SPRINT CUP SERIES – DUCK COMMANDER 500,

NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES – DUCK COMMANDER 500, SUNDAY, APRIL 6, 3 P.M. ET ON FOX

 

Jimmie Johnson On The Verge Of Win

The last two races for six-time NSCS champion Jimmie Johnson were going so well … and then they slipped away. He led the most laps in the races at Auto Club and Martinsville, where he came so close to capturing the win before finishing second to Kurt Busch, who took the point from Johnson with 10 laps to go. Johnson has an excellent shot at winning this weekend at Texas, where has won thrice, including two of the last three races, and thus all but locking up a Chase spot.

 

Five-For-Five, Six-For-Six … Now Paging Seven-For-Seven

One has to go all the way back to the 2003 season to find a year in which the first seven races were won by seven different drivers (it wasn’t until the 10th race that season that Kurt Busch became the first two-race winner). With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series headed to Texas for Sunday’s Duck Commander 500, several past winners there, including Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin and Jeff Gordon, are looking to be the seventh consecutive winner of 2014 and all but locking up a spot for the postseason.

 

Kurt Busch Quenches Thirst For Win, Ends Drought

Eighty-three races ago, Kurt Busch piloted the No. 22 Penske Dodge to Victory Lane at Dover International Speedway. On Sunday, Busch took the checkered flag at Martinsville in the No. 41 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet for the first time since that day in Dover. The win was a first for Busch’s crew chief Daniel Knost in NASCAR’s national series. The series now heads to Texas where Busch has one win.   

 

Roush Fenway Racing Has The Right Stuff At Texas

In 1997, when Texas Motor Speedway hosted its first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race, then-Roush Fenway Racing driver Jeff Burton walked away with the trophy. Since that inaugural race, the organization has won a record eight more times in the series at Texas. Greg Biffle (three) and Carl Edwards (two) have both piloted RFR Fords to victory. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won a NNS event there for the organization in 2012. Both Biffle and Stenhouse have struggled in the first six races of 2014, but a strong finish on Sunday could turn their seasons around.

 

Austin Dillon Finds Himself In Enviable Position

Six races into his first full-time season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Austin Dillon has to be pleased with where he sits – ninth in the points standings and second in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year competition. He’s a very manageable 48 points behind points leader Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the championship standings and two points behind Kyle Larson in the rookie race heading to Texas. On Sunday at Martinsville, Dillon notched his fourth top-15 finish of the young season. He has six top-10 finishes in 10 national series starts at Texas.