NASCAR Track Facts: Texas Motor Speedway

Samsung 500

Here is a quick run down of trivial facts and statistics for this weekend’s Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas.

Samsung 500

Texas Motor Speedway History

Construction on Texas Motor Speedway began in 1995.
The original configuration called for an unusual dual banking system that had 24 degrees of banking for stock cars and eight degrees for open-wheel cars.
The first NASCAR race at Texas was a NASCAR Nationwide Series event on April 5, 1997.
The first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas was on April 6, 1997.
In 1998, Turn 4 at Texas was reshaped to ease the transition from the turns to the front straightaway.
A second renovation started after the 1998 race which eliminated the dual banking and gave the track its current configuration.

Track Numbers

NASCAR Cup Series Races: 14
Pole Winners: 10
Race Winners: 13
Races Won from Pole (or 1st Starting Position): 1 (Kasey Kahne, 2006)
Jeremy Mayfield won the first timed qualifying at Texas on April 4, 1998 (qualifying was canceled due to inclement weather in 1997).
Jeff Burton won the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race.
Ten drivers have scored Coors Light Poles at Texas, led by Bobby Labonte and Ryan Newman with two each.
13 drivers have won races. Only Jeff Burton (1997 and April 2007) has repeated as race winner there.
Roush Fenway Racing has won five races at Texas, more than any other team.
11 races at Texas have been won from a top-10 starting position.
Matt Kenseth started 31st en route to his victory at Texas in 2002, the deepest in the field that a race winner has started at Texas.
There has been one green-white-checkered finish at Texas: 2006 fall (339/334).
Denny Hamlin has finished in the top 10 in four of his five races at Texas. His 80% top-10 rate is the best of any driver with more than two Texas starts.

Track Records

Texas Motor Speedway Race Day Data