The 2017 AAA Texas 500 was a

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The NASCAR Cup Series is the top racing series of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR). The series began in 1949 as the Strictly Stock Division, and from 1950 to 1970 it was known as the Grand National Division. In 1971, ...

race which was held on November 5, 2017, at Texas Motor Speedway in

Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5 mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the 34th race of the

2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series The 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series was the 69th season of professional stock car racing in the United States, and the 46th modern-era Cup series season. The season began at Daytona International Speedway with the Advance Auto Parts C ...

season, eighth race of the Playoffs, and second race of the Round of 8.

Report

Background

Texas Motor Speedway is a

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

located in the northernmost portion of the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

city of

– the portion located in

Denton County, Texas Denton County is located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 906,422, making it the 7th-most populous county in Texas. The county seat is Denton. The county, which was named for John B. Denton, was establish ...

. The track measures around and is banked 24 degrees in the turns, and is of the oval design, where the front straightaway juts outward slightly. The track layout is similar to

Atlanta Motor Speedway Atlanta Motor Speedway (formerly known Atlanta International Raceway from 1960 to 1990) is a 1.54-mile entertainment facility in Hampton, Georgia, United States, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. It has annually hosted NASCAR Cup Series ...

and

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (previously known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009) is a motorsport complex located in Concord, North Carolina, outside Charlotte. The complex features a quad oval track that hosts NASCAR racing including th ...

(formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by

Speedway Motorsports Speedway Motorsports, LLC is an American company that owns and manages auto racing facilities that host races sanctioned by NASCAR, IndyCar Series, NHRA, World of Outlaws and other racing series. The company was founded by Bruton Smith and has i ...

, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

Entry list

* Daniel Hemric filled in for Menard for Qualifying, First and Second Practices as Menard and his wife, Jennifer, welcomed their second child that week.

First practice

Ryan Blaney Ryan Michael Blaney (born December 31, 1993) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 12 Ford Mustang for Team Penske. He is the son of former NASCAR driver Dave Blaney ...

was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.009 seconds and a speed of .

Qualifying

Kurt Busch Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...

scored the pole for the race with a time of 26.877 and a speed of .

Qualifying results

Practice (post-qualifying)

Second practice

was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 28.159 seconds and a speed of .

Final practice

Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.203 seconds and a speed of .

Race

Race results

Stage results

Stage 1 ''Laps:'' 85 Stage 2 ''Laps:'' 85

Final stage results

Stage 3 ''Laps:'' 164

Race statistics

* Lead changes: 13 among different drivers * Cautions/Laps: 8 for 40 * Red flags: 1 for 10 minutes and 29 seconds * Time of race: 3 hours, 29 minutes, 52 seconds * Average speed:

Media

Television

NBCSN NBCSN was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated t ...

covered the race on the television side. Rick Allen and

Dale Jarrett Dale Arnold Jarrett (born November 26, 1956) is a former American race car driver and current commentator for NBC. He is best known for winning the Daytona 500 three times (in 1993, 1996, and 2000) and winning the NASCAR Winston Cup Series champio ...

had the call in the regular booth for the race. Two–time Texas winner

Jeff Burton Jeffrey Tyler Burton (born June 29, 1967), nicknamed The Mayor, is an American former professional stock car racing driver and current racing commentator. He scored 21 career victories in the NASCAR Cup Series, including two Coca-Cola 600s in ...

and Steve Letarte had the call in the NBC's Stock Car Smarts Booth for the race. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kelli Stavast reported from pit lane during the race.

Radio

PRN had the radio call for the race, which was simulcast on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio.

Standings after the race

;Drivers' Championship standings ;Manufacturers' Championship standings *Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings.

References

{{2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup 2017 in sports in Texas

AAA Texas 500 The Autotrader EchoPark Automotive 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series stock car race held at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. The inaugural race took place on November 6, 2005. The race has always started in the late afternoon, gone throu ...

NASCAR races at Texas Motor Speedway