2007 Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway

2007 Dickies 500 At Texas Motor Speedway:

Last year Jimmie Johnson came into the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway second in points and left as the point leader en route to his Championship win. The 2007 Dickies 500 sees Jimmie Johnson coming into the race just nine points behind point leader Jeff Gordon. Texas Motor Speedway will play a key roll in the 2007 Chase. Who will come out of Texas with the Championship edge?

Tickets:

Speedway ticket office (817)215-8500

Buy online from TicketsNow (direct link)

The Track:

Texas Motor Speedway is a 1.5 mile quad-oval. With 24 degrees of banking in the corners the NEXTEL Cup drivers can really haul the mail off into the corners. In order to be fast a driver needs a car that is handling well so they can carry that speed through the turns.

Race Distance:

334 Laps = 501 Miles

The Big Picture:

Another Jimmie Johnson victory last week allowed him to close the gap on his teammate Jeff Gordon. Johnson is now just nine points out of first place as the 2007 Chase has just three races remaining.

The top twelve:

1. Jeff Gordon
2. Jimmie Johnson -9
3. Clint Bowyer -111
4. Carl Edwards -261
5. Tony Stewart -322
6. Kyle Busch -328
7. Kevin Harvick -392
8. Denny Hamlin -400
9. Kurt Busch -419
10. Jeff Burton -424
11. Matt Kenseth -448
12. Martin Truex Jr. -513

Storylines:

The focus this week is on the duel for the Chase lead between Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson. Interestingly Texas Motor Speedway is one of only two tracks on the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup circuit where neither Gordon nor Johnson driver has ever won. (Homestead is the other)

Only nine points separate the two point leaders so each will have to lay it all on the line to try to get an edge on the other. At the same time both drivers will need to use caution to avoid a catastrophic bad finish which could be fatal for their Championship dreams.

Media Coverage:

TV: ABC Sunday, November 4th, 3:00PM Eastern.

Radio: PRN and SIRIUS Satellite

Actual Race: 2:30 p.m. Eastern

Posted Awards:

$7,255,977

Last Year:

In 2006 Tony Stewart had the field covered all day long. The race was not without some drama as Jimmie Johnson was closing fast at the end. Stewart took two tires for the final run to the checkers while Johnson took four.

A green-white-checkers finish provided some drama but Stewart was able to hold off Johnson for the Texas win.

Predictions:

I look for this Sunday's race to be a replay of the 2006 event. Jimmie Johnson has been tough to beat on the mile and a half tri-ovals in 2007. Coming off his big Atlanta win he now brings a ton of momentum into Texas Motor Speedway. Jimmie has to be a favorite again this week.

Tony Stewart had the field covered last year. However Stewart posted a weak effort here in the spring and was not able to be a factor last week in Atlanta. While I think Stewart could be strong this Sunday I have to move him down to my backup pick for this weekend.