NASCAR Cup Series

Are Texas Motor Speedway's two Sprint Cup races too long?

Published Apr. 14, 2015 9:18 a.m. ET

Larry McReynolds

I've mentioned this in the past, but Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway was another event where I question whether a 500-mile race is too long because we did reach a lull in the middle. So I still suggest that the two races at Texas should be looked at in relationship to their length. With that said, I don't know how we could ask for a more exciting finish.

Saturday night was also our first night race of the season. Sure, we had the Sprint Unlimited back at Daytona in February, but that wasn't a points race like at Texas. With the exception of Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick whom started up front and finished up front, Saturday night was a race of comers and goers.

Some teams did a really good job of keeping up with the changes the racetrack went through as we got later into the evening, but unfortunately some teams did not. Probably the best example I can give you of someone who came to life later in the race was Joey Logano. They simply weren't that good in the early stages of that race but kept getting better and better as the evening wore on.

On the flipside, I'd have to say driver Kurt Busch and crew chief Tony Gibson were the best example of a driver/crew chief combo that didn't do a very good job of keeping up with the track changes. They started on the pole, dominated early but then faded to a 14th-place finish. Ironically, the same probably can be said for his boss and teammate Tony Stewart. He started 11th and for a period there it looked like he was on his way to his best run of the season, but they weren't able to keep up with the track changes, either, and finished only 24th.

One thing that reared its head again Saturday night was the power of restarts. This isn't something new. We've seen it come to the forefront of our sport in the last several years with the numerous rule changes. Restarts can be the difference in winning and losing races. You still have to have a good race car, good strategy, good pits stops, etc., but restarts are where drivers can win and lose races.

Once the racing gets strung out back there on those long green-flag runs, it really doesn't matter if you have a fast car, because you simply can't get your way back up there to the front. I think we saw Jimmie Johnson showed the field that later Saturday in the closing chapters of that race. He got up front, stayed up front and drove to the win.

The first of the two storylines I wanted to follow at Texas was Roush Fenway Racing. I know the box score shows a less-than-stellar performance, but I honestly believe the final results are misleading. They came to Texas Motor Speedway with a brand new package and, quite honestly, I think they made some good gains on things. I think they were the best we've seen them collectively when it comes to practice, qualifying and the actual race. Sure, they still have a long road ahead of them, but I really saw some progress out of them this past weekend.

The second storyline I was watching actually was based on what I saw at Auto Club Speedway three weeks ago. Collectively, the Toyotas seemed to have improved at Fontana, plus they won at Martinsville. However, after what I saw from that camp Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway, I have to say they are still behind. They still just seem to be hanging on.

I hate to say this but Michael Waltrip Racing is simply terrible right now. In my book they are in that same boat back there with Roush Fenway Racing. There's a little bit of a difference there, however. Where you take Roush Fenway Racing and their problems are magnified by the success of the two Penske Fords, Michael Waltrip Racing's problems aren't being magnified, because the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing aren't setting the world on fire, either.

I loved what we say at Texas Motor Speedway. I am a really big fan of Saturday-night racing. I still maintain, however, that both the Texas events each year should be looked at for possible reductions in the length of the race.