NASCAR in Texas: How to watch, TV schedule, predictions for Fort Worth race

NASCAR in Texas: How to watch, TV schedule, predictions for Fort Worth race originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NASCAR is back in Texas this weekend.

Two months after its trip to Austin, the Cup Series will now visit Fort Worth for a 400-mile race around Texas Motor Speedway.

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The 1.5-mile circuit has played host to the series since 1997 when it opened. Since then, thousands of race fans have flocked to the speedway to see the likes of Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. win races. Now, it’s modern stars like Kyle Larson, Denny Hamlin and Chase Elliott who have visited victory lane in the Lone Star State.

So, what’s in store for Texas this year? What’s the TV schedule for the weekend? And who could contend for the win on Sunday? Here’s everything you need to know for Würth 400:

When is the NASCAR race in Texas?

The Würth 400 is set for Sunday, May 4, at 3:30 p.m. ET.

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Before the race, there will be practice and qualifying on Saturday. Thirty-eight drivers will be split into two groups, with each group getting 25 minutes of free practice. For qualifying, each driver will get one lap to set the starting order based on speed.

NASCAR TV schedule this weekend for Texas

Mike Joy (play-by-play), Kevin Harvick (analyst) and Clint Bowyer (analyst) will be on the call for FOX and Amazon Prime Video this weekend.

Here’s the full TV and streaming schedule for Texas:

Saturday, May 3 (Amazon Prime Video)

Sunday, May 4 (FOX Sports 1)

Who is racing in Texas? Here’s the entry list

Thirty-eight drivers will race at Darlington — the 36 full-timers, plus two “open” entries.

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Jesse Love, a 20-year-old Xfinity Series regular, will jump up to the Cup Series for his second career start in NASCAR’s top division for Beard Motorsports. Elsewhere, 30-year-old Chad Finchum will make his first start of the season and 10th of his career for Garage 66.

Here’s the full entry list for Texas:

NASCAR picks, predictions, favorites for Texas

Looking at the numbers, Texas might seem like every other 1.5-mile track on the schedule. But when you see the actual track, you’ll notice it’s much different than its counterparts in Charlotte, Las Vegas and Kansas.

Texas has two distinctly different corners — a wide and low-banked turns one and two, then a tighter and higher-banked turns three and four. That creates a tricky challenge for drivers and crew chiefs when setting up their cars, but we’ve seen a few teams master the track lately.

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Hendrick Motorsports has been the standout in recent years, winning three of the last four trips to Texas with three different drivers (Larson, Byron and Elliott). Byron’s 11.2 average finish is the best among drivers with at least 10 Texas starts and Larson’s 525 laps led is third-best. Elliott, meanwhile, is the defending race winner.

If anyone can challenge the Hendrick trio, look toward a pair of Fords or a pair of Toyotas.

Team Penske stars Logano and Blaney have each led at least 400 laps at Texas, and both will be eager for their first win of the season after their teammate Cindric won at Talladega last week. Then there’s Joe Gibbs Racing’s Hamlin and 23XI Racing’s Reddick — both past winners at Texas and both led 37 laps last year.

Briscoe and Hocevar are worth monitoring as potential longshots.

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Briscoe, now driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, has a 9.0 average finish in his four Texas starts with three top-10s. Hocevar, despite only having two starts, was 10th last year in an impressive run for Spire Motorsports — he’s knocking on the door of his first win, and it could come in Texas.

NASCAR past winners, race history for Texas

Eight of the 38 drivers in the field are past winners in Texas.

Busch leads the field with four victories (2013, 2016, 2018, 2020), followed by Hamlin with three (2010, 2010, 2019). One-time winners include Logano (2014), Dillon (2020), Larson (2021), Reddick (2022) Byron (2023) and Elliott (2024).