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Who is hot and cold entering the AAA Texas 500

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Parker Kligerman shows us everything we need to know about restarts at Texas Motor Speedway ahead of the weekend's AAA Texas 500 and Steve Letarte says the toughest thing about the track is there's nowhere to hide.

Only three Sprint Cup drivers have had the good fortune to win in the last eight races at Texas Motor Speedway.

Luckily for them, they’re all drivers who are still in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Those wins belong to Jimmie Johnson (five), Kyle Busch (two) and Joey Logano (one).

But they’re not the only Chasers with Texas success. In fact, of the eight remaining drivers only one - Kevin Harvick - has not found victory at the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth, Texas.

Texas represent one of four Sprint Cup tracks the 2014 champion has not won at. The others are Kentucky Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Sonoma Raceway.

Harvick has six top fives at the track. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver has finished in the top three in three of the last four visits.

Fortunately for Harvick, he’s won the second race in each Chase round so far.

Here’s who is hot and cold heading into this weekend’s AAA Texas 500.

Who’s Hot

Jimmie Johnson


  • Finished in the top 10 in five of the last six races with wins at Charlotte and Martinsville
  • 455 laps led in the 2016 Chase, 266 in the regular season.
  • Six wins at Texas Motor Speedway, including the last four fall races.
  • Advanced to the championship race for the first time in elimination era.
  • Average Texas finish: 8.3.

Joey Logano


  • Finished in the top 10 in 17 of the last 21 races.
  • Won at Texas in April 2014; finished third last April.
  • Earned top-three finishes four times on 1.5-mile tracks this season.
  • Average Texas finish: 17.5.

Matt Kenseth


  • Top-10 finishes in six of the last seven races, including two second-place finishes.
  • Finished 11th at Texas in April, best finish in last three Texas races.
  • Top-10 finishes in the last six races on 1.5 mile tracks
  • Average Texas finish: 9.5.

Kyle Busch


  • Top-10 finishes in seven of the last eight races (strategic 30th-place finish at Talladega).
  • Won at Texas in April after leading 34 laps.
  • Finished in top four in six of the last seven Texas races, including two wins.
  • Average Texas finish: 11.9.

Who’s Cold

Carl Edwards


  • Only two top 10s in the last nine races.
  • Only one top five since the Kentucky race in July.
  • Three wins at Texas, but none since 2008.
  • Average Texas finish: 14.2.

Kurt Busch


  • Only four top 10s in last eight races.
  • Finished top 10 in three of the last four races at Texas, ninth in April.
  • Has not finished worse than 14th on a 1.5-mile track in 22 races (Kansas 2014).
  • Average Texas finish: 15.3.

Chase Elliott


  • Only two top 10s in the Chase.
  • Finished ninth at Texas in April; Earned first Xfinity Series win at Texas.

Martin Truex Jr.


  • Finished seventh at Martinsville after leading 147 laps.
  • Finished in the top 10 in last three Texas races.
  • Average Texas finish: 14.3.

Other interesting notes entering the AAA Texas 500.


  • There has been a green-flag stretch of 100 laps or more in 12 of the last 14 Texas races.
  • Eight of the 11 Texas Chase races held were won by drivers still competing for the championship. But in the past two seasons Johnson won it after having been eliminated in the Chase.
  • The race winner started outside the top 10 in four of nine races on 1.5-mile tracks in 2016.

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