HFT Weekend Preview: Texas Motor Speedway.
By Haas Factory Team
Saturday O’Reilly Series Action:
Date: Saturday, May 2, at 3:30 p.m. ET
Track: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, TX
Race Distance: 200 laps / 300 miles
Broadcast: CW | PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Sunday Cup Series Action:
Date: Sunday, May 3, at 3:30 p.m. ET
Track: Texas Motor Speedway, Fort Worth, TX
Race Distance: 267 laps / 400.5 miles
Broadcast: FOX | PRN / SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Driver Appearances:
Sam Mayer & Sheldon Creed: Saturday @ 11:30 AM (Local Time) - HFT Merch Hauler
Cole Custer: TBD
On-Track Activity:
Friday:
5 p.m. ET – O’Reilly Practice
CW App | PRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
6:05 p.m. ET – O’Reilly Qualifying
CW App | PRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Saturday:
12:30 p.m. ET – Cup Practice
Prime | PRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
1:40 p.m. ET – Cup Qualifying
Prime | PRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
3:30 p.m. ET – O’Reilly Race
CW | PRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Sunday:
3:30 p.m. ET – Cup Race
FS1 | PRN & SiriusXM NASCAR Radio
Race Weekend Quick Hits:
Texas Motor Speedway hosts its lone race date of the season this weekend as the NASCAR Cup/O’Reilly Series heads to Fort Worth, Texas.
Sheldon Creed (439) sits second in the O’Reilly Series points standings behind only Justin Allgaier (544) and holds the highest average finish (6.5) in the O’Reilly Series this season.
Creed recorded his career-best eighth straight top-10 finish last weekend at Talladega, and sixth top-five result of the season which is the second most in the O’Reilly Series.
Creed also captured the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus for the second consecutive week at Talladega as the highest finisher among the four eligible O’Reilly Series drivers and will have another shot at the bonus this weekend at Texas along with Corey Day, Brent Crews and Sammy Smith.
Sam Mayer started inside the top five for the fifth time last weekend and holds the second highest average starting position (6.8) through the first 11 races in the O’Reilly Series.
Mayer scored a dramatic victory at Texas Motor Speedway in 2024, making a last-lap pass on Ryan Sieg and winning by just .002 seconds — one of the closest finishes in NOAPS history.
Cup Driver Lineup:
No. 41 Driver: Cole Custer
Hometown: Ladera Ranch, CA
Crew Chief: Aaron Kramer
Partner: Haas / Andy’s
Custer’s Texas Cup Series History:
Starts: 5
Wins: —
Top-10s: —
Poles: —
Key Numbers:
Custer will make his sixth Cup Series start at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, where he holds a 25.2 average finish. His best result at the track came in the fall of 2020 with a 14th-place finish.
He has started inside the top 20 four times at Texas, including a career-best starting position of 16th in the fall of 2020. Overall, he owns a 19.8 average starting position at the track.
In addition, Custer has made eight O’Reilly Series starts at Texas, earning seven top-10 finishes, five top-five finishes, and a victory in 2018.
O’Reilly Auto Parts Driver Lineup:
No. 00 Driver: Sheldon Creed
Hometown: Alpine, CA
Crew Chief: Jonathan Toney
Partner: Road Ranger
Creed’s Texas O’Reilly Series History:
Starts: 5
Wins: —
Top-10s: 2
Poles: —
Key Numbers:
Creed is set to make his sixth O’Reilly Series start at Texas on Saturday, where he has recorded two career top-10 finishes. His best result at the track came in the fall of 2022 with a seventh-place finish.
His best career starting position at Texas is sixth, achieved in last season’s race before an incident on lap 104 ended his day early. Creed holds a 15.8 average starting position at the track.
No. 41 Driver: Sam Mayer
Hometown: Franklin, WI
Crew Chief: Jason Trinchere
Partner: Andy’s
Mayer’s Texas O’Reilly Series History:
Starts: 6
Wins: 1 (2024)
Top-10s: 4
Poles: —
Key Numbers:
Mayer is set to make his seventh O’Reilly Series start at Texas this weekend, a track where he earned a dramatic victory in 2024 after making a last-lap pass on Ryan Sieg. His margin of victory was just .002 seconds, marking one of the closest finishes in NOAPS history.
He owns four career top-10 finishes at TMS, including a fifth-place result last season, and carries a 12.6 average finish at the track.
Mayer has started inside the top 10 five times at Texas and holds an impressive 8.0 average starting position — the third-best mark of any track on the O’Reilly Series schedule (minimum of five starts).
HFT Talladega Recap: Sheldon Creed continued his hot streak at Talladega Superspeedway with a third-place finish, earning the $100,000 Dash 4 Cash bonus for the second straight race, while Sam Mayer led laps and surged to the front on the final lap before late contact relegated him to a 25th-place result. Cole Custer also showed strong speed and raced inside the top five before being collected in a multi-car incident that ended his day early.