NASCAR comes to Texas this weekend. Photo via: Wiki Commons.
For the first time in NASCAR history, Texas Motor Speedway plays host to NASCAR's annual All-Star Race. This race will feature each winner from 2020 and 2021 plus past champions and past All-Star Race winners. As we all know, this is where the sport pulls out all the stops and really tries a lot of new things. Some of them work, a lot of them don't. This week will be no different as there will be a myriad of changes. The biggest change of note is NASCAR's reduction on horsepower. Now I know there is a lot of gloom and doom in that sentence but to play devil's advocate here, I really think that this can bunch the cars up a whole lot more than what we see on an average Sunday. It should be a wild weekend when the green flag drops.
The format for the All-Star Race is vastly different from what we see on a typical race-day. First and foremost, before the main event as usual there will be a qualifying race for the drivers who have yet to win from 2019-2021. This race is known as the All-Star Open, some of the notable names that will be in this race are Ross Chastain, Bubba Wallace, Daniel Suarez and Tyler Reddick. The race will consist of three segments, with the first two being twenty laps and then a ten lap dash at the end. The winners of each segment move on to the main event. This race is usually pretty crazy considering how much is on the line.
Another interesting aspect of this race is the fan vote. This grants the final starting spot to the driver who has the most votes on NASCAR's website. This will be a very competitive race with many drivers who can win. The three that really stand out are Tyler Reddick, Matt DiBenedetto and Ross Chastain. All three drivers have been in the top five this year in contention to win a race, so those are the drivers to look out for to race their way in. The favorite to win the fan vote has to be Bubba Wallace. Although unpopular among some of the more unsavory characters in this sport, he has a lot of people that are behind him. And while he will also be a threat to win one of the segments, I think he can fall back on the fan vote. It will be interesting to see how it all works out.
After the open comes the main event, the NASCAR All-Star Race. The format for the race this year is one of the most confusing yet as there will be SIX SEGMENTS! Including an invert at the end of each segment and a thirty-thousand dollar reward for the fastest pit crew at the end of the final segment. The first four will consist of fifteen laps. Segment five will be different as they will run thirty laps with a mandatory pit-stop at the conclusion. When it's all said and done, the sixth and final segment will be ten laps for $1,000,000. It seems every year this race gets more and more confusing to the viewer and the drivers themselves. Let's hope next season is easier to understand.
The driver I have winning this week is Kyle Larson. This has been a dream season for him as he's now won three races after taking the field to school last week at Sonoma. And with all the success this year, why stop now? Besides, he will be starting on the pole after the field was set by a random draw this week, so he already has the track position on everyone else. That will be a big momentum boost and while the inversion of the top eight to twelve cars won't let him run away, we have seen it time and time again how good he is at driving through the field. Look for Larson to continue his hot streak and score the big bucks this week at Texas Motor Speedway.
The Houston Texans addressed their most glaring needs by selecting offensive tackle Aireontae Ersery and a pair of Iowa State receivers in the NFL draft.
“The idea was to try to add good players, good people that are young, tough, hungry, that want to win, that put the team first,” general manager Nick Caserio said. “These picks exemplify that.”
The Texans got players that could help them quickly despite not picking in the first round for a second straight season. They didn’t have a first-round pick last year because of trades, including the one to move up and get defensive end Will Anderson with the third overall pick in the 2023 draft.
This season they shipped the 25th overall pick to the Giants on Thursday in exchange for several picks.
Their first selection in this draft was receiver Jayden Higgins, who was taken with the second pick of the second round. They added Ersery later in the second round with the 48th overall selection and picked up Higgins’ teammate Jaylin Noel in the third round.
Ersery could be Houston’s left tackle of the future after the offseason trade of five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil. Ersery started 38 games at left tackle over three seasons at Minnesota where he was a third-team All-American last season.
He comes to Houston to help shore up a line that allowed C.J. Stroud to be sacked 52 times last season, which was the second most in the NFL.
The Texans added veteran tackle Cam Robinson this offseason and Ersery will compete with him to protect Stroud’s blind side as the Texans attempt to reach the playoffs for a third straight season under coach DeMeco Ryans.
The 6-foot-6, 331-pound Ersery, who was the Big Ten’s Offensive Lineman of the Year last season, can’t wait to play with Stroud.
“C.J. Stroud is a baller,” Ersery said. “I’m so honored to be a guy to help out and come in and help protect him. I’m just super stoked and I know I’m going to a great organization.”
Cyclones teammates
Higgins and Noel join the Texans to add more depth at receiver to complement star Nico Collins with Tank Dell recovering from a serious knee injury and Stefon Diggs gone to the Patriots.
Higgins, who has been compared to Collins, had 87 receptions for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns last season for the Cyclones and Noel added 80 catches for 1,194 yards and eight scores.
After Higgins was drafted, Noel never imagined he’d be heading to Houston, too. He shared on social media a fortune he received from a Chinese restaurant that read: “Look forward to an unplanned reunion with an out-of-touch friend.”
Noel later shared his feelings about joining Higgins on the roster.
“I was surprised,” Noel said. “But they’ve seen that 1-2 punch all year. They’re going to be very happy with those selections for sure.”
Caserio said a talk with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell on Friday helped him make his final decisions on the receivers.
“He was effusive in his… belief and praise of both Higgins and Noel,” Caserio said.
The Texans now have three receivers from Iowa State on their roster after drafting Xavier Hutchinson in the sixth round in 2023.
Overcoming obstacles
Ersery and his four siblings were raised by a single mother and experienced homelessness when he was a child despite her working multiple jobs. He is thrilled to have put those struggles behind him as he embarks on his next chapter.
“I’ve got that hardworking mentality from her,” he said. “So, growing up times were tough but now I’ve got my foot in the door and I look forward to trying to change some things around.”
Caserio loves guys with work ethic like Ersery’s and said that’s one reason why they believe he’ll fit in with the Texans.
“If you come in and put your head down and work and just get better, take advantage of your opportunities, you’re going to have a shot to have success and do a lot of good things for the organization,” he said.
What’s in a name?
Along with Noel, the Texans added another Jaylin in this draft with they picked USC cornerback Jaylin Smith in the third round.
“We got Jaylins, and we got all these guys around. It’s going to be hard to keep them straight,” Caserio joked on Friday after they picked Smith.
Then on Saturday, the Texans added another player with the same name, albeit with a different spelling, when they took Penn State safety Jaylen Reed in the sixth round.
That gives them four players with the same name and three different spellings as the three rookies join starting safety Jalen Pitre on the team.
Doubling up
Along with drafting two players from Iowa State, the Texans also added a pair of players from Southern California when they picked running back Woody Marks in the fourth round after drafting Smith in the third.
Marks ran for a career-high 1,133 yards with nine touchdowns for the Trojans last season after transferring from Mississippi State.
Be sure to watch the video below as NFL.com Draft Analyst Lance Zierlein shares his thoughts on all the Texans' picks!