2019 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500

The 2019 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race that was held on March 31, 2019, at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas. Contested over 334 laps on the 1.5-mile (2.4 km) intermediate quad-oval, it was the seventh race of the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Background
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The track measures 1.5 mi 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 and Charlotte Motor Speedway (formerly Lowe's Motor Speedway). The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, Inc., the same company that owns Atlanta and Charlotte Motor Speedways, as well as the short-track Bristol Motor Speedway.

First practice
Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 28.459 seconds and a speed of 189.747 mph.

Qualifying
Jimmie Johnson scored the pole for the race with a time of 28.588 and a speed of 188.890 mph.

Second practice
Second practice session scheduled for Saturday was cancelled due to rain.

Final practice
Denny Hamlin was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 28.879 seconds and a speed of 186.987 mph.

Start
Jimmie Johnson drove off into the lead as the field raced side-by-side for the early laps of the race. Michigan’s Erik Jones spun in Turn 2 on lap 14 bringing out the first caution of the day. No damage to Jones’ car and he managed to stay on the lead lap. The leaders stayed on the track, but from 10th on back drivers opted to bring their cars to pit road. Kyle Busch missed his pit and drove through pit road without making service stop. He picked up a spot in track position.

On the restart, Jimmie Johnson maintained the lead. Joey Logano and Chase Elliott followed close behind, with Austin Dillon and Denny Hamlin rounding out the top 5. Green flag pit stops commenced with 26 laps to go in the stage. When things cycled through Joey Logano led and held on to earn the stage win.

Stage 2
Pit stops jumbled the field as some drivers opted to stay on the track after pitting late in Stage 1. Martin Truex Jr. held the lead into the restart. He was followed by Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer and Kyle Busch.

Brad Keselowski coasted into the pits just before the race went back to green. On the radio, he told his crew the engine would rev but no power transferred to the rear wheels. A broken differential sent the car to the garage.

Several drivers lead during Stage 2. Martin Truex Jr. for 10 laps, Kyle Busch for 10 laps, and Chase Elliott for 35 laps. Pit stops began for those drivers who stayed out at the end of Stage 1 with 32 laps to go in Stage 2. Most of the leaders pitted within the next 10 laps.

Kyle Larson hit the wall out of Turn 2 bringing out the caution with 22 laps to go in Stage 2. Severe damage to his car resulted in an underhood fire by the time Larson made it back to pit road. Taking him out of the race. Fire trucks on pit road kept the cars on track until there were 15 laps to go in the Stage.

The race restarted with 12 to go in the Stage. Hamlin in first, Kyle Busch in 2nd, Daniel Suarez 3rd, Ryan Blaney 4th, and Ryan Newman in 5th. Joey Logano was penalized for an uncontrolled tire on his pitstop and had to restart at the rear of the lead lap. Denny Hamlin held onto the top spot, winning Stage 2.

Final Stage
Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick were penalized during pit stops at the end of Stage 2 sending them to the back of the 20 cars on the lead lap. The race restarted with five Ford Mustangs at the front. Ryan Blaney, Daniel Suárez, Paul Menard, Ryan Newman and Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

Ryan Blaney, with clean air on the nose of his Mustang, held a lead of over a second on Daniel Suárez until he pitted with 116 laps to go. Shortly after returning to the track, Blaney’s engine let go taking him out of the race. Kyle Busch worked his way back to the lead and the opportunity for the weekend triple looked promising.

Daniel Hemric cut down a tire bringing out the caution with 80 laps to go. Aric Almirola led the field with Erik Jones recovering from his early mishap to restart in 2nd. Jones quickly took the lead when the race went back to green. Kyle Busch joined the battle at the front and passed Jones for the lead.

A big bobble out the leader’s car returned the top spot to Jones. Kyle Busch seemed to just dart up the track. A few laps later a similar incident occurred and Busch tapped the outside wall. His crew brought him to the pits and changed tires setting him up for the run to the finish.

Erik Jones pitted with 32 laps to go and Hamlin inherited the lead. Hamlin and 10 other drivers were on off-cycle pit stops. However, they all will need to make 1 more stop before the end of the race. Jones leads the pack of cars that already pitted running 1 lap down.

The final stops started with 15 laps to go. All the cars just taking a splash of fuel and returning quickly to the track. With 11 laps to go, all of the leaders had pitted and Hamlin was back out front. He held a two and a half second lead on Clint Bowyer. Daniel Suárez ran 3rd, Erik Jones 4th, and Johnson 5th. Kyle Busch was 10th, 12 seconds out of the lead.

Finish
Denny Hamlin, the Daytona 500 champion, held on for his 2nd win of the season.

Stage Results
Stage One Laps: 85

Stage Two Laps: 85

Final Stage Results
Stage Three Laps: 164

Race statistics

 * Lead changes: 26 among 13 different drivers
 * Cautions/Laps: 5 for 29
 * Red flags: 0
 * Time of race: 3 hours, 16 minutes and 11 seconds
 * Average speed: 153.224 mph

Television
Fox Sports covered their 19th race at the Texas Motor Speedway. Mike Joy, 2009 race winner Jeff Gordon and Darrell Waltrip had the call in the booth for the race. Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Matt Yocum handled the pit road duties for the television side.

Radio
The race was broadcast on radio by the Performance Racing Network and 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.
 * . – Driver has clinched a position in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.