Texas Motor Speedway is somewhat of an enigma. Just a few years ago, the 1.5-mile track looked like a completely different venue, but now, it has been completely redone and reconfigured. Yet, the changes seem to have created even bigger problems, making it a wildcard race on the NASCAR calendar. Both the Truck and Xfinity Series races saw plenty of wrecks at ‘The Great American Speedway’, with 11 cautions at Andy’s Frozen Custard 300.

The Xfinity Texas winner, Kyle Larson, believes it is only going to get worse. The Hendrick Motorsports driver, who replaced Connor Zilisch in NASCAR’s second tier, believes that the Next-Gen car may struggle at the Lone Star State. Could another disappointing Cup Series race be on the cards?

Kyle Larson tempers expectations ahead of Würth 400

Back in 2016, drivers and teams were unhappy with the ‘weepers’ at Texas Motor Speedway, as the track didn’t dry in a reasonable amount of time. With drainage issues and an ageing surface plaguing the track, a repave was scheduled for the off-season. However, this wasn’t just an ordinary modification, but a complete reconfiguration of the venue. The first two corners were flattened out while the track surface in that area was widened to 80 feet. There was also a big bump that appeared above the tunnel in Turns 3 and 4.

Sharing his thoughts about the upcoming Cup Series race, Kyle Larson issued a warning in the post-race press conference by saying, “You know, three and four, I feel like, you know, it got pretty rough there early on after the repave, and it’s kind of maintained. I don’t think the Cup cars are able to run as high as Xfinity cars in three and four because, like the higher you run over there, there’s that one little bump, a bigger bump just past the center. And I feel like the Cup cars, it really, you know, bumps kind of upsets us a lot, and that’s why you see people crash over there so often.”

That’s exactly what happened immediately after the Xfinity Series race began. Ryan Ellis spun after entering Turn 3 after making contact with Christian Eckes, but somehow managed to avoid wall contact in the very first lap, and the incident resulted in a caution. During Lap 143, Kyle Larson also got loose between Turn 3 and Turn 4 and made contact with Justin Allgaier, who managed to retain the lead. Corey Day also spun and hit the barriers inside Turn 3 and Turn 4 on Lap 188, which brought out the caution flag. The turn got its fair share of victims in the Xfinity race, and this lack of grip will only make Cup racing that much tougher.

Larson tempered expectations by saying, “I don’t think we’ll move up as high in the Xfinity cars did today at that end.” Some have even described the highest part of the track as ‘falling off a cliff’, highlighting that the area has little to no grip. This may be one of the reasons why Texas Motor Speedway has lost one of its Cup dates while IndyCar has abandoned the venue altogether. The quality has suffered, and over 40,000 seats have already been removed from the facility over the years.

If the Würth 400 falls short of expectations, it wouldn’t be the first time a Cup Series race fails to live up to the hype. The 2025 Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway didn’t produce the tire falloff that was anticipated, resulting in a dominant Larson win as he led 477 out of the 500 laps. The Jack Link’s 500 at Talladega Superspeedway didn’t produce many ‘big ones’ either, and the race ended with a 62-lap green-flag run, the longest on a drafting track since July 2004 at Daytona. Fans want to see dramatic overtakes and late drama in NASCAR, particularly at the highest level. But the Next-Gen car has its own set of restrictions.

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Kyle Busch echoes Larson’s sentiments

The problems have only increased at Texas Motor Speedway. Last year’s 2024 Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 400 saw several cars race side-by-side at that treacherous juncture, which often led to the car on the outside bottoming out and spinning into the outside wall. Even though the facility has attempted to rectify that ‘bump’, it hasn’t really improved matters.

Kyle Busch knows a thing or two about The Great American Speedway. After all, the racer has four wins at the 1.5-mile track, the most amongst active drivers. He also went on to echo Kyle Larson’s views, saying, “Texas, it’s a challenging race track. Turns one and two being as flat as they are and as wide as they are. There’s a lot of room for where you can go. But there’s probably about six inches of that racetrack that feels really good. And that’s the groove that you want to be in, and stay in, in order to get that grip.” 

After being reconfigured, drivers have found it difficult to make passes at Texas Motor Speedway, forcing drivers to make risky moves to gain track positions. Last year’s race featured 16 cautions, and the previous four Cup Series races have had 11 or more cautions. Hardly an entertaining affair, right? The 1.5-mile facility seems to have a mind of its own, and even temperature changes can influence the track’s surface. Larson is just managing expectations, and if history is anything to go by, he’s probably spot on.

Who do you think will come out on top at the tricky Texas track? Let us know in the comments!