The NASCAR Cup Series will travel to the Lone Star State this week to race at Texas Motor Speedway. The race last year was crazy. There were 12 caution flags and 73 of the 271 laps were run under the yellow flag. Most of this had to do with the bumps in turns 1 and 2 causing so much chaos. Will we have the same this weekend? I wouldn’t bet against it. The Wurth 400 can be seen Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
Here are the picks for the season long games at Texas Motor Speedway….
DRIVER GROUP GAME
GROUP A: WILLIAM BYRON (9): It has been a slow start for the No. 24 team this year. Byron sits 11th in the Point Standings, but the good news is that he has been good on the 1.5-mile, intermediate tracks this year. Byron finished 3rd in Las Vegas and 7th at Kansas. Texas Motor Speedway ranks as his best intermediate track. Byron won at Texas in 2023 and finished 3rd in 2024. The No. 24 car posted the fastest speed in practice with the fastest long-run speed. I expect Byron to have one of his best races of the season Sunday.
GROUP B: TYLER REDDICK (5): How can we fade Reddick right now? He has been on fire this year, especially on the larger tracks. Reddick won the races at Darlington (another intermediate track) and Kansas Speedway. He has been the best Toyota at Texas Motor Speedway over the last two seasons. Reddick posted the 9th– fastest long-run speed in practice and the No. 45 car qualified 8th for the race. The No. 45 car is just too good to fade right now.
CHRIS BUESCHER (8): This is a home game for Buescher. The Prosper, Texas native has been good on the 1.5-mile, intermediate tracks. Buescher finished 6th in Las Vegas and 10th at Kansas. The No. 17 car posted the 4th-fastest long-run speed in practice and Buescher qualified 3rd for the race. I will take a chance with Buescher at his home track.
GROUP C: CARSON HOCEVAR (7): Is it time for us to start classifying Hocevar with the elite drivers in the Cup Series? He finally broke his maiden last week at Talladega. He has run up front in almost every race this year. Hocevar had one of the fastest cars at Texas Motor Speedway last year. Spire Motorsports is even better in 2026. Hocevar won the race last week, won the Truck Series race Friday night and he won the pole for Sunday’s race. That is a lot of winning. I will play the hot hand and use another allocation with Hocevar Sunday.
SPEEDWAY COLLECTIVE
FANTRAX
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