Texas Motor Speedway

Everything’s said to be bigger in Texas and very little looms larger than this year’s edition of the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup™ arriving Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth.

 

Championship heavyweights Matt Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson enter the AAA Texas 500 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN, Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM Satellite Radio) in a dead heat. Each has scored 2,294 points, the deadlock unprecedented in Chase history with three races remaining.

 

Kenseth technically is the standings leader, a tie broken by his seven season victories to Johnson’s five. The 2003 champion, like Johnson, has won twice at the 1.5-mile speedway.

 

The Texas Chase race has been pivotal in all five of Johnson’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championships. Finishes of second and first in 2006-07 gave Johnson the points lead. He retained his No. 1 position in 2008-10.

 

Kenseth and Johnson continue to distance themselves from all but one pursuer. Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, who entered the postseason as the Chase’s final seed, closed to 27 points with his 88th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory on Sunday at Martinsville Speedway.

 

Following a two-weekend break, the NASCAR Nationwide Series teams return for the final three races of the 2013 season beginning with Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge (3:30 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Austin Dillon holds a slim, eight-point championship advantage over Sam Hornish Jr. A tight owners’ title struggle pitting Joe Gibbs Racing against Penske Racing continues as well.

 

Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender Jeb Burton goes for a Texas Motor Speedway season sweep in Friday’s WinStar World Casino 350k (8:30 p.m. ET, FOX Sports 1). Burton, however, trails Ryan Blaney and last weekend’s Martinsville winner Darrell Wallace Jr. in the rookie standings.