Firestone 600 entry list

A late-morning practice on the 1.455-mile, high-banked Texas Motor Speedway oval June 5 is followed by mid-afternoon single-car qualifications and then an early-evening practice session – a tease of speed for spectators gathering for the NASCAR truck race.

The 248-lap Firestone 600 gets the green flag 24 hours later. Changing track and ambient temperatures – the weather forecast calls for a high of 90 degrees both days after a week of rain across much of Texas – makes it challenging to set up the cars.

CFH Racing co-owner/driver Ed Carpenter, who won the race last June, relishes the opportunity.

“It’s always a challenge, and that’s one of the things I like about Texas. It makes it fun for the drivers and the teams,” said Carpenter, who will make his second start of the season in the No. 20 Fuzzy’s Vodka CFH Racing Chevrolet.

After qualifying 12th for the 99th Indianapolis 500 but being involved in contact on Lap 113 of 200, Carpenter is looking forward to making his 14th start at Texas Motor Speedway.

"The team had a tough month of May, so I am ready to go out and build some momentum to finish the season strong," said Carpenter, who also will compete in the four other oval races in the second half of the season.

Last June, Carpenter started fifth (his best at Texas) and took the lead from Team Penske’s Will Power on Lap 182 of the 248-lap event. He began to pull away from the field before a caution on Lap 241 packed up the field. On the Lap 246 restart, Carpenter was able to maintain the lead and won by 0.5247 of a second over Power, the pole sitter.

First-year teammate Josef Newgarden qualified second and finished 11th last year.

“For me, on the driving side, it's been nice having Ed as someone to lean on and learn from. Hopefully I can use him more at Texas; I think we're going to have good cars going there,” said Newgarden, who is among the seven drivers to win in the eight races this season.