AutoTrader EchoPark Automotive 500 at Texas Motor Speedway
(⏰ 3 p.m. ET | 📺 USA Network, NBC Sports App | 📻 PRN, SiriusXM)

Everything you need to know for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas, the fourth playoff event of the 2022 campaign.

Where: Fort Worth, Texas
Approximate start time: 3:30 p.m. ET | Weekend schedule
TV/Radio: USA, NBC Sports App, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio | Full TV schedule
The purse: $8,455,617
Forecast: Sunny, with a high near 97 degrees, according to NOAA.gov | Weather tracker
Race distance: 334 laps | 501 miles
Stages: 105 | 210 | 334
Pit-road speed: 45 mph
Caution car speed: 55 mph
Texas 101: Get the full lowdown
Starting lineup: Starting lineup for Sunday
🚨 Inspection: No. 10 fails twice, loses pit selection and engineer James Kimbrough
Pit stalls: Where driver will pit Sunday
Playoff grid: Print yours now

Key things to watch 🔑

Big story line

So far in the playoffs, every race has been a wild card. But looking beyond the horizon at Talladega Superspeedway and the Charlotte Roval looming large, Texas Motor Speedway may be every remaining playoff driver’s best chance at reaching Victory Lane in the Round of 12. Non-playoff drivers swept the Round of 16, leaving the big question of which title contender will be first to end the historic streak. Remaining championship hopefuls have five combined wins at the Fort Worth oval — Denny Hamlin is the only multi-time winner of the group — and defending champion Kyle Larson dominated this race a year ago, leading 256 laps. There is a very slim chance we go 10 races without a playoff driver winning a race, so the big question is, will it finally be this week? And if so, who will it be? Sunday’s race will have massive title implications. | How 19 winners stacks up in history | Early notes from practice and qualifying

Who’s hot? Who’s not? 

Who picked Christopher Bell to be the strongest driver in the playoffs to this point? Maybe fewer than most. But Bell’s Round of 16 performance was nearly flawless, and he became the first driver to lock into the final 12 after reeling off three top-five finishes. Think that was just a fortunate round? The No. 20 team heads to Texas with consecutive third-place results under its belt and he finished top 10 in the All-Star Race earlier this year. It is impossible to have a championship-favorites conversation without making a strong mention of the budding star for Joe Gibbs Racing.

Another young star, Chase Briscoe, has been trending in the opposite direction. Briscoe has 15 consecutive finishes of 13th or worse but he did advance by avoiding some of the catastrophic circumstances that happened to a few others in the Round of 16. But as the playoffs tighten up, the No. 14 team will need to string together more impressive results. He finished 15th at Texas last year and with more experience this time around, Sunday is an opportunity for them to right the ship.

Driving under the radar

Austin Cindric had a very tame Round of 16, but he advanced. After getting through a few quirky tracks, Texas, Talladega and the Charlotte Roval line up pretty well for the No. 2 team to make some unexpected noise. Cindric won the season-opening Daytona 500 in dramatic fashion, and to some, that would be the high point of the year. But don’t be surprised if Cindric and company turn out to be one of the strongest dark horse contenders moving forward. Reaching the Round of 8 is certainly attainable and would leave some other big names on the sidelines as the rookie begins to make a name for himself.

Race-day staples ✅

Our biggest pieces of the week — get covered for race day from all angles.

• Bubble Watch, presented by Xfinity: Where drivers stand before Texas | Latest driver standing
• Paint Scheme Preview: Shiny new schemes for the Lone Star State | Pick a favorite
• Power Rankings: Ross Chastain dodges Bristol payback, may be clear | Updated driver rankings
• NASCAR betting: Odds to win Sunday’s Cup Series race at Texas | Underdogs, value bets
• Fantasy Fastlane: Ryan Blaney is a must in your lineup this week | Top plays, sleepers
• Backseat Drivers: Debating if we are seeing a changing of the guard | Watch the segment

Catch the pack 💨

Read up on the top headlines from the week leading up to Sunday’s race.

• Penalty appeal: No. 12 team challenging post-Bristol suspensions | Read more
• Pit crew swap: Nos. 18 and 11 flip pit crews ahead of Texas | Read more
• Historic season: 19 winners propels the sport into uncharted waters |Read more
• Organizational test: Logano leads final day at Homestead-Miami | Recap | Results from Day 1
• JR Motorsports: Earnhardt Jr. announces strategic executive changes | Read more
• Report: McLaren considering Kyle Busch for Indy 500 run | Read more
• Tuned in: NASCAR addresses steering issues at Bristol | Watch video
• Weekly Series champ: Layne Riggs becomes youngest national champion in history | Read more
• Hispanic Heritage Month: Nick Sanchez blazing a trail through ARCA | Read more
• RFK on the rise?: Buescher’s win a huge step in revitalization of race team | Read more

Get in on the action 💰

Think you know NASCAR? Put your mettle to the test with gaming, fantasy.

• BetMGM: Public bettors still eying Buescher after Bristol win | Read full analysis
• The Action Network: Why Daniel Suárez could be a key winner Sunday | 20-1 pick to make
• Backseat Bets: Who will win head-to-head at Texas? | Matchup breakdown
• Play it LIVE: Full guide to 2022 NASCAR Fantasy Live game | New rules for playoffs
• Going all the way: 2022 Cup Series championship odds | See them here

Traveling back to Texas 🐴

Texas may be the most important race in the Round of 12 — so, see what has happened here in the past. 

• Do you remember?: Memorable moments at Texas Motor Speedway | Relive them
• Last year: Kyle Larson storms to another playoff win at Texas | Full race recap
• Race Rewind: Best moments, highlights from 2021 playoff race | Watch them here

Fast facts ⏩

Hard-hitting, race-relevant statistics, brought to you by the experts at Racing Insights.

• Non-playoff drivers won the last three races, the longest stretch in series history.
• The gap between first and 12th in points entering the Round of 12 is 34 points, the smallest gap in the history of stage winning.
• A stage winner has not gone on to win in the last 10 races.
• Only three past champions are still playoff eligible, the fewest ever in the Round of 12.
• Nineteen different drivers won this season, tied for the most all time.

Say what? 🎙

Notable quotes from the stars of the sport heading into Sunday’s race.

• “Be clean and let the other teams make the mistakes. Honestly, if you can just finish you don‘t have to do anything crazy in the first couple rounds. Don‘t take yourself out of stage points or a good finish and you can advance. Once you get to the Round of 8, that‘s obviously when you need to get some top-five finishes or a win. You just don‘t want to take yourself out of any race or get any DNF or anything like that where you put yourself in a must-win situation because winning is really difficult to do. You just want to keep yourself in contention every race.” — Kyle Larson, driver of the No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet

• “I think it‘s a great opportunity round for a team like us to be able to get some points. I think Texas went well for us in the All-Star Race. I‘m not saying that‘s gonna mean good things for the second one of the year, but we‘ve got good notes and a good opportunity to improve from what was a fairly dominant race for our team between the three of us, so I think Talladega is obviously without saying a wild card and the Roval, even if you‘re not good, you can probably strategize some ways to get points, so I think this round is exciting for someone in my position and try to maximize it.” — Austin Cindric, driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Ford

• “The two ends of the track are completely different. We have the All-Star Race under our belt with the Next Gen car and Turns 3 and 4 have lots of throttle time, tons of banking, and lots of grip with the repave and Turns 3 and 4 have lots of grip but they don’t have the banking to hold you. Drastically different corners for sure. Long runs are where we’ve been really good and I’m excited to kick off the next round of the playoffs at my home track.” — Christopher Bell, driver of the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota