It’s cloudy and damp at Texas this morning, but there’s no rain in sight to get in the way of NASCAR trying to race 800 miles today (500 for Sprint Cup, followed by 300 for Nationwide).
Stuck At Work? Follow Along With Live Sprint Cup Updates And Chat From Texas
Keep refreshing this page for continuous updates on the race, and chat along with us in the comments section below (make sure you click the “auto-refresh” button if you’re chatting).
If you’re wondering, a green-white-checkered finish in either race today would make this the most miles NASCAR has ever run in a single day. In October 2003 at Charlotte, NASCAR ran 800 miles (500 Cup, 300 Nationwide).
There will be a competition caution at lap 25 of the Cup race today, since teams are using new tires, have a green racing surface and are seeing the big-track debut of the spoiler.
Prerace: The anthem has concluded and we’re just about a minute away from firing the engines. The only car going to the back is Joey Logano, since he changed an engine yesterday morning.
The command: A woman representing sponsor Samsung gave an unusual command. She said, “Tony Stewart...oh yeah, and gentlemen...start your engines!” It was odd, but we take it she doesn’t think much of Stewart?
Lap 12 (of 334): Tony Stewart is out to a half-second lead over Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Kasey Kahne. The top seven cars are single-file, which is probably wise considering there’s a competition caution coming up at lap 25.
Lap 25: Competition caution. Greg Biffle leads Jimmie Johnson, and Tony Stewart has fallen back to third. David Gilliland, Kevin Conway and Mike Bliss are a lap down. Dave Blaney start-and-parked to the garage already.
Lap 32: Restart. Stewart leads Biffle, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson with just over 300 laps still to go. Stewart’s pit box (selected because he won the pole) allowed him to get off pit road faster than the rest.
Lap 48: Jimmie Johnson takes the lead from Stewart. Johnson took the lead from Stewart, and his Hendrick Motorsports teammates are third (Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and fourth (Jeff Gordon). Mark Martin is 22nd, if you’re wondering. Already looking like a Hendrick day here.
Lap 81 update: Dale Earnhardt Jr. leads, Brian Vickers blows a tire to bring out a caution, Dale Jr. loses lead. No, that’s not a misprint. Dale Jr. passed Jimmie Johnson and took the lead a few laps ago, just before Brian Vickers brought out a caution when he blew a tire. But during the pit stops, Dale Jr.‘s team lost a spot to Tony Stewart (who, again, has that No. 1 pit stall), and Stewart now leads.
The top 10 right now is Stewart, Earnhardt Jr., Johnson, Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya and Greg Biffle.
Lap 104 update: Vickers spins again, Dale Jr. takes lead on pit stops. Earnhardt Jr. took two tires on the most recent pit stops to take the lead from Tony Stewart (who took four tires). The current running order is Dale Jr., Jeff Burton, Jeff Gordon, Jamie McMurray, Stewart, Biffle, AJ Allmendinger, Paul Menard, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson.
Lap 115 update: Hornish spins by himself. All alone in Turn 2, Hornish lost control and spun. Dale Jr. stayed out on the pit stop to maintain the lead, but runnerup Jeff Burton tried to fake as if he wasn’t coming to pit road and instead hit the pit road cone, earning a penalty. He restarted 31st as a result.
Meanwhile, on the ensuing restart, Jamie McMurray has taken the lead.
Lap 145 update: Jeff Gordon sighting at the front. Yep, that Jeff Gordon. He’s taken over the lead from Dale Earnhardt Jr. (yep, that Dale Earnhardt Jr.) and pulled away to a two-plus second lead already. One-legged Denny Hamlin is third, followed by David Reutimann (another surprise) and the completely unsurprising Jimmie Johnson.
McMurray, who briefly led earlier, has fallen back to seventh.
Lap 176 update: Just past halfway, green-flag pit stops complete. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has the lead at Texas following green-flag pit stops, though Jeff Gordon is gaining quickly. Earnhardt Jr. had a 2.5-second lead just a few laps ago, but Gordon is within 1.5 seconds now.
The rest of the top 10 are: Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, David Reutimann, Kurt Busch, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, Jamie McMurray and Juan Pablo Montoya, who is in the top 10 for the first time today.
Lap 229 update (105 laps to go): Green-flag stops done again, Johnson and Gordon battling. Jimmie Johnson leads Jeff Gordon following green-flag pit stops with just over 100 laps to go at Texas. Johnson and Gordon have been racing hard for the lead, ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr., who is 3.5 seconds behind.
Denny Hamlin and David Reutimann complete the top five, followed by Tony Stewart, Paul Menard, Jeff Burton, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch.
Among those having a bad day: Clint Bowyer (30th, two laps down), Martin Truex Jr. (22nd, one lap down) and Mark Martin (20th, one lap down).
Lap 265 update (69 to go): Gordon, Johnson slam into each other. Jeff Gordon was apparently racing Jimmie Johnson too hard, and Johnson got frustrated with Gordon and slammed into him, causing left-front damage while they were racing for second.
Gordon said on the radio, “He just wants to be treated differently than everyone else.”
Gordon has now driven by Tony Stewart for the lead, and Johnson has faded to fourth.
Also among the top five: Jeff Burton is third and Denny Hamlin is fourth.
Lap 295 update (39 laps to go): Gordon passes Johnson with no contact this time. After green-flag pit stops, Jimmie Johnson was the leader, but teammate Jeff Gordon make quick work of him to pull away to a 1.5-second lead...and counting.
Tony Stewart is third, Jeff Burton is fourth and Denny Hamlin is fifth. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is in sixth, but is 8.8 seconds behind. David Reutimann, Greg Biffle, Matt Kenseth and AJ Allmendinger round out the top 10.
Lap 315 update (19 to go): Reutimann blows up, Johnson lucks out. Jimmie Johnson was going to have to pit under green for fuel, but lucked out when David Reutimann’s motor apparently blew up.
That forced everyone to pit, and Johnson came out ahead of leader Jeff Gordon.
Jeff Burton is the new leader, by virtue of taking no tires. Tony Stewart, Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Greg Biffle and Kyle Busch took two tires each, and Johnson/Gordon took four.
There will be 18 laps to go on the restart.
THE BIG ONE: On lap 316, Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart came out of Turn 4 going nearly four-wide, and it cost them.
Gordon barely tapped Stewart’s left rear, and Stewart slowed just a bit. Stewart got a bit loose and ended up making contact with Gordon again, which got both cars out of shape.
Gordon and Stewart spun at the same time, and it ended up wrecking nine cars on the frontstretch trioval, right in front of the majority of the fans.
Not only were Gordon and Stewart in it, but Juan Pablo Montoya, Joey Logano, Clint Bowyer, AJ Allmendinger, Paul Menard, Jamie McMurray and Carl Edwards were also involved.
Stewart took the blame after leaving the infield care center.
“I started it,” he said. “It’s definitely my fault. I apologize to all the teams and drivers.”
Said Gordon: “I got clipped in the right rear and turned me in the wall. Man, what a race car. Gosh, what a race car we had.”
It was surprising to see a “Big One” type wreck at Texas, since such things usually happen at Daytona and Talladega - which is in less than a week.
“We’re supposed to have the big one next week, right?” Bowyer said.
Jeff Burton, who took no tires on the last pit stop, currently leads Denny Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch and Greg Biffle under the red flag.
Jimmie Johnson - the first car with four tires - is sixth.
DENNY HAMLIN WINS: In what was certainly an improbable finish – considering he’s only a couple weeks removed from ACL surgery – Denny Hamlin held off Jimmie Johnson to win the Sprint Cup race at Texas this afternoon.
Johnson was just a lap away from winning and was coming on strong, but finished a tenth of a second behind.
Kyle Busch was third, followed by Kurt Busch and Kasey Kahne.
The rest of the top 10: Mark Martin, Kevin Harvick, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., and Greg Biffle.
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