Courtesy of TMS Media Relations

WHAT: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400, 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, 2:30 p.m. CT.

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

RACE LENGTH: 267 laps | 400.5 miles.

RACE STAGE LENGTHS: 1-80 | 81-160 | 161-267.

ROUND OF 12 PLAYOFF DRIVERS & STANDINGS: 1) William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, 3,036 points; 2) Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, 3,036; 3) Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, 3,032; 4) Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, 3,023; 5) Chris Buescher, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, 3,021; 6) Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing, 3,019; 7) Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, 3,016; 8) Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, 3,014; 9) Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, 3,011; 10) Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, 3,011; 11) Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, 3,008; 12) Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, 3,000.

ROUND OF 12 SCHEDULE (3 RACES): Texas Motor Speedway, Sunday; Talladega Superspeedway, Sunday, Oct. 1; Charlotte ROVAL®, Sunday, Oct. 8.

ENTRY LIST:

• Click here for the full Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 entry list.

DEFENDING RACE WINNER: Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing.

DEFENDING POLE WINNER: Brad Keselowski, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.

2022 TOP-FIVE FINISHERS: 1. Tyler Reddick, Richard Childress Racing; 2. Joey Logano, Team Penske; 3. Justin Haley, Kaulig Racing; 4. Ryan Blaney, Team Penske; 5. Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Texas Motor Speedway will be hosting the Round of 12 NASCAR Cup Series Playoff opener for the second consecutive 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.
• Playoff drivers swept all three races in the opening Round of 16 with Kyle Larson winning Darlington, Tyler Reddick at Kansas and Denny Hamlin at Bristol.
• Seven organizations are represented among the remaining 12 playoff contenders. Joe Gibbs Racing leads the way with three entries while Hendrick Motorsports, 23XI Racing and RFK Racing have two each. Rounding out the group are Richard Childress Racing, Trackhouse Racing and Team Penske.
• Kevin Harvick won the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 three consecutive times from 2017-19. Jimmie Johnson won this NASCAR Cup Series Playoff race a track-record four times in a row from 2012-15. Johnson holds the TMS record for most Cup victories with seven.
• Johnson holds the track mark for career top-five finishes with 16. Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth are tied for second with 14. Harvick is next with 13 and Joey Logano with 12. Harvick owns the track record for top-10 finishes with 24.
• The polesitter has won a Cup race at Texas just five times in 42 races. The most recent, however, came in 2021 when Larson went wire to wire.
• Last season’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 had a track-record 36 lead changes for a Cup Series race. Texas Motor Speedway has recorded 23 or more lead changes in five of the last six Cup races.
• The drivers with the best average starting position at Texas Motor Speedway with a minimum of four starts are Ryan Blaney (9.0, 14 starts), Logano (11.6, 27 races), Hamlin (12.8, 32 starts), Chase Elliott (13.3, 12 starts) and William Byron (13.3, 8 starts).
• The drivers with the best average finishing position (min. four starts) are Reddick (6.8, 4 starts), Erik Jones (10.1, 11 starts), Harvick (10.5, 38 starts), Ky. Busch (11.7, 32 starts) and Elliott (13.3, 12 starts).
• Eight of the 12 playoff drivers have an average finishing position of 16.1 or better. The four who do not are Larson (17.8, 15 starts), Chris Buescher (23.3, 13 starts), Bubba Wallace (23.6, 8 starts) and Ross Chastain (25.2, 6 starts). Larson, however, does have a win to go along with four top-five finishes and six among the top 10.
• Four playoff drivers have previously won at Texas Motor Speedway, and they have combined for nine Cup victories overall. Busch paces the group with four wins while Hamlin has three and Larson and Reddick one each.
• Harvick will look to extend his track record for career Cup starts at Texas Motor Speedway to 39 in Sunday’s Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. His first start came in 2001, when he finished seventh.
• Busch needs to lead 84 laps in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 to surpass Johnson as the career Cup laps leader at Texas. Johnson owns the mark with 1,152 laps led while Busch has 1,069.
• Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski are the only drivers who rank among the top 10 in career laps led at Texas without a victory. Truex Jr., ninth with 689 laps led, has three runner-up finishes (2013 spring race, 2017 and ’20 fall races) in 33 career starts. Keselowski, 10th with 685 laps led, has a pair of runner-up efforts (2012, ’15 fall races) in 27 career starts. Last season, he won the pole and led 31 laps en route to an eighth-place finish. Keselowski has finished ninth or better in his last four starts at TMS.
• Blaney has finished eighth or better in eight of his last nine points races at Texas, including the last five in a row. He finished fourth last season.
• Jones has posted seven top-10 finishes in 11 career Cup starts at Texas, including sixth last year. He has finished a best of fourth on three occasions.
• Since Harvick finished 42nd in the 2014 spring race at TMS, he has recorded top-10 finishes in 13 of his last 15 points-paying starts at the venue. The run includes three wins and 10 top-five finishes overall.
• Chevrolet has won three of the last four Cup races at Texas with Austin Dillon (2020-spring), Larson (2021) and Reddick (2022). Busch interrupted the run with a win in this race in 2020.
• Zane Smith, the 2022 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series champion and a current series playoff contender, is scheduled to drive the No. 38 Ford for Front Row Motorsports in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. It will be his seventh Cup start this season and eighth of his career. His best finish of 10th came in May at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
• NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series playoff contender Carson Hocevar, who has competed in the last three Cup Series races for Legacy Motor Club, is scheduled to drive the organization’s No. 42 Chevrolet in the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400. He is coming off an 11th-place finish at Bristol.

 TMS CAREER LEADERS

WINS:

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

POLES:

• Kurt Busch – 3
• Dale Earnhardt Jr. – 2
• Carl Edwards – 2
• Jeff Gordon – 2
• Kevin Harvick – 2
• Jimmie Johnson – 2
• Brad Keselowski – 2
• Bobby Labonte – 2
• Tony Stewart – 2
• Martin Truex Jr. – 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 – 691
• Martin Truex Jr. – 689
• Brad Keselowski – 685

Bold-Denotes Cup Series Round of 12 Playoff driver.

The NASCAR Playoffs weekend 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 400 on Sunday (2:30 p.m. CT on USA Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Ch. 90, PRN, and 95.9 The Ranch-local). Country Music stars LOCASH will perform Sunday’s pre-race concert at 12:30 p.m. CT on the Machinery Auctioneers Pre-Race Stage located at the start/finish line.

Texas Motor Speedway’s always-busy events schedule is well under way. Upcoming events in 2023 include: Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 NASCAR Playoffs weekend (Sept. 23-24), Goodguys’ Summit Racing Lone Start Nationals (Sept. 29-Oct. 1), Speedway Children’s Charities Smoke Show (Oct. 11) and Gordy’s Hwy 30 Music Fest (Oct. 19-22). The year wraps up with the family-favorite and speedway tradition Gift of Lights holiday light show.