The 2017 O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 was a Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 9, 2017, 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 2017 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season.

Entry list Driver Team Manufacturer 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 3 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 5 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 6 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 7 J. J. Yeley (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 10 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 11 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 13 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 15 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 19 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 20 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 23 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 24 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 31 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 32 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 33 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 34 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 38 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 41 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 43 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 47 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 48 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 51 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Toyota 72 Cole Whitt Tri-Star Motorsports Chevrolet 77 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 83 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 88 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing ChevroletOfficial entry list

Practice

First practice Ryan Blaney was the fastest in the first practice session with a time of 27.809 seconds and a speed of . During the session, Chase Elliott and Erik Jones sustained terminal damage to their cars in wrecks that required them to switch to backup cars.

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Time 1 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.809 194.182 2 95 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 27.827 194.056 3 37 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 27.927 193.361Official first practice results

Second practice Brad Keselowski was the fastest in the second practice session with a time of 27.531 seconds and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime12Brad KeselowskiTeam PenskeFord27.531196.143242Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet27.538196.093313Ty Dillon (R)Germain RacingChevrolet27.545196.043Official second practice results

Final practice Jimmie Johnson was the fastest in the final practice session with a time of 27.719 and a speed of . PosDriverTeamManufacturerTime148Jimmie JohnsonHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27.719194.812224Chase ElliottHendrick MotorsportsChevrolet27.799194.252342Kyle LarsonChip Ganassi RacingChevrolet27.890193.618Official final practice results

Qualifying

Kevin Harvick scored the pole for the race with a time of 27.217 and a speed of .

Qualifying results Pos Driver Team Manufacturer 14 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 27.565 27.307 27.217 221 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 27.775 27.459 27.270 314 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 27.622 27.379 27.270 422 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 28.161 27.459 27.306 52 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 27.697 27.428 27.333 61 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 27.706 27.643 27.482 778 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 27.781 27.516 27.492 820 Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.868 27.551 27.509 931 Ryan Newman Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.144 27.622 27.618 1041 Kurt Busch Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 28.176 27.580 27.692 1117 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 28.090 27.639 27.761 126 Trevor Bayne Roush Fenway Racing Ford 27.631 27.677 28.113 1395 Michael McDowell Leavine Family Racing Chevrolet 28.260 27.703 — 1413 Ty Dillon (R) Germain Racing Chevrolet 27.991 27.714 — 1534 Landon Cassill Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.243 27.734 — 1647 A. J. Allmendinger JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 28.071 27.781 — 1711 Denny Hamlin Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 28.130 27.823 — 1843 Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports Ford 28.291 27.855 — 1910 Danica Patrick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 28.079 27.876 — 2019 Daniel Suárez (R) Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 27.980 27.937 — 2138 David Ragan Front Row Motorsports Ford 28.298 28.058 — 2227 Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.063 28.254 — 2383 Corey LaJoie (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.318 28.614 — 2448 Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 27.943 0.000 — 253 Austin Dillon Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet 28.339 — — 2632 Matt DiBenedetto Go Fas Racing Ford 28.371 — — 277 J. J. Yeley (i) Tommy Baldwin Racing Chevrolet 28.452 — — 2872 Cole Whitt TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet 28.542 — — 2923 Gray Gaulding (R) BK Racing Toyota 28.683 — — 3015 Reed Sorenson Premium Motorsports Toyota 28.695 — — 3133 Jeffrey Earnhardt Circle Sport – The Motorsports Group Chevrolet 29.532 — — 3242 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3324 Chase Elliott Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3418 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 0.000 — — 355 Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3677 Erik Jones (R) Furniture Row Racing Toyota 0.000 — — 3788 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3837 Chris Buescher JTG Daugherty Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — — 3951 Timmy Hill (i) Rick Ware Racing Chevrolet 0.000 — — 40 55 Derrike Cope Premium Motorsports Toyota 0.000 — —Official qualifying results

Race First stage Kevin Harvick led the field to the green flag at 1:49 p.m., but the race was slowed when the first caution flew on the third lap for debris on the frontstretch.

The race restarted on the sixth lap. The second caution flew on lap 10 for a three-car wreck in Turn 2 involving Jeffrey Earnhardt, Gray Gaulding and Reed Sorenson. Austin Dillon, who took his car to the garage prior to the initial start for a broken track bar and upper control arm, returned to the race 12 laps down. He said after the race that when he "made a pace lap before the race I could feel something was broken. We had to go into the garage and make repairs before we could even start the race."

On the lap 16 restart, Ryan Blaney edged out Harvick exiting Turn 2 to take the lead. The third caution, a scheduled competition caution, flew on lap 31. Kyle Larson was penalized for driving through too many pit boxes and restarted the race from the tail end of the field. A crew member of Chris Buescher's team, jackman Zack Young, was injured when Buescher's car was clipped by the 77 of Erik Jones, spinning him into his pit box.

The race restarted on lap 37 and stayed green the remainder of the stage until Blaney won the first stage and the fourth caution flew on lap 85 for the stage conclusion. Martin Truex Jr. exited pit road with the race lead.

Second stage On the lap 93 restart, Truex got loose going into Turn 1 and Blaney retook the lead. Debris in Turn 2, a piece of bare bond, brought out the fifth caution on lap 121.

The race restarted on lap 127. Debris in Turn 1, another piece of bare bond, brought out the sixth caution on lap 163. Coming seven laps prior to the end of the stage, all but the first seven cars opted to pit.

The race restarted on lap 167. Blaney won the second stage and the seventh caution flew for the end of the stage. The seven cars that stayed out under the previous caution, Blaney among them, pitted under this caution. Harvick, who pitted during the sixth caution, assumed the lead.

Final stage

The race restarted on lap 178. A number of cars hit pit road around lap 219 to start a cycle of green flag pit stops. Harvick pitted from the lead the following lap, giving the lead to Brad Keselowski. He pitted on lap 224 and teammate Joey Logano took the lead. He pitted with 107 laps to go and Truex cycled to the lead.

Another round of green flag stops took place with 62 to go. Truex pitted from the lead with 61 to go. Jimmie Johnson pitted from the lead with 60 to go. Logano held the lead for 15 laps before pitting with 45 to go and Harvick cycled to the lead.

Debris in Turn 3 brought out the eighth caution with 35 to go. Everyone pitted except Logano who stayed out to assume the race lead. Blaney, who worked his way back into the top-10, slid through his pit stall and fell back through the running order. He said after the race he "got to eighth or something like that before the last caution, and I slid through our pit box, and that was an unfortunate deal. We were kind of pinned in between the 4 and the 88 and there was a weird angle. I just stopped a little deep, and I hurt us on that one for sure.”

The race restarted with 30 to go. Johnson edged out Logano to take the lead with 16 to go and held off Larson in the final laps to drive on to score the victory.

Post-race

Driver comments “I guess I remembered how to drive, and I guess this team remembered how to do it,” Johnson said in victory lane. “I'm just real proud of this team. What a tough track and tough conditions. We were really in our wheelhouse and we were just able to execute all day.”

After his victory lane interviews, Johnson went to the infield care center to receive three bags of IV fluid because the fluid system in his car malfunctioned in the closing laps.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who earned his first top-five finish since a runner-up finish in the 2016 Axalta "We Paint Winners" 400 at Pocono Raceway, said he "figured we'd get one sooner or later, but it's nice. I know our fans are pulling for us. Could have finished a little better, but we'll take a top five."

Blaney – who led a race high of 148 laps, the first time a Wood Brothers Racing entry has led over 100 laps since 1982 – said, when asked about staying out vs. pitting in the caution prior to the end of the second stage, it's easy to "say, oh, we should have done this, should have done that. Now I say we should have stayed out the last caution and might have had a better shot at it. But you can't really change any of that now. Yeah, in hindsight that was kind of a judgment call. You give up a stage win and 10 point and a bonus point for the playoffs to try to set yourself for the end of the race. We thought we had enough time after segment 2 to try to work our way back up through there, and a restart actually after segment 2 really went bad for us. We got jumbled up in 1 and 2 and let a lot of cars get by. That was kind of the deciding factor I feel like. I let a lot of good cars get by like the 48 and 42 and 24, and that hurt us more, I think, than anything was that restart after segment 2 when we had to check up big in 1 and 2. I thought we made the right call to stay out there and try to win that segment. I'm for that.”

Race results

Stage results

Stage 1 Laps: 85

Pos Driver Team Manufacturer Points1 21 Ryan Blaney Wood Brothers Racing Ford 102 78 Martin Truex Jr. Furniture Row Racing Toyota 93 1 Jamie McMurray Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 84 4 Kevin Harvick Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 75 2 Brad Keselowski Team Penske Ford 66 42 Kyle Larson Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet 57 14 Clint Bowyer Stewart–Haas Racing Ford 48 17 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Roush Fenway Racing Ford 39 22 Joey Logano Team Penske Ford 210 18 Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota 1Official stage one results

Stage 2 Laps: 85