2C| SUNDAY, JULY 19, 2020| CALLER-TIMES Harvick, Hamlin favorites at Stephen Hawkins ASSOCIATED PRESS

FORT WORTH, Texas – and Denny Hamlin can easily be consid- ered favorites for the first summertime race at Texas, even in this unpredictable and unprecedented NASCAR Cup sea- son. While there have been no practice sessions or qualifying laps since racing resumed two months ago, Harvick and Hamlin are both three-time winners at Texas, and combined to win four of the last five races there. They are tied with a Cup-best four wins apiece this season, and all but one of those have come since mid-May. The 1 1/2-mile track could get slick on a scorching Sunday afternoon, with tem- peratures forecast in the upper 90s and the heat index into the 100s. It will be about 30 degrees warmer than on March 29, the day the race was originally sched- uled before the coronavirus pandemic. “You’d be hard to bet against those two. This track, with one and two being so flat and having so little grip, that’s right up Denny Hamlin and Kevin Har- vick’s alley,” NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton said. “That’s right what they’re so good at, so I expect they’ll both run very well.” Kevin Harvick waves before a the NASCAR All-Star Race on Wednesday at in Bristol, Tenn. Harvick Burton, who won the inaugural Texas and Denny Hamlin have combined to win four of the last five races at Texas. MARK HUMPHREY/AP race in 1997 and became the first two- time winner at the track in 2007, said the fascinating part about this season is the both expressed concerns about how the crowd much smaller than the allowed row. The Busch brothers, Kurt and Kyle, unpredictability of what’s going to hap- compound was reapplied last week at 50% capacity at the track, which has start together on the second row, ahead pen without practice and the application Kentucky, which like Texas is a 1 1/2-mile about 135,000 seats. It will be the first of Harvick and Keselowski. Hamlin of traction compound on tracks. track owned by Speedway Motorsports. major sporting event in Texas in more starts seventh, on the same row with There are no rules changes from last “I think you have to be concerned with than four months to allow spectators, , who is coming off a $1 mil- year for the aerodynamic or engine pack- it going to Texas because it hasn’t been and likely will have a crowd similar to the lion win in the All-Star race. ages used at Texas, where Hamlin won in the same as what it was last year,” said 20,000 or so fans at Bristol on Wednes- Stewart-Haas driver won the spring before Harvick won his third Harvick, who has 11 consecutive top-10 day for NASCAR’s All-Star race. last week at Kentucky, becoming the first consecutive fall race there. finishes in Texas. Harvick, who has an 88-point lead rookie winner in the Cup Series in nearly “We’re going to use some notes from TMS president Eddie Gossage said he over this season, paced four years, and the first since 2009 to win the previous races there last year. … We has long wanted a NASCAR race in the a 1-2-3 finish for Stewart-Haas Racing at a race not shortened by weather. The 22- will take into account weather and all real Texas heat. The track’s usual sched- Texas last November. The team had all year-old Californian makes his 21st ca- that stuff to figure out what kind of car ule is an early spring race and then a fall four its cars in the top eight in March reer start Sunday. we need to take to that race track to be race in late October or early November. 2019. “Now I have a lot of confidence going successful,” said Hamlin, who won both “Drivers always talk about how they When Harvick takes the green flag into these next races,” Custer said. Texas races in 2010. “Hopefully, we guess like a hot, greasy, slick track. Well, Sunday, he will become the 18th driver to “When you’re a rookie trying to learn a right.” they’re going to get it Sunday. It’s going to make his 700th career Cup Series start. bunch of different things, and figure As for the traction compound, applied be plenty hot,” Gossage said. “It’s surely The active leader for completed laps is things out as fast as you can, you can in corners to create more passing oppor- going to have an impact on the race. They 222 short of 200,000. start to second-guess yourself and not tunities, Hamlin described a “50-50 say they can race more, race harder, race , the teammate who was know if you’re doing things right. Now, crapshoot” whether it’s “going to be the better.” the runner-up to Harvick last fall, will we know the right steps and I’m not sec- same and in the same line.” The steamy weather and concerns start on the pole at Texas by the random ond-guessing myself.” Hamlin and points leader Harvick about the coronavirus will keep the draw, alongside on the first

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19. (41) Cole Custer, Ford. Christopher Bell celebrates in Victory Lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity NASCAR Monster Energy Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 Lineup 20. (48) , . Series race at last November. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS At Texas Motor Speedway 21. (3) , Chevrolet. Lap length: 1.44 miles 22. (42) , Chevrolet. (Car number in parentheses) 23. (20) , . year since he broke into NASCAR’s na- 24. (8) , Chevrolet. Bell tional series as a part-time truck racer 1. (10) Aric Almirola, Ford. 25. (37) , Chevrolet. in 2015, and he’s won at least six races 2. (12) Ryan Blane, Ford. 26. (00) , Chevrolet. Continued from Page 1C each of the past three seasons between 3. (1) , Chevrolet. 27. (53) , Chevrolet. trucks and the Xfinity Series. 4. (18) , Toyota. 28. (38) , Ford. ly since failing to crack the top 20 in But Bell has managed his outlook 5. (4) Kevin Harvick, Ford. 29. (27) , Ford. five races before the coronavirus shut- this season, racing for a small-budget 6. (2) Brad Keselowski, Ford. 30. (13) , Chevrolet. down. Bell has finished 12th or better in team against the sport’s best drivers. 7. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota. 31. (27) JJ Yeley, Ford. seven of the last 12 races. “I feel like I do a good job of tapering 8. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet. 32. (15) , Chevrolet. “I think we’ve really turned a cor- my expectations, and I knew going into 9. (22) , Ford. 33. (95) Christopher Bell, Toyota. ner,” Bell said. “Our cars have gotten a this year that winning was gonna be 10. (19) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota. 34. (34) Michael McDowell, Ford. lot better. My team’s been doing a lot extremely difficult,” Bell said. “You just 11. (21) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford. 35. (51) , Ford. better job preparing faster cars. We’ve look at it differently. The first couple 12. (88) , Chevrolet. 36. (32) Corey LaJoie, Ford. been able to knock off a couple top-10s, races were very trying, finishing out- 13. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet. 37. (96) Daniel Suarez, Toyota. which is really good, so hopefully we side the top 20 and not finishing races. 14. (43) , Chevrolet. 38. (66) , Toyota. can continue to build on that. That was not very fun, but I’m really 15. (6) Ryan Newman, Ford. 39. (78) B.J. McLeod, Chevrolet. “Hopefully we can break through happy with how the year’s turned 16. (17) , Ford. 40. (7) , Chevrolet. and get a win here pretty quick.” around.” 17. (14) , Ford. Bell has won at least one race every 18. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet.