Courtesy of TMS Media Relations

WHAT: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500, opening Round of 12 race of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.

WHERE: Texas Motor Speedway, a 1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth, Texas.

WHEN: Sunday, Sept. 25, 2:30 p.m. CT.

TV AND RADIO: TV: USA Network | Radio: PRN, SiriusXM (Ch. 90), 95.9 The Ranch (local).

RACE LENGTH: 334 laps | 501 miles.

RACE STAGE LENGTHS: 1-105 | 106-210 | 211-334.

ROUND OF 12 PLAYOFF DRIVERS (with points): 1) Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, 3,040 points. 2) Joey Logano, Team Penske, 3,025. 3) Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, 3,020. 4) Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, 3,019. 5) William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, 3,015. 6) Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, 3,013. 7) Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, 3,013. 8) Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, 3,013. 9) Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, 3,009. 10)  Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, 3,007. 11) Daniel Suárez, Trackhouse Racing, 3,007. 12) Austin Cindric, Team Penske, 3,006.

ROUND OF 12 SCHEDULE (3 RACES): Texas Motor Speedway, Sunday; Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 2; Charlotte ROVAL®, Sunday, Oct. 9.

DEFENDING RACE WINNER: Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports.

DEFENDING POLE WINNER: Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports.

2021 TOP-FIVE FINISHERS: 1. Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports; 2. William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports; 3. Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing; 4. Brad Keselowski, Team Penske; 5. Kevin Harvick, Stewart-Haas Racing.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Texas Motor Speedway will be hosting the Round of 12 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff opener after playing host to the Round of 8 opener last season. … Texas Motor Speedway has hosted the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs since 2005. The inaugural Playoff race was won by Carl Edwards, his first of four career wins at Texas. … Ryan Blaney will be looking to become the second driver in two seasons to sweep the NASCAR All-Star Race and Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas. Kyle Larson accomplished the feat in 2021. … There are six drivers in the field who have previously won a points-paying Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway, including three playoff contenders. Denny Hamlin leads the playoff drivers with three wins while Larson and Joey Logano have one each. Kyle Busch leads the non-playoff drivers with four career wins and is followed by Kevin Harvick (3) and Austin Dillon (1). … Only two playoff drivers have a career finishing average of 12th or better while five average 16th or worse. The top six playoff drivers based off career average finishing position in points-paying races at Texas are Christopher Bell (9.0), Chase Elliott (11.54), Hamlin (13.71), Logano (14.03), William Byron (14.42) and Chase Briscoe (15.0). The five who have fared the worst in reverse order are Ross Chastain (27.6), Alex Bowman (24.5), Larson (18.42), Daniel Suarez (17.33) and Blaney (16.38). The 12th playoff driver – rookie Austin Cindric – will be making his first points-paying start at Texas. … Overall, drivers with the best TMS career finishing average are Tyler Reddick (8.7), Bell (9.0) and Harvick (9.7).
• Busch owns the top driver rating at Texas (103.3) and is followed by Harvick (97.5) and Blaney (95.1). … Busch leads all active drivers with 14 top-five finishes at Texas. Harvick is second with 13 and Logano is third with 11. … Busch has not had a DNF at Texas in 31 Cup starts. … Harvick and Busch rank 1-2 all-time for career top-10 finishes at TMS with 24 and 23, respectively. Since Harvick finished 42nd in the 2014 spring race at TMS, he has recorded top-10 finishes in 13 of his last 14 points-paying starts at the venue. The run includes three wins and 10 top-five finishes overall. Busch arrives with a streak of five consecutive top-10 finishes in points-paying races at TMS, including a win in this event in 2020. … The Team Penske duo of Logano and Blaney lead the playoff drivers in career laps led with 465 and 403, respectively. Larson is third with 330. … Blaney has finished eighth or better in seven of his last eight points-paying starts at Texas, including the last four in a row. … Bell has finished third in his last two visits. … Chastain has finished 28th or worse in his last four TMS starts and has not fared better than 18th in five career starts.
• Busch needs to lead 84 laps in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 to surpass Jimmie Johnson as the career Cup laps leader at Texas. Johnson owns the mark with 1,152 laps led while Busch has 1,069. … The pole sitter has won a Cup race at Texas just five times in 41 races. The most recent, however, came last season when Larson went wire to wire. … Harvick won the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 three consecutive times from 2017-19. Johnson won this NASCAR Playoff race a record four times in a row from 2012-15. … … Harvick will be making a record 38th career Cup start at TMS, breaking a tie with Kurt Busch who is currently sidelined with a brain injury from his crash at Pocono Raceway in July. Harvick’s first start at TMS came April 1, 2001 when Larson, the defending race winner, was just eight years old. Harvick finished seventh in that race. … Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski rank among the top 10 in career laps led at Texas Motor Speedway but neither has been able to secure a victory. Truex Jr., ninth with 674 laps led, has three runner-up finishes (2013 spring race, 2017 and ’20 fall race) in 32 career starts. Keselowski, 10th with 654 laps led, has a pair of runner-up efforts (2012, ’15 fall race) in 26 career starts.
• Only three drivers – Bell, Byron and Hamlin – posted top-10 finishes in the opening three-race Round of 16. Bell led the way with three top-five finishes in his three starts (5th at Darlington, 3rd at Kansas, 4th at Bristol). Byron had all finishes among the top eight, including a best of third at Bristol. Hamlin had runner-up finishes in two (Darlington, Kansas) of his three starts with the other being ninth at Bristol. … Elliott leads the series in wins with four while seven other drivers are tied for second with two. There have been 19 different winners in 29 races this season. … Elliott and Larson lead the series in top-five finishes with 11 each. Bell and Chastain are tied for second with 10 each. … Elliott also leads the series in top-10 finishes with 18 with Bell running second with 17. … NASCAR Xfinity Series playoff contenders Noah Gragson and Ty Gibbs will both be doing double duty this weekend as the duo will compete in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500. Gragson will be driving the No. 16 Chevrolet for Kaulig Racing while Gibbs will be in the No. 23 Toyota for 23XI Racing.

TMS CAREER LEADERS

WINS:

• Jimmie Johnson 7
• Carl Edwards 4
• Kyle Busch 4
• Denny Hamlin 3
• Kevin Harvick 3
• Kyle Larson 2
• Greg Biffle 2
• Jeff Burton 2
• Tony Stewart 2
• Matt Kenseth 2

POLES:

• Kurt Busch 3
• Kevin Harvick 3
• Kyle Larson 2
• Carl Edwards 2
• Bobby Labonte 2
• Tony Stewart 2
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2
• Jeff Gordon               2
• Martin Truex Jr. 2
• Jimmie Johnson 2
• Ryan Newman 2

LAP LED:

• Jimmie Johnson 1,152
• Kyle Busch 1,069
• Matt Kenseth 883
• Tony Stewart               801
• Gregg Biffle 733
• Carl Edwards 691
• Jeff Gordon 691
• Kevin Harvick 682
• Martin Truex Jr. 674
• Brad Keselowski 654

Bold-Denotes active fulltime Cup Series driver.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE

(All times Central/local)

Saturday, Sept. 24

7:30 a.m.                               Xfinity Series garage open

8:30 a.m.                               Cup Series garage open

9:35-10:05 a.m.                    Xfinity Series practice

10:05-11 a.m.                       Xfinity Series qualifying

11:35 a.m.-12:20 p.m.         Cup Series practice

12:20-1:30 p.m.                    Cup Series qualifying

2:30 p.m.                                Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 Xfinity Series Playoff Race

Sunday, Sept. 25

11:30 a.m.                            Cup Series garage open

2:30 p.m.                              Autotrader EchoAutomotive 500 Cup Series Playoff Race

Texas Motor Speedway will play host to the 2022 NASCAR Playoffs this weekend. The NASCAR Playoffs doubleheader will be highlighted by the NASCAR Xfinity Series Andy’s Frozen Custard 300 on Saturday (2:30 p.m. CT on USA Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90, and PRN), and the NASCAR Cup Series Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 on Sunday (2:30 p.m. CT on USA Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90, PRN, and 95.9 The Ranch).

The newly renovated Lil’ Texas Motor Speedway 1/5-mile dirt track will kick off the weekend of racing with the inaugural C. Bell’s MICRO MANIA. The four-day event (Sept. 21-24) features practice on Wednesday, qualifying races Thursday and Friday, and mains and finals Saturday. Micro Sprints are smaller versions of full-sized sprint cars with side-mounted 600cc motorcycle engines that can generate 140 horsepower with similar chassis and body styles to the larger versions. NASCAR stars currently confirmed to participate include Christopher Bell, two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch and his son Brexton Busch, Sheldon Creed, Daniel Hemric, Brett Moffitt, and John Hunter Nemechek.

TICKETS:

For ticket information for this weekend’s NASCAR Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 playoff doubleheader, including individual day tickets for C. Bell’s MICRO MANIA, please visit www.texasmotorspeedway.com.

Season tickets and camping for Texas Motor Speedway’s 2023 major event season are on sale now. Save up to 33 percent versus buying individual tickets, take advantage of interest-free monthly payments, get the best seat selection and more. All-new reduced rates are available for the GEICO Infield, GEICO VIP and WinStar World Casino & Resort Lone Star Circle camping areas. Click HERE for more information and to purchase season tickets.

MORE INFO:

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