After taking last weekend off for Easter NASCAR returns this week and is under the lights for the first time since what turned out to be an exciting Monday night Daytona 500 in February.  Nationwide drivers are on the track Friday night with  Sprint Cup drivers resuming the schedule Saturday night at the mile and a half Texas Motor Speedway. 

Heading into the weekend Greg Biffle leads the points standings by six points over Dale Earnhardt Jr.  Then behind Junior is a log-jam of defending Cup champion Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Martin Truex Jr. all tied for third at 12 points back. 

Matt Kenseth was the winner of last year’s race and two of his Roush teammates, Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards joined him in the top 5.   

Kenseth may be one of the most dominant drivers at Texas.  Prior to his win at Texas last year he had four second place finishes and twice came in third.

A lot of fans will be looking for Dale Earnhardt, Junior to break his long winless streak at Texas.  It’s where he won his first Nationwide race and his first Sprint Cup race.

Trevor Bayne will watch Friday night’s Nationwide race from the stands.  His car will remain in the garage because he doesn’t have a sponsor.  He drove in the first five races of the season hoping to attract some backing but it never came.  So even though he stands fourth in Nationwide points he’s out until a sponsor comes along.  He is scheduled to drive Saturday night in the Sprint Cup race for the Woods brothers – the team he raced for last year when he won the Daytona 500.

Five new entries including Rusty Wallace have been added to the list of 25 nominees for induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  The newest induction class will be announced on May 23rd in Charlotte.

More From 106.5 WYRK