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.
Entry list
(R) denotes rookie driver.
(i) denotes driver who is ineligible for series driver points.
The first practice session was held on Friday, November 3, at 2:00 PM CST. The session would last for 45 minutes.[2]Blake Koch, driving for Kaulig Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.519 and an average speed of 189.347 mph (304.724 km/h).[3]
The final practice session, sometimes known as Happy Hour, was held on Friday, November 3, at 4:00 PM CST. The session would last for 55 minutes.[2]Kyle Larson, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, would set the fastest time in the session, with a lap of 28.327 and an average speed of 190.631 mph (306.791 km/h).[4]
Qualifying was held on Saturday, November 4, at 5:05 PM CST.[2] Since Texas Motor Speedway is under 2 miles (3.2 km) in length, the qualifying system was a multi-car system that included three rounds. The first round was 15 minutes, where every driver would be able to set a lap within the 15 minutes. Then, the second round would consist of the fastest 24 cars in Round 1, and drivers would have 10 minutes to set a lap. Round 3 consisted of the fastest 12 drivers from Round 2, and the drivers would have 5 minutes to set a time. Whoever was fastest in Round 3 would win the pole.[6]
Erik Jones, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, would win the pole after setting a time of 28.232 and an average speed of 191.272 mph (307.822 km/h) in the third round.[7]