Over the past two weekends, NASCAR was met with a heavy backlash from fans owing to the dismal nature of short-tracking racing. But this week posed another threat that could have derailed the action once again, this time at Texas Motor Speedway. The third annual Lil Texas Micro Mania KKM Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway was canceled owing to the wet weather forecast until the 11th of April.
Fortunately, the skies have cleared over the 1.5-mile intermediate track and the Truck and Xfinity races showcase no signs of rainfall. However, a slight chance of Déjà Vu in terms of weather conditions could change things up for the start of the Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400.
Could clear skies turn deceitful over Texas Motor Speedway
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According to various weather reports, this weekend at the Texas Motor Speedway is all set to avoid the past week’s turbulent weather and deliver some action-packed racing. With many drivers like Joey Logano and Kyle Busch eager to regain momentum in the standings, fans are hoping for a clear sunny day that allows drivers to battle it out throughout the race.
Bob Pockrass’s tweet about the racing schedule included a statistic that might scare some. For Truck and Xfinity races on Friday and Saturday respectively, the predicted precipitation sits at 0%. For the Cup Series practice session on Saturday, temperatures are expected to soar as high as 78 degrees, with winds gusting at speeds of 15-25 miles per hour. Qualifying will be no different, with both events expecting 0% rain as well. But moving over to Sunday, things could change in an instant, as it has in the past.
Texas-FS1
ETFri
4:05-Truck p&q
5:30-Race Hub
6:05-Xfi p&q
7:30-NASCAR RaceDay
8:43-Truck green 40-40-87, 4 sets
NWS:70s,0%rainSat
10:30-Cup p&q
12:30-NASCAR RaceDay
1:32-Xfi green 45-45-110, 5 sets
NWS:70s,0%Sun
2-NASCAR RaceDay
3:43-Cup green 80-85-102, 9 sets
NWS:80s,5%— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) April 11, 2024
A temperature spike of over 5 degrees (83) in the maximum is expected compared to Saturday (78), and winds are also expected to drop in speed by 5mph ahead of the race. Evidently, there’s also a slight chance of rain at 5% which could explain the higher temperature. With that said, the weekend should remain bright and sunny if all goes as expected.
Grab your sunglasses, it's gonna be a beautiful racing weekend 🕶️ ✨ #AutotraderEchoPark400 | #AndysFrozenCustard300 pic.twitter.com/p4DCra5FOK
— Texas Motor Speedway (@TXMotorSpeedway) April 11, 2024
Although there isn’t much standing in the way of Hendrick Motorsports from achieving another dominant win at Texas if the weather remains as predicted, it’s worth taking a look at some of the favorites’ odds.
Who’s got the best odds for a trip to victory lane in Texas?
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Coming off of a historic weekend at Martinsville which saw Hendrick Motorsports bag a 1-2-3 finish, Kyle Larson is eyeing up a win as the favorite contender with odds of 4-1 according to the CBSSports. Closely trailing behind last week’s podium finisher is Tyler Reddick (6-1) and last week’s winner William Byron (7-1).
Moving over to HMS’ primary challengers: Denny Hamlin rivals Byron with 7-1 odds whereas reigning Cup champion, Ryan Blaney, is close behind with odds of 8-1. But not all are butterflies and rainbows. Kyle Busch and Joey Logano are yet to build trust in their 2024 campaigns, with odds of winning at Texas no more than 16-1 and 20-1, respectively.
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Perhaps the biggest upset also happens to come from the Hendrick Motorsports camp. Alex Bowman, in stark contrast to all of his in-form teammates, has far lesser odds of 28-1, placing him further below Logano in terms of mass confidence. But at the end of the day, a driver who could sweep them all is Ross Chastain, the runner-up of the 2023 race. With odds of 16-1, the melon farmer could be a lucrative bet.
After taking a look at how the odds and weather are unraveling for the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, do you think anything is standing in HMS’s way for another dominant outing?