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FT. WORTH, Texas -- Dale Earnhardt Jr. is hoping for a little déjà vu this weekend.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rolls into Texas Motor Speedway, where Junior scored his first career win back in 2000.
Needless to say it's an experience he would love to repeat.
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| Jeff Gordon trails teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr. in career Texas victories, 1-0. (Getty Images) |
In 11 starts at TMS, he has recorded one victory, one pole, three top five finishes and seven top 10s. He has led 362 laps around the 1.5-mile track in Fort Worth. Earnhardt has an average starting position of 9.3 and, despite not finishing two races, an average finish of 12.9.
He has struggled in recent starts, with a 36th and 14th for his efforts last year, but Earnhardt's earlier success has him confident for this weekend's Samsung 500.
"I do enjoy running at Texas," Earnhardt said. "The past few times out there we really didn't run as well as we wanted to. That was the track where I got my first win. Typically, the tracks where drivers get their first wins are tracks they always run well at. Not sure why, but I guess if you know what it takes to get a win, you always have that in your mind."
Sunday's race is the debut of the new Sprint Cup car at Texas. While the rest of Earnhardt's Hendrick Motorsports teammates have struggled trying to figure out the COT on intermediate tracks, Junior has done pretty well, including a runner-up finish at Texas' sister track in Atlanta.
"We have struggled there as of late, but hopefully with the new Chevy Impala SS program, and the way we have run on those mile-and-a-half tracks as of late, we can turn things around," he said.
Matt Kenseth would like nothing better than to turn things around after sputtering out of the gate this season. The 2003 series champion comes into Texas 15th in the points standings and off a brutal day in Martinsville, where he finished 28th.
The Roush Fenway Racing driver has done well at Texas in the past with a win and a pair of runner-up finishes a year ago and hopes a return to the Lone Star State will cure his early-season troubles.
"I always look forward to racing at Texas, especially after Martinsville and the troubles we had there," Kenseth said. "Texas is nothing like Martinsville. It's fast, there are several grooves, and the racing is a lot of fun. So, to say the least, I'm ready to race there."
Kenseth's eagerness to get back to Texas is not a surprise based on his past success at the track. In 11 starts, Kenseth has posted one win, five top five and six top 10 finishes. His average start at the 1.5-mile oval is 19.9, and his average finish is 10.3.
