WHAT: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, ninth race of the NASCAR Cup Series season.
WHERE: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, Texas.
WHEN: Sunday, 2:30 p.m. CT.
TV AND RADIO: TV: FS1 | Radio: PRN, SiriusXM (Ch. 90), Lone Star 92.5 FM locally.
RACE LENGTH: 267 laps | 400.5 miles.
RACE STAGE LENGTHS: 1-80 | 81-165 | 166-267.
PREVIOUS CUP SERIES RACE: Martinsville Speedway, won by William Byron in overtime on Sunday, April 7.
NEXT CUP SERIES RACE: Sunday, April 21, Talladega Superspeedway.
ENTRY LIST: Click here for the full Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 entry list.
DEFENDING RACE WINNER: William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports.
DEFENDING POLE WINNER: Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing.
2023 TOP-FIVE FINISHERS: 1. William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports; 2. Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing; 3. Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing; 4. Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing; 5. Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing.
NOTEWORTHY: This will be the 44th NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway and first held in the spring since 2019 when Denny Hamlin won with Joe Gibbs Racing. Last season’s Cup race, won by William Byron of Hendrick Motorsports, was held Sunday, Sept. 24, and served as the Round of 12 opener in the NASCAR Playoffs. … There have been 22 or more lead changes in six of the last seven Cup races at Texas. … Hendrick Motorsports and Joe Gibbs Racing have combined to win seven of the first eight races of the season. William Byron, with wins in the Daytona 500, Circuit of The Americas and Martinsville, leads the Cup Series in that category. Kyle Larson secured the other win for Hendrick Motorsports at Las Vegas. Denny Hamlin has paced Joe Gibbs Racing with a pair of victories coming in a three-race span (Bristol, Richmond). Christopher Bell collected the other win for JGR at Phoenix. The only team to break through the domination by these two organizations has been Trackhouse Racing when Daniel Suarez won at Atlanta. … Eight of the top 11 drivers in the Cup standings, including the top four, are either from Hendrick Motorsports or Joe Gibbs Racing. Larson is first in the points standings and followed by teammates Byron (fourth), Chase Elliott (sixth) and Alex Bowman (10th). Martin Truex Jr. is second, 14 behind Larson, to pace JGR and followed by Hamlin (third), Ty Gibbs (seventh) and Bell (11th). … Bell owns three top-five finishes in five Cup starts at TMS. His best effort of third came in 2020 and again in ’21. He is coming off a fourth-place performance last season. … Byron has not finished outside the top seven in his last three visits to Texas, highlighted by the win last season. He finished runner-up in 2021 and seventh the following season. He only led six laps en route to his win last season but has led a combined 103 laps during that three-race stretch. … Jimmie Johnson, who holds the Cup Series record for wins at TMS with seven, is entered in the No. 84 Toyota for Legacy Motor Club as part of his limited schedule. It will be his first start since the season-opening Daytona 500, where he finished 28th. His last start at Texas came in the fall of 2020 when he finished 36th after retiring due to an engine issue. … RFK Racing driver Chris Buescher, who grew up in nearby Prosper, Texas, will be making his 15th career Cup start at his home track of Texas Motor Speedway and still looking to secure his first top-10 finish. He moved closer to that goal in his last appearance – September’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 – when he registered his best starting position (2nd) and finish (14th) while also leading his first laps (2) at TMS. He owns five top-10 finishes on the season, including four coming in the last five races, to share the series lead in that category. … The Team Penske duo of Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano may be winless in their last 25 combined starts at Texas, but they have been consistently strong. Blaney has finished eighth or better in eight of those starts, including a best of second in the fall race of 2018 when he won the pole. Logano has 11 top-10 finishes in that span, including eight among the top five. He also has led laps in nine of those starts. In his career at Texas, Logano does own a win (2014) while Blaney chases his first there. … … Erik Jones of Legacy Motor Club has posted seven top-10 finishes in 12 career starts, including three among the top five. His best finish is fourth on three occasions. … 2022 race winner Tyler Reddick may have finished 25th at TMS in his first season with 23XI Racing last year, but he owns three top-10 finishes in five career starts. He also has led 106 laps in his last two appearances, including 36 last season. … Chevrolet has won four of the last five races at Texas with the only blemish coming in the fall of 2020 when Kyle Busch won in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. … Cup Series rookie John Hunter Nemechek of Legacy Motor Club has three national series victories at Texas Motor Speedway, winning twice in the Xfinity Series (2021-fall, ’23) and once in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (’21). … 2020 Cup Series champion Chase Elliott is winless in his last 42 starts, dating to his victory at Talladega on Oct. 2, 2022, but has been on a strong run of late. He arrives at TMS coming off consecutive top-five performances and finishing among the top eight in three of his last four. Elliott followed up a fifth at Richmond with a season-best third Sunday at Martinsville. He also has been qualifying well, starting among the top five in four of his last five races and among the top 11 in all but one on the season.
Tickets are on sale now for the 2024 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR tripleheader weekend April 12-14. The race weekend begins April 12 with the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series SpeedyCash.com 250 (7:30 p.m. CT on FS1, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90), continues with the April 13 NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 (12:30 p.m. CT on FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90) and concludes with the April 14 NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 (2:30 p.m. CT on FS1, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90).
Tickets are on sale now at www.texasmotorspeedway.com.
Texas Motor Speedway’s major event season also includes the American Sprint Car Series (April 5-6), POWRi Micro Mania (April 8-11), High Limit Sprint Car Series (April 13), Fuel Fest (April 20), the Goodguys Rod & Custom/American Flat Track/Pate Swap Meet tripleheader weekend (April 25-28), C-10 Nationals (May 10-12), LS Fest (May 18), Bandas y Trocas (May 25), Solar Car Challenge (July 11-17), Goodguys Rod & Custom (Sept. 27-29), American Sprint Car Series (Oct. 4-5), the High Limit Sprint Car Series inaugural season finale (Oct. 11-12) and the Gordy’s Hwy 30 Fest Texas (Oct. 17-20).
