2017 AAA Texas 500 explained

Type:	NASME
Race Name:	AAA Texas 500
Details Ref:	^[1] ^[2] ^[3] ^[4] ^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[8] ^[9] ^[10]
Year:	2017
Race No:	34
Season No:	36
Location:	Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas
Course Mi:	1.5
Course Km:	2.4
Distance Laps:	334
Distance Mi:	501
Distance Km:	801.6
Avg:	143.234mph
Pole Driver:	Kurt Busch
Pole Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Pole Time:	26.877
Most Driver:	Martin Truex Jr.
Most Team:	Furniture Row Racing
Most Laps:	107
Car:	4
First Driver:	Kevin Harvick
First Team:	Stewart-Haas Racing
Network:	NBCSN
Announcers:	Rick Allen, Dale Jarrett, Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte
Radio:	PRN
Booth Ann:	Doug Rice, Mark Garrow and Wendy Venturini
Turn Ann:	Rob Albright (1 & 2) and Pat Patterson (3 & 4)

The 2017 AAA Texas 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race which was held on November 5, 2017, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the 34th race of the 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, eighth race of the Playoffs, and second race of the Round of 8.

Report

Background

Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5miles around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to Atlanta Motor Speedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

Entry list

	Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1			Chevrolet
2			Ford
3			Chevrolet
4			Ford
5			Chevrolet
6			Ford
7	Joey Gase (i)		Chevrolet
10			Ford
11			Toyota
13	Ty Dillon (R)		Chevrolet
14			Ford
15			Chevrolet
17			Ford
18			Toyota
19	Daniel Suárez (R)		Toyota
20			Toyota
21			Ford
22			Ford
23	Corey LaJoie (R)		Toyota
24			Chevrolet
27	Paul Menard		Chevrolet
31			Chevrolet
32			Ford
33			Chevrolet
34			Ford
37			Chevrolet
38			Ford
41			Ford
42			Chevrolet
43			Ford
47			Chevrolet
48			Chevrolet
51	Ray Black Jr. (i)		Chevrolet
66	David Starr (i)		Chevrolet
72			Chevrolet
77	Erik Jones (R)		Toyota
78			Toyota
83	Gray Gaulding (R)		Toyota
88			Chevrolet
95			Chevrolet
Official entry list

• Daniel Hemric filled in for Menard for Qualifying, First and Second Practices as Menard and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed their second child that week.

First practice

Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.009 seconds and a speed of 199.933mph.^[11]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	21				27.009	199.933
2	11				27.109	199.196
3	41				27.111	199.181
Official first practice results

Qualifying

Kurt Busch scored the pole for the race with a time of 26.877 and a speed of 200.915mph.^[12]

Qualifying results

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer
1	41			Ford	27.099	27.047	26.877
2	11			Toyota	27.181	27.010	26.917
3	4			Ford	27.016	27.015	26.949
4	77	Erik Jones (R)		Toyota	27.142	26.997	26.956
5	18			Toyota	27.221	27.090	26.966
6	19	Daniel Suárez (R)		Toyota	27.355	27.133	27.055
7	78			Toyota	27.362	27.064	27.077
8	21			Ford	27.321	27.138	27.084
9	48			Chevrolet	27.427	27.158	27.173
10	2			Ford	27.164	27.159	27.207
11	42			Chevrolet	27.332	27.228	27.253
12	17			Ford	27.499	27.301	27.262
13	1			Chevrolet	27.451	27.315	—
14	10			Ford	27.547	27.322	—
15	3			Chevrolet	27.497	27.337	—
16	47			Chevrolet	27.403	27.346	—
17	88			Chevrolet	27.460	27.350	—
18	43			Ford	27.521	27.374	—
19	5			Chevrolet	27.474	27.397	—
20	14			Ford	27.598	27.477	—
21	27	Daniel Hemric (i)		Chevrolet	27.554	27.520	—
22	34			Ford	27.644	27.601	—
23	95			Chevrolet	27.643	27.807	—
24	38			Ford	27.509	27.810	—
25	31			Chevrolet	27.671	—	—
26	37			Chevrolet	27.725	—	—
27	13	Ty Dillon (R)		Chevrolet	27.846	—	—
28	32			Ford	27.849	—	—
29	72			Chevrolet	28.143	—	—
30	7	Joey Gase (i)		Chevrolet	28.717	—	—
31	51	Ray Black Jr. (i)		Chevrolet	28.861	—	—
32	33			Chevrolet	28.876	—	—
33	66	David Starr (i)		Chevrolet	29.704	—	—
34	24			Chevrolet	0.000	—	—
35	20			Toyota	0.000	—	—
36	22			Ford	0.000	—	—
37	6			Ford	0.000	—	—
38	15			Chevrolet	0.000	—	—
39	23	Corey LaJoie (R)		Toyota	0.000	—	—
40	83	Gray Gaulding (R)		Toyota	0.000	—	—
Official qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

Kurt Busch was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.159 seconds and a speed of 191.768mph.^[13]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	41				28.159	191.768
2	11				28.256	191.110
3	77	Erik Jones (R)			28.262	191.069
Official second practice results

Final practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.203 seconds and a speed of 191.469mph.^[14]

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Time
1	11				28.203	191.469
2	77	Erik Jones (R)			28.293	190.860
3	21				28.318	190.691
Official final practice results

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage 1Laps: 85

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	10
2	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	9
3	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	8
4	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	7
5	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	6
6	77	Erik Jones (R)	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	5
7	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	4
8	21	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	3
9	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	2
10	19	Daniel Suárez (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	1
Official stage one results

Stage 2Laps: 85

Pos		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Points
1	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	10
2	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	9
3	21	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	8
4	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	7
5	24	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	6
6	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	5
7	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	4
8	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	3
9	77	Erik Jones (R)	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	2
10	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	1
Official stage two results

Final stage results

Stage 3Laps: 164

Pos	Grid		Driver	Team	Manufacturer	Laps	Points
1	3	4	Kevin Harvick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	334	59
2	7	78	Martin Truex Jr.	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	334	51
3	2	11	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	47
4	35	20	Matt Kenseth	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	40
5	10	2	Brad Keselowski	Team Penske	Ford	334	32
6	8	21	Ryan Blaney	Wood Brothers Racing	Ford	334	42
7	36	22	Joey Logano	Team Penske	Ford	334	30
8	34	24	Chase Elliott	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	35
9	1	41	Kurt Busch	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	334	38
10	4	77	Erik Jones (R)	Furniture Row Racing	Toyota	334	34
11	19	5	Kasey Kahne	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	334	26
12	12	17	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	334	25
13	15	3	Austin Dillon	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	334	27
14	6	19	Daniel Suárez (R)	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	334	24
15	18	43	Aric Almirola	Richard Petty Motorsports	Ford	334	22
16	16	47	A. J. Allmendinger	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	334	21
17	14	10	Danica Patrick	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	333	20
18	13	1	Jamie McMurray	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	333	19
19	5	18	Kyle Busch	Joe Gibbs Racing	Toyota	333	18
20	25	31	Ryan Newman	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	333	17
21	23	95	Michael McDowell	Leavine Family Racing	Chevrolet	333	16
22	26	37	Chris Buescher	JTG Daugherty Racing	Chevrolet	333	15
23	21	27	Paul Menard	Richard Childress Racing	Chevrolet	332	14
24	27	13	Ty Dillon (R)	Germain Racing	Chevrolet	332	13
25	28	32	Matt DiBenedetto	Go Fas Racing	Ford	332	12
26	22	34	Landon Cassill	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	331	11
27	9	48	Jimmie Johnson	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	331	10
28	37	6	Trevor Bayne	Roush Fenway Racing	Ford	330	9
29	29	72	Cole Whitt	TriStar Motorsports	Chevrolet	330	8
30	24	38	David Ragan	Front Row Motorsports	Ford	329	7
31	38	15	Reed Sorenson	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	325	6
32	30	7	Joey Gase (i)	Premium Motorsports	Chevrolet	322	0
33	32	33	Jeffrey Earnhardt	Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group	Chevrolet	322	4
34	31	51	Ray Black Jr. (i)	Rick Ware Racing	Chevrolet	305	0
35	17	88	Dale Earnhardt Jr.	Hendrick Motorsports	Chevrolet	304	2
36	20	14	Clint Bowyer	Stewart-Haas Racing	Ford	303	1
37	11	42	Kyle Larson	Chip Ganassi Racing	Chevrolet	282	18
38	33	66	David Starr (i)	MBM Motorsports	Chevrolet	237	0
39	39	23	Corey LaJoie (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	227	1
40	40	83	Gray Gaulding (R)	BK Racing	Toyota	159	1
Official race results

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 13 among different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 8 for 40
• Red flags: 1 for 10 minutes and 29 seconds
• Time of race: 3 hours, 29 minutes, 52 seconds
• Average speed: 143.234mph

Media

Television

NBCSN covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen and Dale Jarrett had the call in the regular booth for the race. Two–time Texas winner Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte had the call in the NBC's Stock Car Smarts Booth for the race. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings

	Pos	Driver	Points
	1	Martin Truex Jr.	4,168
	2	Kyle Busch	4,118 (−50)
1	3	Kevin Harvick	4,112 (−56)
1	4	Brad Keselowski	4,111 (−57)
2	5	Denny Hamlin	4,092 (−76)
	6	Ryan Blaney	4,089 (−79)
1	7	Chase Elliott	4,062 (−106)
3	8	Jimmie Johnson	4,060 (−108)
	9	Kyle Larson	2,255 (−1,913)
	10	Matt Kenseth	2,255 (−1,913)
4	11	Kurt Busch	2,177 (−1,991)
1	12	Kasey Kahne	2,176 (−1,992)
1	13	Austin Dillon	2,175 (−1,993)
1	14	Ricky Stenhouse Jr.	2,171 (−1,997)
1	15	Jamie McMurray	2,165 (−2,003)
	16	Ryan Newman	2,147 (−2,021)
Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings

	Pos	Manufacturer	Points
	1	Toyota	1,212
	2	Ford	1,189 (−23)
	3	Chevrolet	1,178 (−34)
Official manufacturers' standings

• Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2017 schedule. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. September 25, 2017. May 5, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170204004251/http://www.jayski.com/news/pages/story/_/page/2017-NASCAR-Cup-Schedule. February 4, 2017. dead.
2. Web site: Texas Motor Speedway. NASCAR.com. NASCAR Media Group, LLC.. September 25, 2017. January 3, 2013. October 30, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151030043513/http://www.nascar.com/en_us/nascar-tracks/texas-motor-speedway.html. dead.
3. Web site: Entry List. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. October 31, 2017. October 31, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171104132159/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?SubSeriesID=1&YearID=46&RaceID=7610&StatType=Entry+List. November 4, 2017. dead.
4. Web site: First Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 3, 2017. November 3, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013421/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/11/AAA-Texas-500-1st-Practice-Speeds.aspx. November 7, 2017. dead.
5. Web site: Qualifying Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 3, 2017. November 3, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107003556/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/11/AAA-Texas-500-Qualifying-Results.aspx. November 7, 2017. dead.
6. Web site: Second Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 4, 2017. November 4, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107013940/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/11/AAA-Texas-500-2nd-Practice-Speeds.aspx. November 7, 2017. dead.
7. Web site: Final Practice Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 4, 2017. November 4, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107021750/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Additional-Statistics/2017/11/AAA-Texas-500-Final-Practice-Speeds.aspx. November 7, 2017. dead.
8. Web site: AAA Texas 500 Results. MRN.com. Motor Racing Network. November 5, 2017. November 5, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171107023422/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?SubSeriesID=1&RaceID=7610&YearID=46&StatType=Race+Results. November 7, 2017. dead.
9. Web site: Points standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. November 6, 2017. November 6, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20190129104649/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2017/pdfs/34tms2017racereport.pdf. January 29, 2019. dead.
10. Web site: Manufacturer standings. Jayski.com. Jayski's Silly Season Site. November 6, 2017. November 6, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20190129104649/http://www.jayski.com/stats/2017/pdfs/34tms2017racereport.pdf. January 29, 2019. dead.
11. Web site: Spencer. Lee. Ryan Blaney leads opening Texas practice with near 200mph lap. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. November 3, 2017. Fort Worth, Texas. November 3, 2017.
12. News: Hawkins. Stephen. Kurt Busch, 4 other drivers top 200 mph in Texas qualifying. November 3, 2017. Associated Press. Associated Press. AP Sports. November 3, 2017. Fort Worth, Texas. https://web.archive.org/web/20171104130956/http://www.racing.ap.org/article/kurt-busch-4-other-drivers-top-200-mph-texas-qualifying. November 4, 2017. dead.
13. Web site: Utter. Jim. Kurt Busch fastest in Saturday's first Cup practice at Texas. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. November 4, 2017. Fort Worth, Texas. November 4, 2017.
14. Web site: Spencer. Lee. Denny Hamlin tops final Cup practice at Texas. Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. November 4, 2017. Fort Worth, Texas. November 4, 2017.