Texas two-step: Odds with Harvick, Hamlin

FORT WORTH, Texas — Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin can easily be considered favorites for the first summertime race at Texas, even in this unpredictable and unprecedented NASCAR Cup season.

While there have been no practice sessions or qualifying laps since racing resumed two months ago, Harvick and Hamlin are both three-time winners at Texas, and combined to win four of the last five races there. They are tied with a Cup-best four wins apiece this season, and all but one of those have come since mid-May.

The 1½-mile track could get slick on a scorching Sunday afternoon, with temperatures forecast in the upper 90s and the heat index into the 100s. It will be about 30 degrees warmer than March 29, the date the O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 was originally scheduled before the coronavirus pandemic.

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■ Aric Almirola (lineup determined by three random draws and owner points)

■ Favorite: Kevin Harvick, 3-1

“You’d be hard to bet against those two. This track, with one and two being so flat and having so little grip, that’s right up Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick’s alley,” NBC Sports analyst Jeff Burton said. “That’s right what they’re so good at, so I expect they’ll both run very well.”

Burton, who won the inaugural Texas race in 1997 and became the first twotime winner at the track in 2007, said the fascinating part about this season is the unpredictability of what’s going to happen without practice and the application of traction compound on tracks.

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