The NASCAR Cup Series Wurth 400 at Texas Motor Speedway is underway, with the green flag scheduled to drop at 3:30 PM ET. Carson Hocevar, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet, started from the pole position, the first of his career.
Hocevar pulled ahead of William Byron on the opening lap to lead the field early in the NASCAR Race Today. By Lap 16, Hocevar had extended his lead to nearly two seconds.
Daniel Suárez, starting 25th, and Joey Logano, starting 27th, made progress in the initial laps at the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway.
The first caution of the race came on Lap 21 when Noah Gragson spun his No. 4 Ford in Turn 2. Under caution, Denny Hamlin briefly held the lead by staying on track while others pitted.
Pit stops under the first caution saw Austin Cindric take the lead after electing for two tires. Hamlin, Ryan Blaney, John Hunter Nemechek, and Ty Dillon received pit road penalties and were sent to the rear.
Austin Cindric held the lead through much of the end of Stage 1. A second caution occurred on Lap 75 for a blown engine and fire from Denny Hamlin's No. 11 Toyota. Austin Cindric was determined to be the leader at the last scoring loop, securing the Stage 1 win under caution on Lap 80.Tyler Reddick moved up through the field after restarting 13th following the first caution pit sequence. He reached the fifth position by Lap 67 and pressured Cindric for the lead late in Stage 1 before Hamlin's caution.
Josh Berry took the lead on Lap 84 after winning the race off pit road during a caution for Chase Briscoe's spin in Turn 4 on Lap 88. Berry had won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway earlier in the season on a similar track type.
Berry maintained the lead but crashed from the front on Lap 125 while attempting to pass a lapped car in Turn 4. The incident brought out the fourth caution of the race and handed the lead to Kyle Larson.
Todd Gilliland stayed out under the caution for Berry's crash to lead briefly on Lap 128. Kyle Larson regained the lead on the Lap 132 restart, followed by Ryan Preece, Tyler Reddick, Carson Hocevar, and Chris Buescher.
The race distance is scheduled for 267 laps, totaling 400.5 miles around the Texas Motor Speedway. Television coverage for What Time Is the NASCAR Race Today began on FS1 at 3:30 PM ET.
