The NASCAR Cup Series heads to the Lone Star State for the Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth — and there’s a lot to talk about.

NASCAR has a new leadership team in place, Carson Hocevar secured his first NASCAR Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway last weekend, and this week’s race presents unique challenges.

As ever, our NASCAR experts, Jeff Gluck and Jordan Bianchi, will answer all your pressing Würth 400 questions, explain the treacherousness of the track and make their picks on who has the best chance to win.

The Würth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway is on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and HBO Max.

Race winner odds for the Würth 400

With the change in leadership announced last week, do you expect it to be business as usual for the rest of the season, or do you see any changes coming down the track?

Jeff: It feels like this new leadership team of CEO Steve O’Donnell and his protégé, COO Ben Kennedy (who is being groomed for the future CEO role) will have a more nimble approach to making changes they feel are necessary. For example: On NASCAR’s “Hauler Talk” podcast this week, spokesperson Mike Forde relayed a story about how Denny Hamlin texted O’Donnell with suggestions on how to fix superspeedway racing following the Talladega race last week.

According to Forde, O’Donnell then forwarded the feedback to John Probst, the president of NASCAR Event Management, who oversees the competition department. Forde said Probst already had possible changes to the superspeedway package on his computer screen when the two met that day. We don’t know if anything will come of it, but it’s just an example of a direct line of communication between the competitors and executives that could speed up ideas if they’re deemed worthy.

Jordan: Don’t expect any notable changes, or even any at all, that impact the on-track product — beyond maybe some slight tweaks to the aerodynamic rules package teams employ at Daytona and Talladega. Any sizable overarching changes won’t occur until the offseason, and there is a possibility that O’Donnell pushes forward some initiatives that shape the league in the vision he best sees fit. And as was the reintroduction of the Chase playoff format, this could include NASCAR going with concepts that better align with its mantra of reconnecting with its roots and returning the sport closer to what its core fan base wants to see. This will certainly be something to watch for in the months ahead, especially as the offseason draws near. In the meantime, O’Donnell has said he wants his first 90 days to be about talking to various stakeholders and listening to what they have to say. Then from here, it’s putting together an action plan.

Let’s take a moment to celebrate Carson Hocevar — another moment, since you’ve already covered it extensively in these “pages”! Do you think he and Spire will be able to ride this momentum to a different type of track? How do you think he’ll look over the next few races?

Jeff: The intermediate tracks are actually a strong suit for Spire and Hocevar right now, and I’d expect Hocevar to be in contention for a top-five finish this week at Texas. Actually, Hocevar won the pole for this race last year and got his first career top-10 finish there in 2024 (when he had far less speed than he has now). He was so mad after seeing a top-five run disappear two weeks ago at Kansas (Hocevar finished 13th instead after pit crew woes), he angrily chucked his water bottle and helmet inside his car after the race. So upcoming races like this weekend at Texas, the Coca-Cola 600 later this month or Nashville (where he finished second last year) should be good opportunities for Hocevar.

Jordan: Because Talladega is Talladega, it would be easy to dismiss Hocevar’s win as a byproduct of the unpredictable nature that is superspeedway racing. But this would be a mistake. This team has been performing well for some time now, and Talladega just happened to be where they finally broke through. In fact, with how the schedule sets up for the next few months with the number of intermediate-sized tracks upcoming — like Texas this weekend or Charlotte later this month — Hocevar and Spire are well positioned to continue riding this wave; seeing them notch another victory is realistically on the table.

Hendrick is having a surprisingly (maybe?) quiet year so far. Do you think their drivers will reassert themselves at this track that’s historically strong for them?

Jeff: Hendrick seems OK at the intermediates so far, with not as much cause for concern as at the short tracks. To wit: Hendrick’s three top drivers have finished in the top 10 for both of the 1.5-mile track races so far this season. So they should be in contention, even though the Toyota cars seem to have the edge right now. Obviously, Kyle Larson should be one to watch, with at least 77 laps led in four of the last five Texas races.

Jordan: Intermediate tracks remain a work in progress for Hendrick, with them organizationally not having the same level of performance across the board as the Toyotas of Joe Gibbs Racing and 23XI Racing. But based on how Larson ran at Kansas last month, he should be in the mix Sunday with a strong chance of snapping his lengthy winless streak. As for William Byron, Alex Bowman and Chase Elliott, there is less certainty about their prospects, as either could be a contender or be a complete nonfactor.

What strategies do you expect to see employed this weekend, and is there anything in particular we should watch for?

Jeff: This is a very treacherous track for two reasons: the way Turns 1 and 2 are designed and the big bump in Turns 3 and 4 that sends drivers spinning if they hit it wrong. When Texas reconfigured their track, someone had the unfortunate idea to flatten out Turns 1 and 2 – which ended up making most of the area unusable since drivers have no reason to go up high (there’s not enough banking to create speed and make up for going the long way around the turn). So they all fight for a relatively narrow lane on the bottom, which can cause problems. Next, the bump on the other side of the track ends up crashing cars with seemingly no warning, which tends to bring out the caution if someone gets a bad break there.

Jordan: With fast speeds and a configuration that leaves drivers dancing on the line of losing control of their cars, Texas Motor Speedway has evolved into one of NASCAR’s more topsy-turvy races to watch unfold. The last five races here featured double-digit cautions, two of which had a track-record 16 cautions. There’s no reason to think Sunday’s race will be any different.

Who is your favorite to win at Texas?

Jeff: As NASCAR Insights noted this week, nine of the top-10 finishers at the first two 1.5-mile track races of the season have been the same drivers. Kind of wild, right? That includes the three Hendrick drivers mentioned earlier, three Joe Gibbs Racing drivers (Hamlin, Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe — but oddly, not Christopher Bell), two RFK Racing drivers (Chris Buescher and Brad Keselowski) and a 23XI Racing driver (Bubba Wallace, but surprisingly not Tyler Reddick after his Vegas stumble). So, really, it’s the same group of favorites as always, and I have to go with a Toyota driver until proven otherwise. Maybe it’s Hamlin’s week to break through again after he should have won Kansas.

Jordan: Joe Gibbs Racing and/or 23XI Racing. Oh, you wanted someone specific? Then Christopher Bell is the pick. Texas is one of his better tracks. It suits his driving style well and is a place where he tends to run well and JGR is almost always fast. We’ve been waiting for Bell’s No. 20 team to really hit its stride and put together a complete race. This is a great opportunity to do just that.

Which long shot do you like? 

Jeff: I don’t think this is really a race for long shots, but I see two great opportunities for plus-money with a top-five: Chase Briscoe and Bubba Wallace. Both drivers finished in the top five just two weeks ago at Kansas, which is the same size track as Texas. Personally, it looks like a waste of money this week if you’re looking for an underdog to win (I just don’t see it), but if you play around with the top-five or top-10 bets (Hocevar teammate Daniel Suarez is +260 to finish in the top-10, for example), you might find some value there.

Jordan: All three RFK Racing drivers (Chris Buescher, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Preece) had speed at Texas, with the teammates each finishing 11th or better. If that speed carries over to Texas, any of Buescher, Keselowski and Preece would make for a good flyer — especially with this being a race where it’s hard to envision a long shot producing a win.