Texas: NASCAR green flag start time, pole, and starting lineup

The drivers are at Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA Texas 500. Jimmie Johnson is on the pole for the second week in a row, after winning from that same position, just last weekend at Martinsville.

Johnson is your points leader in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Title, leading
Brad Keselowski by 2 points. Keselowski will roll of the grid in eighth position. Keselowski was fastest in final place on Saturday with a speed of 184.300.

Texas is the third to last race of the 2012 NASCAR season. It is 501 miles, 334 laps around a 1.5 mile track.

NASCAR heads to Phoenix next weekend before ending their season at Homestead.

The races green flag start time is set for: 3:16pm EST.

Who else to watch at Texas? Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth. Kenseth is the only driver to have a better average finish than Johnson at the 1.5 mile track. Biffle, on the other hand, won the Spring race.

I also would not count out Denny Hamlin, who had car trouble last weekend at Martinsville. The issues ended his chance of claiming the title. Hamlin has 8 top tens out of 14 starts and two wins at the track.

A.J Allmendinger, who is starting 26th is making his final start with Phoenix Racing in the No.51 Chevrolet. Regan Smith will take over starting next weekend at Phoenix.

Starting Lineup for today’s race at Texas:

1. Jimmie Johnson – POINTS LEADER
2. Greg Biffle
3. Kyle Busch
4. Clint Bowyer -26 points behind
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Joey Logano
7. Trevor Bayne
8. Brad Keselowski -2 points
9. Carl Edwards
10. Matt Kenseth
11. Mark Martin
12. Denny Hamlin
13. Kasey Kahne -29 points behind
14. Aric Almirola
15. Marcos Ambrose
16. Jeff Gordon
17. Sam Hornish Jr.
18. Kurt Busch
19. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
20. Casey Mears
21. Tony Stewart
22. Jeff Burton
23. Kevin Harvick
24. Jamie McMurray
25. Juan Pablo Montoya
26. AJ Allmendinger
27. Paul Menard
28. JJ Yeley
29. Bobby Labonte
30. David Gilliland
31. Scott Speed
32. Danica Patrick
33. David Ragan
34. Mike Bliss
35. Josh Wise
36. Ryan Newman
37. Michael McDowell
38. Travis Kvapil
39. Reed Sorenson
40. Dave Blaney
41. Landon Cassill
42. Ken Schrader
43. Joe Nemechek