of 36]
1) #48-Jimmie Johnson [4 wins], 2291
2) #2-Brad Keselowski [5 wins], 2289, -2
3) #15-Clint Bowyer [3 wins], 2265, -26
4) #5-Kasey Kahne [2 wins], 2262, -29
5) #11-Denny Hamlin [5 wins], 2242, -49
6) #24-Jeff Gordon [1 win], 2237, -54
7) #56-Martin Truex Jr. [0 wins], 22287, -63
8) #17-Matt Kenseth [3 wins], 2226, -65
9) #16-Greg Biffle [2 wins], 2222, -69
10) #14-Tony Stewart [3 wins], 2220, -71
11) #29-Kevin Harvick [0 wins], 2203, -88
12) #88-Dale Earnhardt Jr. [1 win], 2151, -140
(ties broken by 1sts, 2nds, 3rd, etc)
See drivers championship points standings on the Drivers Points Standings (pdf)

jayski.com/stats/2012/pdfs/33mar2012points.pdf

www.jayski.com/cupnews.htm

[HDT05]

Johnson wins pole at Texas: #48-Jimmie Johnson won the pole for the AAA Texas 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway with a speed of 191.076mph for his 4th pole of 2012 and 29th career pole.
#16-Biffle will start 2nd followed by #18-Busch, #15-Bowyer, #56-Truex, Jr., #20-Logano, #21-Bayne, #2-Keselowski, #99-Edwards, and #17-Kenseth.
The go-or-go homers who made the race (8): #21-Bayne, #95-Speed, #19-Bliss, #26-Wise, #91-Sorenson, #98-McDowell, #87-Nemechek, and #37-Yeley.
The go-or-go homers who failed to qualify for the race (3): #33-Leicht, #79-Bires, #30-Stremme.
See qualifying results & starting lineup on the Texas Qualifying Page.(11-2-2012)

Back 2 back poles and wins for Johnson!

Johnson wins at Texas: #48-Jimmie Johnson won the Texas AAA 500 Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway for second consecutive win, his 5th of year and 60th career win. He took the lead from Keselowski at the start of a green white checker restart.
#48-Jimmie Johnson is the first driver to win two races in a row from the pole since #24-Jeff Gordon won consecutive races at Phoenix and Talladega from the pole in April 2007.
#2-Keselowski held on to finish 2nd followed by #18-Busch, #17-Kenseth, #14-Stewart, #15-Bowyer, #88-Earnhardt, Jr., #78-Busch, #29-Harvick, and #20-Logano.
#48-Johnson led the most laps to maximize his points on the day. He now has a 7 point lead over #2-Keselowski.
There were 9 cautions for 49 yellow flag laps. There were 20 lead changes among 7 drivers. The average speed was 136.117mph.
The estimated attendence was 146,000, down from 159,000 in the spring race and down from 151,000 last November.
See race results, awards, money won, laps led, cautions and more on the Texas Race Results page (pdf) and the official race and points rundown on the Official Race & Points Report.(11-4-2012)

[HDT05]

Texas Notes-n-Nuggets:
• Jimmie Johnson earned his 60th career win in his 397th race.
• Jimmie Johnson became the eighth driver in history to reach 60 career wins.
• It is the 12th time in Jimmie Johnson's career that he has won back-to-back races.
• It is the seventh time Jimmie Johnson has won back-to-back races in the Chase.
• Jimmie Johnson garnered his 11th career win from the pole.
• Second Texas win of Jimmie Johnson's career, previous was during the 2007 Chase.
• Jimmie Johnson became the seventh different multiple-race winner at Texas.
• Jimmie Johnson became the second driver to win from the pole at Texas; Kasey Kahne in April 2006 is other.
• Jimmie Johnson captured his fifth victory of 2012, tied for the most with Brad Keselowski.
• This marks the seventh season that Jimmie Johnson has reached five wins, won five races in each of his five Championship years (2006-2010).
• Jimmie Johnson garnered his 17th career win on 1.5-mile tracks, most of all drivers.
• Jimmie Johnson earned his 22nd Chase win, most of all drivers.
• This was the 13th Chase race won from the polesitter, eight have been by Johnson.
• Jimmie Johnson's victory marks the first time a driver won back-to-back races from the pole since Jeff Gordon in 2007.
• Jimmie Johnson led seven times for 168 laps including the final two of the race.
• Hendrick Motorsports picked up its 208th career win, including its fourth at Texas.
• Hendrick Motorsports earned its 11th victory of 2012, most of all organizations.
• Hendrick Motorsports captured its 28th Chase win, most of all organizations.
• Chevrolet won for the eighth time at Texas.
• Chevrolet earned its 14th win of 2012, most of all makes.
• This marks the 700th career victory for Chevrolet.
• Brad Keselowski (second) had his best Texas finish in his ninth start, has now had or matched his best track finish 17 times this season; seven points behind leader Jimmie Johnson, his largest points deficit of the Chase.
• Kyle Busch (third) matched his best Texas finish for the third time in his 15th race; has now posted top-10 finishes in five of the last six races.
• Matt Kenseth (fourth) posted his track-leading 15th top-10 finish at Texas; ran as low as 27th in the race.
• Tony Stewart (fifth) garnered only his second top-five finish of the 2012 Chase, ran as low as 25th in the race.
• Clint Bowyer (sixth) has now finished in the top-10 in eight of the last nine races.
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. (seventh) has compiled top-10 finishes in five of the last six Texas races; only top-10 finish in his last five starts.
• Kurt Busch (eighth) picked up only his third top-10 finish of 2012.
• Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnahrdt Jr. are eliminated from Championship contention.
(Racing Resources and Services -- Statistics Racing Recall / nascar.com)(11-4-2012)

[HDT05]

Great race this was!

Good to see #48 and #2 run for the win and thankfully not getting taken out!

Good win for Jimmie and HMS...it's 60th career win for Jimmie Johnson and 208th career win for HMS and 700th career win for Chevrolet, so a good weekend for all. Brad is giving it a real shot at winning this title this year. Can't wait till Pheonix.

[Bundy]

Jimmie Johnson is on fire atm!