Texas Cheat Sheet / Lineup

Congratulations to "The Franchise" David Reutimann for getting his 2nd career pole today. The lineup for the Samsung 500 at Texas Motor Speedway is as follows:

1 #00 David Reutimann Toyota, Aaron's Dream Machine
2 #24 Jeff Gordon Chevrolet, National Guard GED Plus / DuPont
3 #17 Matt Kenseth Ford, Dewalt
4 #6 David Ragan Ford, UPS
5 #98 Paul Menard Ford, Quaker State / Menards
6 #9 Kasey Kahne Dodge, Budweiser
7 #14 Tony Stewart Chevrolet, Old Spice / Office Depot
8 #18 Kyle Busch Toyota, Interstate Batteries
9 #48 Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet, Lowe's / Kobalt "Tough Tools for Cool Schools"
10 #20 Joey Logano Toyota, The Home Depot
11 #47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota, Clorox / Kingsford / Little Debbie
12 #77 Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge, Mobil 1
13 #99 Carl Edwards Ford, Aflac
14 #16 Greg Biffle Ford, 3M
15 #31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet, Caterpillar
16 #42 Juan Montoya Chevrolet, Target
17 #29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet, Shell / Pennzoil
18 #83 Brian Vickers Toyota, Red Bull
19 #33 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet, Cheerios / Hamburger Helper
20 #88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet, Amp Energy / National Guard
21 #39 Ryan Newman Chevrolet, U.S. Army
22 #11 Denny Hamlin Toyota, FedEx Ground
23 #5 Mark Martin Chevrolet, Cheez-It / Carquest
24 #96 Bobby Labonte Ford, Ask.com
25 #44 A.J. Allmendinger Dodge, Super 8
26 #34 John Andretti Chevrolet, MyAutoLoan.com
27 #09 Mike Bliss Dodge, Miccosukee Resort & Gaming
28 #2 Kurt Busch Dodge, Miller Lite
29 #7 Robby Gordon Toyota, Jim Beam
30 #71 David Gilliland Chevrolet, Capital Window
31 #1 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet, Bass Pro Shops / Tracker
32 #12 David Stremme Dodge, Penske Racing
33 #78 Regan Smith Chevrolet, Furniture Row Companies
34 #55 Michael Waltrip Toyota, NAPA
35 #07 Casey Mears Chevrolet, Jack Daniel's
36 #26 Jamie McMurray Ford, Sears Auto Center / Valvoline
37 #21 Bill Elliott Ford, Motorcraft
38 #43 Reed Sorenson Dodge, McDonald's
39 #13 Max Papis Toyota, GEICO
40 #25 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet, GoDaddy.com
41 #8 Aric Almirola Chevrolet, Guitar Hero
42 #19 Elliott Sadler Dodge, Best Buy
43 #66 Dave Blaney Toyota, Prism Motorsports

Didn’t make the show:
#87 Joe Nemechek Toyota, Huckleberry's BBQ
#82 Scott Speed Toyota, Red Bull
#41 Jeremy Mayfield Toyota, All Sport
#64 Todd Bodine Toyota, Mambo Restaurant
#36 Scott Riggs Toyota, Tommy Baldwin Racing :(

One year ago today, the #00 Aaron's Dream Machine (which is sitting on the pole for this weekend's race) had a different ending at qualifying. While Michael McDowell was making his qualifying run last year, he got in a horrific wreck that many NASCAR fans will never forget.

Which driver makes you hot blooded?

Photo Credit Texas Motor Speedway

Foreigner Kicks Off Pre-Race Show at Texas: Legendary rock bank Foreigner, known for its chart-topping hits during the 1970s and ‘80s, will headline the Amdro FireStrike Pre-Race show Sunday, April 5 prior to the Samsung 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race. The group is best known for hit songs, “Feels Like The First Time,” “Cold As Ice,” “Double Vision,” “Juke Box Hero” and “I Want to Know What Love Is.” This is the band's first NASCAR event experience and will be the largest expected crowd that the group has ever performed in front of for a concert. Isnt that surprising? You think with the stadium crowds from the 80's!

Foreigner has also teamed up with Speedway Children’s Charities-Texas Chapter to donate half of the sales from their CD, “No End In Sight: The Very Best of Foreigner” that will be sold leading up to the start of the Samsung 500 on Sunday, April 5.The CD features a vast assortment of their hit songs, many you will hear at the pre race concert. SCC volunteers will be selling the CDs for $20 at Gate 4 in the grandstands prior to the race. For every CD sold, Foreigner will donate $10 to the SCC-Texas Chapter.

This Monday, Foreigner’s Mick Jones and Kelly Hansen traded in their band gear for a couple of fire suits and helmets to experience NASCAR full throttle at Texas Motor Speedway. You can read more about it here.

Like last week, the National Anthem will be delivered with no potential harm to your eardrums. 12-year-old Pianist Lewis Warren Jr. will perform the National Anthem before the Samsung 500 at Texas on Sunday. Warren Jr. was featured last year on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”.

Yet, another contest that I forgot to enter was held by Samsung and ended this past weekend will determine the grand marshall for the race. We will release the winner when we have it.

A unique place to visit while in Texas this week

With Texas on the mind, I came across something I must share. As you all know, I love NASCAR. What you may not know is that I am a HUGE fan of The Food Network, which I watch every day. One of my top 5 favorite shows is Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, hosted by Guy Fieri.

If you watch Guy's show, you are already aware that he finds great eats in hidden places. Luck be have it, the upcoming April 6th show is featuring The Chef Point Cafe which is a 5 star gas station (?!?!!) in Fort Worth Texas. They feature culinary creations as crab cakes topped with roasted bell pepper, lobster bisque, escargot and grilled sea scallops in garlic butter. So you can get your gas, lotto tickets and gourmet food to go.

Please, for the love of god, if you are attending the race this weekend, stop by The Chef Point Cafe and let me know the details. My culinary curiosity is driving me mad. I mean, escargot at a gas station, really??

The Chef Point Cafe is located at 5901 Watauga Rd, Watauga TX.

Texas Motor Speedway Drivers Appearances

Its bigger in Texas! There is plenty to do if you find yourself lucky enough to go to the Samsung 500 this weekend, not to mention the many opportunities to meet your favorite drivers. Although I have been to more than half of the tracks on the NASCAR circuit, I have yet to make it to Texas Motor Speedway and I have family that lives in Fort Worth. I find this strange......

One thing that would be great for the family to attend is the Aarons Fish and Fun at the Races. You can spend the morning fishing with NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver Ryan Newman at the Lake at Texas Motor Speedway. Admission is free and open to kids 16 and under. The first 50 kids will receive a free Rod & Reel combo.

Without further ado, here are the drivers appearances for this week in Texas. We will be adding more as we get them.

Tuesday, March 31^st

Sam Hornish Jr. will sign autographs from 12:30pm-2:30pm at Mobil 1 Express located at 3055 Mayfield Road, Grand Prairie TX

Wednesday, April 1^st

David Ragan will sign autographs from 4pm-6pm at Discount Tire located at 2405 Grapevine Mills Circle, Grapevine TX

Joey Lagano will sign autographs from 5pm-7:30pm at Home Depot located at 901 N. Stremmons Parkway, Lewisville TX

Jeff Burton will sign autographs from 6:30pm-8:30pm at Wal-Mart located at 1228 Northwest Hwy 377, Roanoke TX

Tony Stewart will sign autographs from 6pm-8pm at Office Depot located at 1317 Hwy 114, Grapevine TX (wristbands will be distributed at 8am)

Thursday, April 2^nd

Eric McClure will sign autographs from 3:30pm-4:30pm at Brookshire’s Campground Store located at Texas Motor Speedway

Martin Truex Jr. will sign autographs from 4pm-5pm at Bass Pro Shops, 2501 Bass Pro Dr, Grapevine TX

Friday, April 3^rd

Eric McClure will sign autugraphs from 10am-Noon at the Wal-Mart located at 1515 South Loop 228, Denton TX and from 2pm-4pm at the Wal-Mart located at 800 South US Hwy 81/287, Decatur TX

Kurt Busch will sign autographs at 7pm at Wal-Mart located at 1228 Northwest Highway 377, Roanoke TX

Saturday, April 4^th

Ryan Newman will be at Aaron’s Fish & Fun at the Lake at Texas Motorspeedway at 9am

Eric McClure will sign autographs from 10:30am-11am at the Nationwide Display at Texas Motor Speedway

Sunday, April 5^th

Brian Vickers will sign autographs at the Red Bull hauler located in the souvenir midway at Texas Motor Speedway. Time TBA