While his teammate has had significant issues, Team Penske’s Brad Keselowski is in the lead at the halfway point of Sunday’s AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.
Keselowski had led 154 of the first 167 laps of the scheduled 334-lap event. Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was fighting a wickedly loose car, spun out at the halfway point, bringing out the caution.
Jimmie Johnson, who has won four of the last six races at Texas, is running second, followed by Kevin Harvick, Martin Truex Jr. and Carl Edwards.
There have been seven cautions for 32 laps, with a number of indents that have stood out:
* Joey Logano, who wrecked last week at Martinsville, had a left rear tire explode on him just 10 laps into the race. His car was taken to the garage to repair damage after debris from the tire impacted a number of areas within Logano’s car, including his radio communications. Logano returned to the race on Lap 77, 65 laps down to the leaders.
* Denny Hamlin suffered a fuel pressure issue that prompted him to also take his car to the garage for repairs.
* Outside pole-sitter Kevin Harvick suffered a flat left rear tire on Lap 36 that brought out the caution. Others having early tire issues included Ryan Blaney (dropped out of race after just 26 laps due to wreck damage after a tire went down), Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman.
* Tony Stewart spun right after Lap 50 and suffered damage to the front end of his car. He dropped out of the race after just 52 laps.
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