Open Race Thread: NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Samsung Mobile 500 - Texas Motor Speedway

The Easter break allowed for a moment of reflection on the first six weeks of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. During that break we learned that Stewart-Haas will not be suffering a hangover from the 2011 championship season with defending champion Tony Stewart winning two races (fifth in standings) and Ryan Newman winning last time out at Martinsville.

It’s still early but they’ve thrown the early gauntlet on the Sprint Cup garage during the season’s first leg.

Most would have expected Hendrick Motorsports to contend against Stewart-Haas - after all, Hendrick supplies engines and support to Stewart, Newman and Danica Patrick. Alas, Hendrick has been shut out. Jeff Gordon sits 21^st in points and Kasey Kahne is 31^st.

That’s opened the door for new-look Michael Waltrip Racing (Toyota) to sneak in take some of the early-season headlines away from Hendrick and Chevrolet. That’s included a Phoenix pole by Mark Martin, who would have been a championship contender if not for scaling back from a full season to 25 races in 2012.

Clint Bowyer has shown renewed vigor with MWR and new crew chief Brian Pattie, brought over from Ganassi Racing. But it’s actually the longest-tenured MWR driver who made early headlines this weekend, when Martin Truex Jr. won the pole for Saturday’s Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

Truex captured the pole with a 28.366 at 190.369 mph. This put him just ahead of the most-decorated driver in Texas history - Matt Kenseth, who qualified on the outside pole with a 28.399 and 190.148 mph.

Just how good has Kenseth been at Texas?

Kenseth has two wins at the Fort Worth speedway, and averages an 8.74 finish. More importantly, they’ve said that they expect to win this weekend. If not Kenseth, expect to see a Roushketeer fighting for the lead in the closing laps.

That includes points leader Greg Biffle, who’s starting third and Carl Edwards, who will start in 20^th. It’s a just a Roush kind of day. But will it be a Roush kind of night?

Live television coverage will start on FOX at 7 p.m. EST and will feature the voices of Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip. For those who are away from a television set or prefer the radio broadcast, www.goprn.com/ will stream the race live on any supported computer or mobile device.

A complete starting lineup can be found after the jump!