TV Schedule April 7-10

The green flag waves at last fall's Sprint Cup race at
Texas Motor Speedway. (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

NASCAR heads to Texas, where they say everything is bigger and better. The Sprint Cup and Nationwide series converge on Texas Motor Speedway this weekend.

Last year's fall Cup race at Texas will be hard to top. We saw an unprecedented pit crew swap between the No. 48 and 24 teams, Kyle Busch flicked off a NASCAR official and paid for it with a two-lap penalty, and the fight everyone was talking about between Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton. Makes you wonder what's in store for this weekend!

For the first time since the track opened in 1997, both the Sprint Cup and Nationwide races will be run under the lights. The Samsung Mobile 500 is the first of 10 Saturday night races on the 2011 Sprint Cup Series schedule.

The 1.5-mile intermediate oval has 24-degree banking in the turns and 5 degrees on the straightaways. Texas is known as one of the circuit's fastest non-restrictor plate tracks; drivers can reach speeds of up to 200 mph here. With the Cup and Nationwide races moving to night, teams will be unable to simulate race conditions during the day practices and will face many unknowns on race day.

Denny Hamlin swept both Cup events at Texas last year. Can the Joe Gibbs Racing driver find his way back to victory lane on Saturday? Or can Kevin Harvick make it three in a row?

The Nationwide Series returns after taking a breather last week.

Here are last year's winners at Texas:

SPRINT CUP
Spring: Denny Hamlin
Fall: Denny Hamlin

NATIONWIDE
Spring: Kyle Busch
Fall: Carl Edwards

The Camping World Truck Series is on an extended break and will return April 22 at Nashville.
 
The following is a handy guide to track events and TV coverage at Texas. (All times are in Eastern Standard Time. Events without a channel listed will not be televised.)

Thursday, April 7:
5 p.m. NSCS Practice, SPEED
7 p.m. NNS Practice

Friday, April 8:
10:30 a.m. NNS Practice
12:15 p.m. NNS Final Practice
3 p.m. NSCS Final Practice
5 p.m. NNS Pole Qualifying, ESPN2
6 p.m. NASCAR Now, ESPN2
6:30 p.m. NSCS Pole Qualifying, SPEED
8 p.m. NNS Countdown, ESPN2
8:30 p.m. NNS: O'Reilly Auto Parts 300, ESPN2
11 p.m. Trackside at Texas, SPEED. Guests: Greg Biffle and Bobby Labonte.

Saturday, April 9:
12 a.m. NASCAR Performance, SPEED
12:30 a.m. NSCS Pole Qualifying, SPEED
2 a.m. Trackside at Texas, SPEED
4 a.m. NNS: O'Reilly Auto Parts 300, ESPN2
10 a.m. NASCAR Now, ESPN2
5 p.m. NASCAR RaceDay, SPEED
7 p.m. NSCS Pre-Race Show, FOX
7:30 p.m. NSCS: Samsung Mobile 500, FOX   

Sunday, April 10:
4 a.m. NNS: O'Reilly Auto Parts 300, ESPN Deportes
12 noon Rolex Sports Car Series: Porsche 250, SPEED
8 p.m. NASCAR Victory Lane, SPEED (reruns at 12 midnight and 9 a.m. Monday)