NASCAR at Texas preview: Tricky new track not easy to figure out

First, Denny Hamlin spun just minutes after opening practice had started Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. Then, Kyle Busch’s car jumped sideways causing him to slap the outside wall with the right-rear quarter panel. Even though Busch’s Toyota sustained minor damage and needed repairs, both incidents could be classified as rather harmless.

The accidents that followed next during practice for Sunday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 (1:30 p.m. ET, Fox) were considerably more serious in nature. Rookie Erik Jones lost control in Turn 4 and walloped the outside wall. Shortly after practice resumed, Chase Elliott pushed too hard exiting Turn 2 and crashed, spinning himself into the inside SAFER barrier. The cars of Jones and Elliott each suffered major damaged and necessitated a switch to backups for the remainder of the weekend.

Four accidents in a single practice session is normally unusual. However, that there were a rash of incidents on Friday was not only not surprising, it was expected. This was the first time drivers had been on the 1.5-mile track since the oval had been repaved following last November’s playoff race, and as tends to happen when a surface is brand-new, grip was at a premium.

“With new repaves, we have to have a tire that can withstand the speed and when that happens it just makes it real on edge and that is just part of it,” Elliott said. “Not an excuse, just made a mistake.”

Add in the fact TMS officials had also decreased the banking in Turns 1 and 2 in addition to widening the track in that section, the ensuing carnage was fully anticipated. Combining high speeds with a slick track is a surefire recipe for trouble. Which manifested again on Saturday when Trevor Bayne crashed in the third and final practice round. Adding salt to the wound, the Roush Fenway Racing driver had just posted that session’s fastest time the lap before.

“I wrecked the fastest race car I have ever had,” Bayne said. “I got loose into (Turn) 1 and touched the gray there and if you get out of the groove by a centimeter it is gone. It is unfortunate. I just stepped over the edge.”

An eventful two days of practice has created a level of uncertainty entering Sunday.

Conventional wisdom suggests the seventh race of the season will either be a humdrum affair where drivers can’t pass because the track is essentially a single groove, nor do they want to take chances for fear of the repercussions. Or it will turn into a crash-fest, as inevitably drivers will attempt to push the boundaries with the outcome akin to what happened to Jones, Elliott and Bayne in practice.

Pole-sitter Kevin Harvick is hopeful that after three practices, qualifying and Saturday’s 300-mile Xfinity Series race, enough rubber will be laid on the track that the groove will widen out some, therefore becoming more conducive to side-by-side racing.

“The race track has rubbered in nice,” Harvick said, “… The track and entrances and exits to the corners changed and widened out. I think that will be the story of the weekend, the progression of the track and the cars and where all that goes.”

Others are less optimistic. Monster Energy Cup Series points leader Kyle Larson thinks passing will be arduous, and drivers will have to stick to the bottom lane because anyone venturing beyond that is only asking for trouble. A prediction that if proved accurate, could mean the Chip Ganassi Racing driver is in for a long afternoon.

Larson is among nine drivers who didn’t post a qualifying time after their cars did not pass technical inspection before the first round had been completed and will now start at the rear of the 40-car grid. The group includes Busch, Elliott, Jones, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Kasey Kahne, and they will be joined by Jimmie Johnson, who will have to drop to the rear due to a tire change caused by spinning in qualifying.

“This is not the place you want to not make it through tech,” Larson said. “It will be really hard to pass, I think, on Sunday.”

Busch and Johnson have combined to win seven of the past nine Texas races, while Larson and Elliott typically excel on intermediate-sized tracks. In final practice, Johnson recorded the fastest single lap with Elliott (second), Larson (third), Earnhardt (seventh) and Busch (eighth) all ranking in the top 10. Giving hope they might be able to gradually maneuver their way to the front.

Practice is one thing, however, as cars spread out and teams are on different agendas. The unknown is: can that speed transfer to Sunday and if so, will it be enough to overcome treacherous conditions.

“I think that track is only going to get better as the weekend goes,” Kahne said. “Whether that’s good enough to pass, it’s tough to say at this point. But, I highly doubt it.

“Anywhere you go where there aren’t cars going constantly, it’s really slippery. We’re just going to do the best we can … five-hundred miles is a long time.”