By Don Donohue
5 3 2025
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Next Race: Andy’s Frozen Custard 300
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
Track Length: 1.5 Mile Asphalt Oval
The Date: Saturday, May 3
The Time: 2 p.m. ET
The Purse: $1,651,939
TV: CW, 1:30 p.m. ET
Radio: PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)
Distance: 300 miles (200 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 45),
Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 90), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 200)
NASCAR Xfinity Series
Texas Storylines and Insights:
· This Saturday’s event will mark the 47th NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Texas Motor Speedway, raced every season since 1997, and the 15th Xfinity Series race since the reconfiguration.
· Harrison Burton (2021) and Sam Mayer (2024) are the only past Texas winners in the field this weekend.
· Eight different drivers won the last nine Texas races, John Hunter Nemechek is the only repeat winner.
· Sam Mayer won last year’s Texas race by 0.002 seconds over Ryan Sieg, the second closest finish in Xfinity Series history.
· Three of the last eleven Texas Motor Speedway Xfinity Series races finished with a last-lap pass for the win.
· Austin Hill won a record ninth drafting track race at Talladega last weekend.
· Austin Hill’s 13 career wins leads all drivers since he moved to Xfinity Series in 2022.
· Matt DiBenedetto – fifth, Blaine Perkins – seventh had career-best finishes at Talladega.
· This weekend’s race will be the last of 12 consecutive weeks of racing before a two-week break.
· Texas is the only 1.5-mile track with different banking at each end of the track (Turns 1 & 2 – 20 degrees and Turns 3 & 4 – 24 degrees).
· Since the reconfiguration, only Daytona (134) has more cautions than Texas’ 130.
· Only four of 46 previous Texas Xfinity Series races ended in overtime.
· Ten drivers on the entry list never made an Xfinity Series start at Texas Motor Speedway.
· Seven drivers on the entry list never made a start at Texas in any series.
· Thirteen of the last 16 Texas races have been won by drivers under the age of 30, Kyle Busch won the other three.
· Of the five drivers that claimed their first career Xfinity Series win at Talladega, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in 1998 and Chase Elliott in 2014 went on to win the championship that season.
· Sammy Smith’s 5.5 average finish is the fifth best at Texas all-time among drivers with multiple starts.
· Justin Allgaier won the last four stages at Texas, his six stage wins at Texas lead all drivers.
· Austin Hill finished inside the top-10 in four straight Texas races, the longest active streak.
· Joe Gibbs Racing won six of the last 10 Texas races with four different drivers.
· Joe Gibbs Racing needs 97 laps led to reach 3,000 all-time at Texas.
· Joe Gibbs Racing’s 17 Texas wins are the second most by a team at a single track (JGR won 18 times at Phoenix).
· Texas is the third of six races on 1.5-mile tracks this season in the Xfinity Series.
· Justin Allgaier won both races this season on 1.5-mile tracks – Las Vegas & Miami.
· The last five races on 1.5-mile tracks were won by drivers over the age of 30.
· Chevrolet won six of the last seven races on 1.5-mile tracks.
· Ford won only one of the last 31 races on 1.5 mile tracks (Riley Herbst at Las Vegas in 10/23).
· Sheldon Creed, Jesse Love and Austin Hill finished in the top-10 in five straight races on 1.5-mile tracks.
· Six of 12 Playoff spots are filled after eleven races for just the second time in series history.
· The first five drivers below the cutoff are all rookies. Currently Daniel Dye holds the first spot outside the cutoff -9 points back from Harrison Burton in the final Playoff spot (12th).
· Only three drivers gained points on the Playoff cutoff at Talladega.
· Sammy Smith was running at the finish in 34 straight races, dating back to April 26, 2024.
· Katherine Legge became the fourth female driver to lead a lap in Xfinity Series history – Danica Patrick: 66, Patty Moise: 22, Natalie Decker: 7, Katherine Legge: 1.
· Legge will be making her third start of the 2025 Xfinity Series season this weekend, and her first on a 1.5-mile track in the series.
· Jusitn Allgaier leads the driver standings by 79 points over second and 102 points over third.
· Justin Allgaier leads all drivers with eight top-fives and seven top-10 finishes in 2025.
· Justin Allgaier’s eight top-five finishes in 2025 are his most ever after 11 races in a season.
· Justin Allgaier is 10 top 10s away being the first driver to reach 300.
· Joe Gibbs Racing is one pole win away from 200, they are the only team with 100 poles.
· JR Motorsports is eight wins away from 100, only three other teams won at least 100 Xfinity Series races (Joe Gibbs Racing-217, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing-138, Richard Childress Racing-100).
· Kyle Larson leads all drivers in laps led in 2025 with 408 despite making only two Xfinity Series starts.
· Daniel Dye is the only driver to finish inside the top-20 in the last 10 races.
· Sam Mayer is the only driver to finish top-15 in nine of 11 races this season.
· Four races this year ended with a last lap pass for the win.
· Five of the 11 races this season went to overtime.
· Three crew chiefs got their first Xfinity Series win in 2025: Adam Wall at Bristol, Sam McAulay at Darlington and Chad Haney at Atlanta
· Chevrolet led 1,571 of 2,035 laps this season.
· Alpha Prime had three top-five finishes in the last five races, the team only had two career top five entering 2025.
NASCAR & Texas, Etc.
Historical & Significant Events at Texas Motor Speedway:
· Construction on Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) began in 1995 just outside the Dallas/Fort-Worth area of Texas.
· The 1.5-mile track sits on approximately 1,500 acres.
· The first NASCAR national series race at Texas Motor Speedway was a NASCAR Xfinity Series event on April 5, 1997. The race was won by NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin driving an RFK Racing Ford (122.993 mph).
· The first NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway was on April 6, 1997, and the race was won by Jeff Burton in an RFK Racing Ford (125.111 mph).
· In 1997, the speedway held a two-day country music festival titled Country Fest, attracting 260,000 people. A week later, the speedway held RockFest ’97, a rock music festival that attracted around 400,000 people.
· A 10-story building named the Lone Star Tower overlooks the second turn and is used for condominiums and office space. The Lone Star Tower broke ground in 1996 and was completed in early 1998.
· Texas Motor Speedway underwent its first repave between the 2001 and 2002 NASCAR Cup Series seasons.
· The infield road course at Texas Motor Speedway has four length variations – 2.324 miles, 1.07 miles, 0.7 mile, 0.5 mile.
· Texas Motor Speedway hosted its first NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race on November 6, 2005 – the postseason race won by RFK Racing driver Carl Edwards (151.055 mph).
· In 2010, the track hosted FortyFest, a Christian rock music festival.
· In 2011, the spring NASCAR Cup Series race was moved from Sunday to Saturday night under the lights at Texas Motor Speedway. The 2017 season marked the first year it was moved back to a Sunday afternoon race.
· In 2013, TMS announced the construction of Big Hoss TV, which when constructed, was set to become the biggest HD screen in the world. The video screen was completed in March 2014 and was officially certified by Guinness World Records as the largest HD television LED screen in the world.
· Texas Motor Speedway underwent its second repave between the 2016 and 2017 NASCAR Cup Series seasons. The renovation added a new layer of asphalt over the existing pavement, an expansive French drainage system on the frontstretch and backstretch and reduced the banking in Turns 1 and 2 by four degrees (now 20 degrees).
· The 2021 season marked the first time the track hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race instead of the points-paying spring event. Texas Motor Speedway hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race in 2021 and in 2022 instead of spring race.
· Texas Motor Speedway has hosted one NASCAR Cup Series race from 1997 – 2004 and two races per year from 2005 – 2020.
· In 2021 and 2022, the track hosted the NASCAR All-Star Race and one point-paying Playoff race.
· In 2023, TMS hosted a second location of the HWY30 Music Fest, a country music festival that originated from Filer, Idaho.
· Texas Motor Speedway has earned the nickname of “The Great American Speedway.”
· Since 2023, the NASCAR Cup Series has only competed at Texas Motor Speedway once a season. In total, Texas Motor Speedway has hosted 44 NASCAR Cup Series races from 1997 – 2024.
Latest Track Storylines:
· Film and television actor Shea Whigham, best known for his standout roles in acclaimed projects such as “Boardwalk Empire,” “True Detective,” “Joker” and “American Hustle,” has been named the Grand Marshal for the NASCAR Cup Series race this Sunday, May 4, at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). The talented veteran actor co-stars with Tom Cruise in “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – The Final Reckoning,” which will have a gala screening on May 14 at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival.
· The other primary dignitary role for the WÜRTH 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY will be filled by Sebastian Würth, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Würth Group. He will serve as the Honorary Starter and wave the green flag to officially start the 11th race of the season. Benjamin Würth, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Würth Group, will be a co-Honorary Race Official alongside Moses Brings Plenty, who is best known for his portrayal of “Mo” in the Paramount Network hit series, “Yellowstone.”
· Former NCS star Kasey Kahne will buckle in as the Honorary Pace Car Driver and help lead the field to the green flag. Kahne was an 18-race winner in the NCS and was part of the closest Cup Series finish in TMS history. He was edged by Elliott Sadler by 0.028 second in the 2004 race.
· Football champion running back Spencer Tillman will provide the pre-race invocation for the WÜRTH 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY. Tillman spent eight years in the NFL with the Houston Oilers (1987-88, ’92-94) and San Francisco 49ers (’89-91). He was also an All-American and captain of the University of Oklahoma’s 1985 national championship team. Tillman is currently a college football game analyst for FOX Sports.
· Another esteemed dignitary will be National Anthem singer Don Graves, who will celebrate his 100th birthday the day prior to his appearance at the NCS race. He is a U.S. Marine veteran who is part of an exceptional group of living American heroes who took part in the successful invasion on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima during World War II. It will be Graves’ second visit to TMS to perform, having sung “God Bless America” prior to the 2023 fall NCS Playoff race.
COURTESY NASCAR COMMUNICATIONS
