The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series heads to The Lone Star State this weekend for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
The 501-mile, 334-lap race around the newly repaved and reconfigured 1.5-mile quad-oval located in Fort Worth will have crew chiefs and drivers scratching their heads. They can throw their notebooks out the window from last year’s races, because it’s a whole new ballgame.
Turns 1 and 2 are banked at 20 degrees, whereas Turns 3 and 4 are banked at 24 degrees. The new surface will most likely produce track-record like speeds during qualifying on Friday as well.
For the first time since the Daytona 500, the full 40-car field will be filled. Derrike Cope will drive the No. 55 Chevrolet for Premium Motorsports after taking a couple weeks off and JJ Yeley will pilot the No. 7 Chevrolet for Tommy Baldwin Racing in his first MENCS start of the season.
The other 38 drivers consist of the usual suspects. Some notable changes for this week are STANLEY on the hood of Daniel Suarez and Credit One Bank on Kyle Larson’s No. 42 Chevrolet as well.
The race can be seen on Sunday, April 9 on FOX with the green flag scheduled to fly at approximately 1:46 p.m. ET. Pre-race coverage begins on Fox Sports 1 at 11:30 a.m.
Entry | Car Number | Driver | Sponsor | Manu | Organization |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Jamie McMurray | Sherwin-Williams Emerald | Chevrolet | Chip Ganassi Racing |
2 | 2 | Brad Keselowski | Miller Lite | Ford | Team Penske |
3 | 3 | Austin Dillon | Dow | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
4 | 4 | Kevin Harvick | Jimmy John's | Ford | Stewart-Haas Racing |
5 | 5 | Kasey Kahne | Farmers Insurance | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
6 | 6 | Trevor Bayne | Performance Plus Motor Oil | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
7 | 7 | JJ Yeley (i) | Accell Construction, Inc. | Chevrolet | Tommy Baldwin Racing |
8 | 10 | Danica Patrick | TaxAct | Ford | Stewart-Haas Racing |
9 | 11 | Denny Hamlin | FedEx Office | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
10 | 13 | Ty Dillon | GEICO | Chevrolet | Germain Racing |
11 | 14 | Clint Bowyer | Haas-Automation | Ford | Stewart-Haas Racing |
12 | 15 | Reed Sorenson | TBD | Chevrolet | Premium Motorsports |
13 | 17 | Ricky Stenhouse Jr. | Ford EcoBoost | Ford | Roush Fenway Racing |
14 | 18 | Kyle Busch | Interstate Batteries | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
15 | 19 | Daniel Suarez | STANLEY | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
16 | 20 | Matt Kenseth | TBD | Toyota | Joe Gibbs Racing |
17 | 21 | Ryan Blaney | Motorcraft/Quick Lane Tire & Auto Center | Ford | Wood Brothers Racing |
18 | 22 | Joey Logano | Shell Pennzoil | Ford | Team Penske |
19 | 23 | Gray Gaulding | Dr. Pepper | Toyota | BK Racing |
20 | 24 | Chase Elliott | NAPA | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
21 | 27 | Paul Menard | Dutch Boy/Menards | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
22 | 31 | Ryan Newman | Caterpillar | Chevrolet | Richard Childress Racing |
23 | 32 | Matt DiBenedetto | Can-AM/Kappa | Ford | GO FAS Racing |
24 | 33 | Jeffrey Earnhardt | Little Joes Autos/Cyrtis Key Plumbing | Chevrolet | Circle Sport/TMG |
25 | 34 | Landon Cassill | Love's Travel Stops | Ford | Front Row Motorsports |
26 | 37 | Chris Buescher | Scott Products | Chevrolet | JTG Daugherty Racing |
27 | 38 | David Ragan | Camping World/Good Sam | Ford | Front Row Motorsports |
28 | 41 | Kurt Busch | Monster Energy/Haas Automation | Ford | Stewart-Haas Racing |
29 | 42 | Kyle Larson | Credit One Bank | Chevrolet | Chip Ganassi Racing |
30 | 43 | Aric Almirola | Smithfield | Ford | Richard Petty Motorsports |
31 | 47 | AJ Allmendinger | Kroger ClickList | Chevrolet | JTG Daugherty Racing |
32 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Lowe's | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
33 | 51 | Timmy Hill (i) | TBD | Chevrolet | Rick Ware Racing |
34 | 55 | Derrike Cope | TBD | Toyota | Premium Motorsports |
35 | 72 | Cole Whitt | RTIC Coolers | Chevrolet | TriStar Motorsports |
36 | 77 | Erik Jones | 5-hour ENERGY Extra Strength | Toyota | Furniture Row Racing |
37 | 78 | Martin Truex Jr. | Bass Pro Shops/TRACKER BOATS | Toyota | Furniture Row Racing |
38 | 83 | Corey Lajoie | Dustless Blasting | Toyota | BK Racing |
39 | 88 | Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Axalta | Chevrolet | Hendrick Motorsports |
40 | 95 | Michael McDowell | WRL General Contractors | Chevrolet | Leavine Family Racing |