Auto Racing Glance

[March 28, 2019]  MONSTER ENERGY NASCAR CUP SERIES: O'REILLY AUTO PARTS 500 (334 laps, 501 miles around a 1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Texas Motor Speedway; Fort Worth, Texas

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 3:16 p.m. ET) - Fox (Radio: Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: The seventh of 36 races on the season, the Cup series is headed to one of the showplace tracks on the schedule, Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. ... This will be the 37th race at Texas, with Kevin Harvick - still winless this season - winning last fall's race, with Kyle Busch, already a two-time winner in 2019, taking home the checkered flag last spring. ... Jimmie Johnson, a seven-time winner at Texas and seven-time champion, is still in a slump lasting nearly two seasons and is 15th in the standings. His last victory came at Dover in June 2017. ... Part of the problem for Johnson may be that no Chevrolet driver has won this season, with three Fords and three Toyotas visiting Victory Lane so far. ... Brad Keselowski won last week at Martinsville in a Ford. ... *Busch leads the Cup standings with 273 points followed by *Denny Hamlin (252), Harvick (248), *Joey Logano (245), * Keselowski (236), Aric Almirola (215), Martin Truex Jr. (207), Ryan Blaney (203), Chase Elliott (186) and Kurt Busch (185) rounding out the top 10.

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth. Standings per NASCAR.com.

BEST BETS: If you sense a trend, it's because the same drivers stay near the top of the odds most of the season. Busch is the favorite again at 5/2 followed by Keselowski at 7/2, Harvick at 6/1 with Truex at 8/1. Kurt Busch at 30/1 is excellent value, with Johnson at 60/1 and Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at 75/1 good long shots.

NASCAR XFINITY SERIES: MY BARIATRIC SOLUTIONS 300 (200 laps, 300 miles around a 1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Texas Motor Speedway; Fort Worth, Texas

TV: Saturday, 1 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 1:16 p.m. ET) - FS1 (Radio: Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: The sixth of 33 races on the season, the series is back in action after a week layoff. ...This will be the 37th series race at Texas. ... Cup regular Ryan Blaney won this race last year, with Cole Custer winning the fall race. Custer was also the winner at Fontana, Calif., two weeks ago. ... Tyler Reddick leads the standings with 220 points, followed by *Custer (213), *Christopher Bell (206), Brandon Jones (183), Austin Cindric (179), *Michael Annett (178), Justin Allgaier (171), Noah Gragson (161), Ryan Seig (153) and John Hunter Nemechek (149).

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth. Standings per NASCAR.com.

NASCAR GANDER OUTDOORS TRUCK SERIES: VANKOR 350 (147 laps, 220.5 miles [354.86 kilometers] around a 1.5-mile D-shaped oval), Texas Motor Speedway; Fort Worth, Texas

TV: Friday, 9 p.m. ET (Green flag approx. 9:16 p.m. ET) - FS1 (Radio: Performance Racing Network, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90).

THIS WEEK: The fifth of 23 races on the season, this will be the 43rd series race at Texas, with Justin Haley winning last fall and Johnny Sauter last spring. ... Kyle Busch won at Martinsville last week, his 201st win in NASCAR's top three series, and has won three truck races in a row. ... Stewart Friesen leads the Truck standings (151 points), followed by Grant Enfinger (147), Brett Moffitt (146), Sauter (142), Harrison Burton (142), Ben Rhodes (140), *Austin Hill (135), Matt Crafton (130), Todd Gilliland (126) and Sheldon Creed (111).

*Denotes race winner and playoff berth. Standings per NASCAR.com.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES

THIS WEEK: The series is off for a week after the inaugural series race at Circuit of the America's in Austin, Texas. ... Colton Herta was the surprise winner at Austin, and at 18 years, 359 days old is the youngest winner ever in a series with more than 100 years of history. He is the son of team owner, former driver and fan favorite Bryan Herta. ... Next up for IndyCar is the Honda IndyCar Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham on April 7. ... Josef Newgarden leads the standings (93 points), followed by Herta (75), Scott Dixon (57), Alexander Rossi (53) and Graham Rahal (50).

*Stats and standings per IndyCar.com.

FORMULA ONE: GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX (57 laps, 191.53 miles around a 3.36-mile permanent road circuit, or two hours, whichever comes first), Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain.

TV: Sunday, 11 a.m. ET (Green flag approx. 11:10 a.m. ET) - ESPN2 (Radio: SiriusXM Radio Channel 132).

THIS WEEK: This is the second of 21 races for the season. ... Germany's Sebastian Vettel won the race last year in a Ferrari. ... Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas in a won the season opener two weeks ago at Australia. ... The Bahrain International Circuit was designed by Germany's Hermann Tilke and opened in 2004. ... Tilke led radical redesigns of four classic F1 tracks and has designed 10 from the ground up used by F1, including Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. ... Tilke's designs have been sometimes criticized for not promoting enough passing, but have also been praised for their safety features. His designs have been dubbed "Tilkedromes."... This will be the 15th race at the Bahrain track, with the 2011 race being cancelled due to unrest in Bahrain. ... Finland's Bottas leads the standings in his Mercedes (26 points), followed by Great Britain's Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes (18), Belgium's Max Verstappen, Red Bull (15), Germany's Vettel, Ferrari (12) and Monaco's Charles Leclerc, Ferrari (10).

*Stats and standings per F1.com.

THIS WEEK: The series is in the second of a two-week break after the Gatornationals. ... Winners in Gainesville, Fla., were Richie Crampton in Top Fuel, Robert Hight in Funny Car, Bo Butner in Pro Stock and Andrew Hines in the season debut of Pro Stock Motorcycle. ... The NHRA is back in action April 5-7 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for the DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals. ... Doug Kalitta leads the Top Fuel standings (246 points), followed by Leah Pritchett (204), Steve Torrence (197), Billy Torrence (178) and Crampton (178) rounding out the top five. ... Hight leads Funny Car (330), followed by Jack Beckman (225), Matt Hagan (215), John Force (200) and Tommy Johnson Jr. (191). ... Butner is on top in Pro Stock (301), followed by Alex Laughlin (229), Jason Line (189), Erica Enders (186) and Matt Hartford (185). ... Hines leads Pro Stock Motorcycle (124), followed by Eddie Krawiec (106), Hector Arana Jr. (76) Joey Gladstone (72) and Matt Smith (63)

*Stats and standings per NHRA.com.

--K. Lee Davis, Field Level Media

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