Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a fascinating track because it has never had a repeat winner in 12 races so it's hard to say who will run well. The track doesn't lend itself to any driver's style Texas is a very fast track, and the drivers are carrying a lot of speed in the corners. When you carry those speeds, the car wants to roll over on the right front. It's kind of a "rob Peter to pay Paul" issue. You can adjust your front suspension to make the car turn better, but you may put too much load on the right front tire. It's a compromise, and you can't cross the line. You want the car to turn well, but it's also got to be stable. If you're loading up too much pressure on the right-side tire, it will definitely end your day. Being a rocket ship in the first couple of laps doesn't mean a thing at Texas. The teams that stay with it, adjust tire pressure and keep the car consistently fast will win.Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon haven't won at Texas, but they're the class of the field right now. Either one of those guys could break into the win column for the first time at this track. Gordon was strong at Atlanta before he had a problem with a crush panel
Tony Stewart was strong at Atlanta, too, and had a great duel with Johnson.
Clint Bowyer is going to win eventually this year, and he ran up front at Atlanta, finishing sixth.
Jeff Burton has been consistent just about everywhere we've been. The No. 31 team has that championship look about it.
New Chevy engine: Six teams will be using the Chevy R07 engine, including all three Joe Gibbs Racing teams — Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart and J.J. Yeley — plus Kyle Busch and Casey Mears at Hendrick Motorsports and Scott Wimmer from Richard Childress Racing. Either these teams are extremely confident in the engine, or they feel like they're going to take a shot with a power plan that has more horsepower. It's the engine of the future so you have to roll it out at some point, just like the Car of Tomorrow or a new tire. I don't know whether there's a good week to do it or not, but it's just part of the nature of the sport.