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 1.5 miles (2.4 km) 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 Speedway, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.
Originally, four practice sessions were scheduled to be held, with two sessions on Friday and two sessions on Saturday. However, due to rain, the scheduled final session was cancelled.[3]
First practice
The first practice session was held on Friday, March 31, at 12:00PM EST. The session lasted for one hour and 15 minutes. Dale Earnhardt, Inc.'s Steve Park set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.278 and an average speed of 190.961mph (307.322km/h).[3]
The second practice session was held on Friday, March 31, at 2:05PM EST. The session lasted for 55 minutes. Hendrick Motorsports' Terry Labonte set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.148 and an average speed of 191.843mph (308.741km/h).[3]
The final practice session was held on Saturday, April 1, at 10:00AM EST. The session lasted for one hour. Wood Brothers Racing' Elliott Sadler set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.426 and an average speed of 189.967mph (305.722km/h).[3]
Qualifying was scheduled split into two rounds. The first round was held on Friday, March 17, at 4:30PM EST. Each driver would have two laps to set a fastest time; the fastest of the two would count as their official qualifying lap. During the first round, the top 25 drivers in the round would be guaranteed a starting spot in the race. Originally, a second round qualifying session was scheduled to be held on Saturday, March 18.[3] However, due to rain, the round was cancelled, leaving all positions to be determined using the times from the first round.[4] Positions 26–36 was decided on time, while positions 37–43 was based on provisionals. Six spots were awarded by the use of provisionals based on owner's points. The seventh was awarded to a past champion who has not otherwise qualified for the race. If no past champion needs the provisional, the next team in the owner points was awarded a provisional.[5]
Terry Labonte, driving for Hendrick Motorsports, won the pole, setting a time of 28.105 and an average speed of 192.137 miles per hour (309.215km/h) in the first round.[6]
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