That's Racin'

NASCAR at Texas Motor Speedway: What you need to know about Sunday's race

Great American Sweethearts members Alyssa Moore, left, and Hope Beel unveil  a large bobblehead of seven-time champion in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, TX, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018.
Seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson won last year's O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway and the track created this huge bobblehead of the driver for the race's media day last week. mfaulkner@star-telegram.com

Race: Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.

Distance: 334 laps, or 501 miles.

Where: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.44-mile, banked, quad-oval in Fort Worth, Texas.

When: 2 p.m. Sunday.

TV: FS1.

Radio: PRN.

Last year’s winner: Jimmie Johnson.

Also this week: My Bariatric Solutions 300, Xfinity Series, Texas Motor Speedway, 3 p.m., Saturday, FOX.

Worth mentioning: Although advertised as a 500-mile race, it is actually 501 miles long.

Who’s Hot/Who’s Not

HOT

Kyle Busch: Three runner-up finishes in six races has him at first in the standings — wait until he starts winning.

Ryan Blaney: A third-place finish at Martinsville bumped him to third in the standings, and he should record a few wins this year.

NOT

Chase Elliott: Down to 18th in the standings despite finishing ninth at Martinsville, not a good look.

Jamie McMurray: A 2017 playoff berth is looking more and more fluky after he dipped to 26th in the standings.

NASCAR Monster Energy Cup points leaders

Through March 26

1. Kyle Busch, 257

2. Martin Truex Jr., 249

3. Ryan Blaney, 233

4. Joey Logano, 232

5. Brad Keselowski, 226

6. Denny Hamlin, 217

7. Kevin Harvick, 212

8. Clint Bowyer, 210

9. Kyle Larson, 195

10. Kurt Busch, 177

11. Aric Almirola, 171

12. Erik Jones, 152

13. Austin Dillon, 148

14. Alex Bowman, 145

15. Paul Menard, 139

16. Ryan Newman, 135

17. Jimmie Johnson, 121

18. Chase Elliott, 115

19. AJ Allmendinger, 110

20. William Byron, 108

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This story was originally published April 4, 2018 at 6:28 PM with the headline "NASCAR at Texas Motor Speedway: What you need to know about Sunday's race."

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