2018 Texas - O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 - Pre-Race Thread

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TIRE CODES

Tire: Goodyear Eagle Speedway Radials

Set limits:
Cup: 4 sets for practice, 1 set for qualifying and 9 sets for race;
Xfinity: 7 sets for the event

Tire Codes:
Left-side -- D-4770;
Right-side -- D-4718

Tire Circumference:
Left-side -- 2,227 mm (87.68 in.)
Right-side - 2,251 mm (88.62 in.)

Minimum Recommended Inflation:
Left Front -- 22 psi; Left Rear -- 22 psi
Right Front -- 52 psi; Right Rear -- 50 psi

Storyline - Goodyear tests Texas, tackles challenges: The track surface at Texas Motor Speedway is still relatively young, having been repaved right before the 2017 season. Repaves create a racing environment that poses several challenges - (1) fresh asphalt has a lot of grip, which generates a lot of speed and heat in the tires, (2) because the new surface is very smooth, it doesn't allow the opportunity to cause the tires to shed rubber, which could also cause heat problems, and (3) because little rubber gets worked into the track, it is harder to create multiple racing grooves. Goodyear held a tire test at Texas this past January and developed a new left-side tire that not only incorporates a construction update that is being rolled into many speedways this year, but also features a compound change to introduce more wear and, therefore, dissipate more heat.

"We had a good test at Texas and we were able to address some of the challenges that all repaves present," said Greg Stucker, Goodyear's director of racing. "This being just the third NASCAR Cup race since the repave, the track surface has not really had the chance to weather in, so to speak. This new left-side tire matches up well with this still smooth surface and will accomplish our goal of increased wear and laying rubber on the track. That should lead to a increased level of fall-off over the course of a fuel run and a widened racing groove."

Notes - New left-side tire debuts at Texas: Teams in both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series will run the same tire set-up at Texas this weekend . . . while teams in both of these series ran this right-side tire code (D-4718) twice at Texas last season, this is a new left-side code (D-4770) . . . this tire combination came out of a Goodyear test at Texas on January 9-10. . . drivers participating in that test were Aric Almirola, Ryan Blaney, Chase Elliott and Martin Truex Jr. . . . compared to what was run at this track last year, this left-side tire features a construction update to line it up with what is run at other speedways (similar to what was done three weeks ago at Fontana) and a compound change to introduce more tire wear and fall-off . . . as on all NASCAR ovals greater than one mile in length, teams are required to run liners in all four tire positions at Texas . . . air pressure in those inner liners should be 12-25 psi greater than that of the outer tire.
 
Tommy said:
New first time winner..................Chase Elliot
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Hope you're right. I think they're still too far behind the curve aero/turning wise to be a threat at the 1.5's though. Unless they figured it out over the break.

I foresee another 78 stomping unfortunately.
 
AdoubleU24 said:
Hope you're right. I think they're still too far behind the curve aero/turning wise to be a threat at the 1.5's though. Unless they figured it out over the break.

I foresee another 78 stomping unfortunately.
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just because the 78 got the W i dont think they as strong as people think they are
 
Thegeneral23 said:
yea he got 1 w, i dont think he as strong as HARVICK right now
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Nobody is as strong as Harvick right now if wins are the measuring stick. If you're simply looking at how well Truex is running as compared to the field, he's right up on top with a couple others. Poles, top 5's, top 10's & points..... Strong start to finish and always a threat to win.
 
Thegeneral23 said:
just because the 78 got the W i dont think they as strong as people think they are
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It's not just that. Pearn is phenomenal at hitting set ups on these types of tracks and finds a way to make the bottom work for their car all day. They can tire drag and do whatever they want to the top groove, this race will be won on the bottom.

Truex is ahead of where he was last year to this point and we all saw how that ended up.
 
AdoubleU24 said:
It's not just that. Pearn is phenomenal at hitting set ups on these types of tracks and finds a way to make the bottom work for their car all day. They can tire drag and do whatever they want to the top groove, this race will be won on the bottom.

Truex is ahead of where he was last year to this point and we all saw how that ended up.
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all true!! i know its driving joe gibbs racing crazy too because its driving me crazy lol
 
AdoubleU24 said:
Hope you're right. I think they're still too far behind the curve aero/turning wise to be a threat at the 1.5's though. Unless they figured it out over the break.

I foresee another 78 stomping unfortunately.
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I was going to say the same thing, but replace 78 with 18. I just have a bad feeling they're due.
 
I'm interested to see if any of the Chevy's have found some speed. Looking at Larson, Johnson, Elliott and Bowman. SHR's are going to be real strong and swarming the top 10. Logano the last 4 out of 5 years, top 5 here. JJ won it in the spring last year.
 
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Earnhardt Jr suggested to Eddie Gosage to have Larson and Stenhouse to drive the tire dragon at Texas to work in the track. Stenhouse replies

 
Friday, April 6
1:00 PM, MENCS Texas practice, FS1
2:00 PM, NXS Texas practice, FS1
3:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub - Weekend Edition, FS1
4:00 PM, NXS Texas final practice, FS1
5:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub - Weekend Edition, FS1
5:30 PM, MENCS Texas qualifying, FS1

Saturday, April 7
3:30 AM, NASCAR Race Hub, FS1
7:00 AM, Classic NASCAR - 1988 Daytona 500, FS1
7:30 AM, NXS Texas final practice re-air, FS1
8:30 AM, MENCS Texas practice re-air, FS1
9:30 AM, MENCS Texas qualifying re-air, FS1
11:00 AM, MENCS Texas practice, FS1
12:00 PM, NXS Texas qualifying, FS1
1:00 PM, NASCAR Race Hub - Weekend Edition, FS1
1:30 PM, MENCS Texas final practice, FS1
2:30 PM, NXS Pre-race Show, FOX
3:00 PM, NXS Texas race, FOX
6:00 PM, Undercover Boss - NASCAR, CNBC
9:00 PM, MENCS Texas final practice re-air, FS2

Sunday, April 8
6:00 AM, NXS Texas race re-air, FS1
12:30 PM, NASCAR RaceDay, FS1
2:00 PM, MENCS Texas race, FS1

http://www.espn.com/jayski/pages/story/_/id/18640591/nascar-television-listings
 
AdoubleU24 said:
Hope you're right. I think they're still too far behind the curve aero/turning wise to be a threat at the 1.5's though. Unless they figured it out over the break.

I foresee another 78 stomping fortunately.
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:fixed:
 
Tumbleweed said:
He's only 76? It seems as if he's been around so long that I thought he must be at least about 110 years old by now! Talk about durability.
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He claims that he'll drive until he is 127 years old. :XXROFL:
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Nobody is as strong as Harvick right now if wins are the measuring stick. If you're simply looking at how well Truex is running as compared to the field, he's right up on top with a couple others. Poles, top 5's, top 10's & points..... Strong start to finish and always a threat to win.
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4, 78, and 18 have pretty much been killing it at the 1.5's since about midway through 2015, right? Based on the first batch of races this year, it doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon.

People talk about this race being important to show if the Chevy's learned anything in the first 5 that we can see start to show up on the cars (the idea being that the West Coast swing cars had already been built). I suppose that's true, but I also wonder if the LIS system takes away some that grey area where the teams used to find ways to innovate during the season. We'll see.

I think it's a big race in that it's a measuring stick. Will things sort of continue with the same few teams up front and some others noticeably absent (HMS mainly) or will that gap close?
 
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