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This week, NASCAR heads for Sin City in Las Vegas for the South Point 400. This is the opening round of NASCAR's version of the playoffs. Sixteen drivers will come to Vegas with a chance to move on and continue their path to a championship. Located just outside Downtown, This track is a mile and a half oval that includes twenty degrees in banking, usually with the Las Vegas heat, the track's surface becomes much more slick. This caused many tire issues last season that took out many contenders including Kurt Busch and Chase Elliott. With temps as high as 100 degrees on Sunday, this should be a factor to watch for.
Last week, Kevin Harvick put a beat-down on the field to go on and win his second Brickyard 400 and his third win of the season. Harvick led a race high 118 laps and was never really challenged until the closing stages after a battle with Joey Logano on a restart in the final few laps. The race was marred by many spectacular crashes including Brad Keselowski and Erik Jones as Brad hit a tire barrier at over 170 miles per hour causing the car to come to a dead-stop instantly. Luckily, no one involved was injured. Overall, many of the contenders were caught up in accidents including teammates Kyle Larson and Kurt Busch. When the smoke cleared, there were also some drivers who had great results including Darrell Wallace Jr who came home third. This was Bubba's best finish since last year's Daytona 500. While many will attribute attrition to why he ran so well it is important to note that he ran around the top 10 for much of the race.
For much of the season, NASCAR's greatest driver Jimmie Johnson has been in the spotlight but for all the wrong reasons and unfortunately this continued at Indy after he was eliminated from playoff contention when he was swept up in a multi car wreck on lap 108. This ends a 14 year streak of Johnson making NASCAR's postseason. While 2019 has been a dreadful year for him, Johnson has been adamant that he crew-chief Cliff Daniels are not done and will be much better come next season. If I could compare this to any other major sport, I would say it is close to what happened with LeBron James missing the playoffs this season with the Lakers. For both athletes, while things may be hard now I think they will be better next season as they both make moves to improve their teams. It will be interesting to watch seven time champion try and play spoiler to help his teammates Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and William Byron compete for a championship.
The NASCAR world was met with some good news this week as well as it was announced that fan favorite Matt DiBenedetto will drive for the Wood Brothers in 2020 in the #21 Menards Ford Mustang, the ride will include resources from Penske racing. The move was met with much surprise as it was announced Tuesday on the Wood Brothers Twitter page. The team's current driver, Paul Menard announced his retirement at the end of the 2019 season. While he won't be racing, Menard and his sponsor of the same name will remain with the team as Paul was gracious enough to suggest they hire DiBenedetto after he had many great results this season driving for Bob Leavine. Even though he will not return to full-time racing in NASCAR, he will continue to race on a part time basis more than likely for Penske racing's Xfinity team. In the grand scheme of things, many people have criticized Paul for his avenue into the NASCAR Monster Energy Cup Series, the one thing people can't say is he and his family haven't done a lot for the sport. While many sponsors have left, Menard and his bright yellow paint scheme have always been around to keep a lot of these competitive teams going, I have to thank Paul for everything he has done for this sport and while his career wasn't perfect he wasn't such a bad race car driver either, he will always be remembered for his victory in the 2011 Brickyard 400 (ironically enough) and qualifying for the chase back in 2014. He will be missed come Sundays on the track
The driver that I have winning this week is Martin Truex Jr. This season, Truex has been fast at times but surprisingly he has kind of flown under the radar when compared to his teammates. While he still has four wins, he's been in a bit of a slump over the past two weeks. At both Indy and Bristol, he has finished 15th and 27th. The results have kind of taken the radar off the 2017 champion but I think this race is where he gets back into the swing of things. Over the last couple races here, Truex has the second highest average finish has led 23 percent of the laps completed. Come Sunday when the green flag drops, Truex and his Camry should be hard to beat.
(All stats and information used in this article is brought to you by the good folks at driveraverages.com and Racing-Reference.com the best website for all NASCAR stats).
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The Houston Texans are entering the 2025 NFL Draft with a roster on the rise and a franchise quarterback in C.J. Stroud—but what happens next is anything but certain.
Draft experts are calling this year’s class one of the most difficult to project, especially in the back half of the first round, where opinions on prospects vary widely. For the Texans, who hold the No. 25 overall pick, this presents both opportunity and risk. With no glaring positional holes but several areas in need of long-term upgrades, Houston’s approach will provide insight into how the front office views its roster—and, more specifically, how it plans to protect its most valuable asset: Stroud.
Stroud was sacked 52 times last season, second only to Chicago's Caleb Williams. That reality underscores the Texans’ top priority heading into the draft: fortifying the offensive line. How they do that could reveal what they truly think of tackle Blake Fisher and whether Tytus Howard’s future lies at guard or tackle.
A number of linemen are on the Texans’ radar for their first-round pick, including Alabama interior mauler Tyler Booker, versatile North Dakota State tackle Gray Zabel, and Oregon’s athletic pass protector Josh Conerly. Texas standout Kelvin Banks and Ohio State’s Donovan Jackson also bring physicality and pedigree, while Josh Simmons of Ohio State is a long-term project coming off a torn patellar tendon.
Still, wide receiver is the other major position of interest. If Houston opts to go wideout in the first round, names like Arizona’s Tet McMillan, Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, Missouri’s Luther Burden, and Texas' Matthew Golden offer a blend of polish, upside, and explosiveness.
A best-case scenario? The Texans land an offensive lineman in the first round and then leverage their extra third-round pick to trade up for a sliding receiver like Burden early in the second. That would give Houston immediate trench help and another weapon for Stroud without having to choose between the two priorities.
No matter what direction the Texans go, this year’s draft is set to be the most unpredictable of the Stroud era. And that might be just how Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans like it.
We have so much more to cover. Don't miss the video below as the crew from Texans on Tap discusses all the topics above and much more!
And be sure to watch our live reaction to the Texans' first round pick this Thursday night on our SportsMap Texans YouTube channel!
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