Following Austin Cindric's thrilling win at Talladega to score his third career Cup Series victory, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth for the running of the Wurth 400 on Sunday. This will be the only stop of the season at the 1.5-mile track and the second consecutive season it has come in the spring after previously getting two spots on the NASCAR calendar.
Cindric became the season's sixth different winner so far with his Talladega triumph. Don't be surprised if we see another new winner on Sunday, given the rash of cautions the last four races in north Texas have given us. Two of the last three have produced 16 cautions, and last year's race saw a double-overtime finish with Hendrick Motorsports' Chase Elliott snapping a 42-race winless streak. Elliott's HMS teammate, William Byron, holds a 31-point lead over Kyle Larson through 10 races.
As the Cup Series heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the only time this season, these three drivers are in search of a rebound performance following Talladega.
3 drivers who need to rebound in Wurth 400 at Texas
3. Denny Hamlin, No. 11 (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
Hamlin led seven laps at Talladega and appeared to be in decent position as teams made their final stop of the race late in the final stage. A slower pit sequence from the Toyotas and a moment where Hamlin had to lift for Trackhouse Racing's Ross Chastain, who was trying to halt the momentum of the Toyotas to stay with the pack, eliminated any chance Hamlin had of winning the race.
With a disappointing 21st-place finish snapping a streak of four straight top-fives for the veteran, Hamlin heads to a track where he has three previous wins. Since his last victory at Texas in 2019, Hamlin has four top-10s and four finishes of 20th or worse. Considering the inconsistency in recent years at the Fort Worth track, this could potentially be another challenging weekend for the 44-year-old.
2. Kyle Busch, No. 8 (Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet)
Busch qualified second at Talladega and clearly had the speed to contend at the 2.66-mile track. He led three laps, but was involved in a Lap 43 caution coming to pit road as he and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing's Brad Keselowski got together. On Lap 99, Busch made an unscheduled pit stop for a vibration and was penalized for speeding during his final stop on Lap 172 of the 188-lap race.
That was ultimately too much for the two-time champion to overcome as he would finish 27th. After opening the season with three top-10s in the first four races, Busch only has one top-10 since, including three finishes outside the top 20. He is a four-time winner at Texas, but only one of those has come in his last seven races there. Since the debut of the Next Gen Car in 2022, Busch's lone top-10 in those four races came last April. This could be another long weekend for the 63-time Cup Series winner.
1. Christopher Bell, No. 20 (Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota)
Bell's day at Talladega ended prematurely with a hard impact with the backstretch wall after a push gone wrong from Hamlin on Lap 52. His 35th-place finish was his worst since Homestead in March when he finished 29th, ending a three-race stretch of top-10s.
Bell only has one top-10 in the four Next Gen races at Texas, but has finished inside the top three in Stage 1 in each of the last two. That shows the speed has been there for Bell and the No. 20 team despite the inconsistent finishes. After a disappointing outcome at Talladega, there is a solid chance Bell rights the ship if he takes advantage of the speed he will likely have in the Lone Star State.