Billionaire Roger Penske’s Star Once Set the Ultimate Record at Texas Motor Speedway Which No One Could Break

NASCAR is all about that thrill, with the stock cars racing at breakneck speed. At one point in time, cars used to touch the 200-mile-an-hour barrier. Of course, that was usually achieved at superspeedway race tracks like Daytona, Talladega, and Texas Motor Speedway. Unfortunately, the average speed has since been reduced dramatically and few have been able to reach that point ever since.

The last time drivers managed to breach the 200 mph barrier was all the way back in 2018, thanks to Ryan Blaney.

Did Ryan Blaney convert the pole to victory at Texas Motor Speedway?

The Team Penske driver was competing in the 2018 AAA Texas 500 qualifying session. It was a great day in the office for the #12 driver because he grabbed pole position. As it happened, he recorded an average speed of 200.505 mph at the 1.5-mile race track. The best part? It was a Ford fiesta on the occasion, with five Ford cars locking out the Top 5 places. Clint Bowyer, Kevin Harvick, and Aric Almirola made up a triple-layer sandwich, with Blaney and Brad Keselowski on opposite ends. Denny Hamlin was the lead Toyota, splitting Keselowski from Kurt Busch and Joey Logano in the other two Fords.

Sadly, the Team Penske driver could not convert the pole to victory. Instead, it was the wily old fox Kevin Harvick, who snatched victory in that particular race. At least the #12 driver managed to finish the race in a fine second place, in a race where the Ford cars ran riot. In fact, the Top 3 was a Ford lockout, with Joey Logano taking the third spot behind Harvick and Blaney. Right from practice onwards, the signs were there that Ford would be incredibly strong at Texas.

In the first practice session, Billionaire Roger Penske’s driver was right on the ball by topping the timesheets ahead of Harvick and Kurt Busch. In qualifying, the #12 star lit up the timing screens with his speed of 200.505 mph and a best time of 26.932 seconds. In the next practice session, Almirola was ahead of Kyle Busch and Clint Bowyer. Meanwhile, Ricky Stenhouse Jr kept up the Ford streak in the final session ahead of Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr.

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How did the 2018 AAA Texas 500 play out?

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When stage 1 ended, Harvick leapfrogged Bowyer and Blaney to take the opening stage. He finished ahead of teammate Kurt Busch and the then-Joe Gibbs Racing driver Erik Jones. Pole winner Blaney was fourth ahead of Martin Truex Jr, Logano, Kyle Busch, Paul Menard, Chase Elliott, and Aric Almirola. ‘Happy’ Harvick snatched the second stage win, leading Blaney, Truex Jr, Keselowski, and Logano, with Truex as the lone Toyota in the Top 5. Almirola, Jones, Kurt Busch, Daniel Suarez, and Chase Elliott rounded out the Top 10.

Finally, Kevin Harvick completed the clean sweep by winning the race ahead of Blaney and Logano. Erik Jones and Kyle Larson were fourth and fifth for Joe Gibbs Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing, respectively. Chase Elliott, Kurt Busch, Almirola, Truex Jr and Austin Dillon completed the Top 10 in a day where the Fords were unstoppable.

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