Texas

William Byron is back in Texas with more big wins since getting Hendrick's 300th there last fall

Published

2 years ago

April 13, 2024

William Byron is back in Texas with more big wins since getting Hendrick's 300th there last fall

FORT WORTH, Texas — When William Byron first met Rick Hendrick a decade ago, the teenager who had learned racing on a computer wasn’t all that confident how things would work out as he revealed his goal to drive one day for the NASCAR team owner.

There is certainly no lack of confidence now for Byron, who at 26 is getting race wins for NASCAR’s winningest team, and some significant ones at that. A week after Byron’s 13th career win in a 1-2-3 finish for Hendrick Motorsports at Martinsville as the team marked the 40th anniversary of its first victory, the series is back at Texas, where he led only the final six laps last September to get Hendrick’s 300th victory.

“For me, just felt like a full-circle moment. Just with all the history of Martinsville, with being in the 24 (car) …. talking to Rick on the phone and then going to celebrate with him,” Byron said Saturday.

Byron opened this season by winning the Daytona 500, the record-matching ninth for Hendrick but first since 2014. He also won three weeks ago in the other Texas race in Austin.

Hendrick teammate Kyle Larson is the points leader going into Sunday’s race at Texas, a 1 1/2-mile track like Las Vegas, where he got his victory this season. He led 99 laps at Texas last fall but got loose and spun into the wall with 85 laps to go. Larson won from the pole in the 2021 fall race there, where he also won NASCAR’s All-Star race there earlier that year.

“It’s always been a really good racetrack for me,” Larson said. “Last year, I just screwed up on one of the late restarts and spun and crashed, but we had a dominant race car that day. Hopefully we’ll have another race car just like it.”

Larson’s 18 wins since joining Hendrick in 2021 include the team’s record-setting 269th victory that year at Charlotte Motor Speedway to pass Petty Enterprises for the most.

Byron grew up in NASCAR’s hotbed of Charlotte, North Carolina, and idolized seven-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson in the No. 48 car for Hendrick. Now Byron is in his seventh season in the famed No. 24 that Jeff Gordon drove to win four Cup titles and 93 races.

“I was put into Jeff’s car and that was a lot of pressure. And I had to just, we had to, kind of make it our own,” Byron said. “Jeff is a great mentor and a great asset for our team. … He’s made it known when I got in the car that it’s my own.”

After getting to victory lane for the first time in his 98th start, in 2020, Byron got another win in 2021 and two more in 2022 before a Cup-high six wins last year. His three victories this season are on drastically different tracks — the 2 1/2-mile tri-oval at Daytona, the road course in Austin and that half-mile paperclip at Martinsville.

“I think I started a little bit slower than I wanted to start. I feel like some of that was just chemistry and just learning the Cup Series as a whole, and I probably just didn’t get the most out of those first couple of years that I would like to,” Byron said. “Once we started winning races in the third year, won a race, and then the next year we won another one and really started to win races at places that are difficult to win, I just felt like we started to click.”

The 48-year-old Johnson will race at Texas for the first time since 2020, as a driver-owner in the No. 84 Chevrolet for Legacy Motor Club. Johnson finished 28th at Daytona in his only start so far this season. He has raced 35 times at Texas, where he is the all-time leader with seven wins and 1,152 laps led.

“It’s funny now the way the place drives. Just have a lot of anxiety about Turns 1 and 2,” said Johnson, whose last win here was in 2017, the first year after the track was repaved and reconfigured in those turns. “The previous configuration, that was really the most fun that you can have on a mile-and-a-half, was Turns 1 and 2. So bummed that it’s still not there.”

For the first time in 20 years, the only Cup race at Texas will be in the spring. The track hosted two Cup races each season from 2005-20, but the last three years the lone stop each year was a playoff race in the fall. The track was a spring-only stop from its opening in 1997 through 2004.

Texas was reduced from 334 laps to 267 last September, the first time it wasn’t scheduled for 501 miles. It is set for 400.5 miles this year, the 44th race at Texas. … Larson, like he was last fall, is listed as the favorite to win Sunday, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

___

AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing

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Texas

UConn vs. Texas Prediction, How to Watch, Odds, Channel

Published

9 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Press Room

UConn vs. Texas Prediction, How to Watch, Odds, Channel

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The No. 5 UConn Huskies (9-1) will attempt to continue a five-game winning streak when they host the Texas Longhorns (7-3) on Friday, December 12, 2025 at PeoplesBank Arena. The contest airs at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.

Keep reading to get all you need to know ahead of wagering on the UConn-Texas matchup.

UConn vs. Texas How to Watch & Odds

When: Friday, December 12, 2025 at 8 p.m. ET
Where: PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, Connecticut
TV: FOX
Streaming: FOXSports.com, FOX Sports App and FOX One (Try free for 7 days)

UConn vs. Texas Prediction

The Huskies are holding opponents to just 60.4 points per game while averaging 91, giving them one of the strongest scoring margins in the country. Their defense has been particularly sharp, limiting opponents to 37.4% shooting from the field.

Solo Ball and Tarris Reed Jr. continue to set the tone. Ball is averaging 15 points per game, and Reed Jr. has provided steady interior production with 14.8 points and 5.4 rebounds. Their consistency has been central to the Huskies’ early-season dominance.

The Longhorns have shown they can score, averaging 85.8 points per game, but their defense has struggled, allowing opponents to shoot 48.5%. That could be an issue against a UConn offense that moves the ball well and attacks efficiently.

UConn’s home court-advantage and Texas’s 2-2 road struggles tilt the matchup toward the Huskies.

Pick ATS: Texas (+16.5)
Pick OU: Over (145.5)
Prediction: UConn 81, Texas 69

Prediction provided by FOX Sports’ Sports AI. Download the FOX Sports App for free access to Sports AI.

UConn vs. Texas Betting Insights

Betting Line Implied Predictions

Based on the spread and over/under, the implied score for the matchup is Huskies 81, Longhorns 64.
The Huskies have a 95.9% chance to win this meeting per the moneyline’s implied probability.
The Longhorns have an 8.3% implied probability to win.

Key Spread Facts

UConn has compiled a 3-7-0 record against the spread this season.
Texas has won six games against the spread this year, while failing to cover four times.
UConn has covered the spread once this season (1-4 ATS) when playing as at least 16.5-point favorites.

Key Total Facts

The Huskies and their opponent have broken the 145.5-point mark four times this year.
Longhorns games have gone over 145.5 points on eight occasions this season.
The total for this matchup is 145.5 points, 23.4 fewer than the combined scoring average of the two teams.

Key Moneyline Facts

UConn has won six of seven games when the moneyline favorite this season (85.7%).
Texas has split the two games it has played as underdogs this season.
UConn has played as a moneyline favorite of -2326 or shorter twice this season, and won both.
Texas has not entered a game this season with longer moneyline odds than +1103.

UConn vs. Texas: Recent Results

Huskies vs Longhorns Recent Games
Date	Favorite	Spread	Total	Favorite Moneyline	Underdog Moneyline	Result
12/8/2024	Longhorns	-1.5	141	-121	+101	76-65 UCONN

UConn vs. Texas: 2025-26 Stats Comparison

	UConn	Texas
Points Scored Per Game (Rank)	79.8 (137)	89.1 (21)
Points Allowed (Rank)	61.7 (10)	73.2 (189)
Rebounds (Rank)	9 (234)	11.7 (49)
3pt Made (Rank)	7.7 (203)	8 (175)
Assists (Rank)	17.9 (38)	14.6 (179)
Turnovers (Rank)	8.8 (10)	11.5 (167)

UConn 2025-26 Key Players

Huskies Leaders
Name	GP	PTS	REB	ASST	STL	BLK	3PM
Solomon Ball	10	15	3.3	1.6	0.8	0.3	2
Tarris Reed Jr.	5	14.8	7.6	1.4	1.2	1.6	0
Alex Karaban	10	13.4	5.4	2.2	0.9	1.2	2
Silas Demary Jr.	10	10	4.5	5.1	1.8	0.2	0.3
Eric Reibe	10	9.6	4.6	0.3	0.3	1.3	0.3

Texas 2025-26 Key Players

Longhorns Leaders
Name	GP	PTS	REB	ASST	STL	BLK	3PM
Matas Vokietaitis	10	15.9	6.6	0.2	0.4	1.1	0
Dailyn Swain	10	15.7	6.9	3.5	1.6	0.3	0.7
Jordan Pope	10	12.5	2.1	3	0.3	0.1	2.4
Tramon Mark	10	9.9	2.8	2.5	0.7	0.6	1
Simeon Wilcher	10	9.4	2.4	1.9	0.7	0.5	1.6

FOX Sports used technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar to create this story.

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Texas

Texas Football Opt-Outs: Who’s Likely Playing and Who’s Out for the Citrus Bowl

Published

21 hours ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Texas Football Opt-Outs: Who’s Likely Playing and Who’s Out for the Citrus Bowl

At this point in time, opting out of bowl games is nothing new, but Texas is going to have more opt-outs in the Citrus Bowl against Michigan than many—self included—expected. This problem pales in comparison to what’s going on in Ann Arbor, but the amount of lost experience will be something for Texas to overcome, primarily on defense.

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Latest in recruiting war for elite 2028 QB has Texas Football joyful

Published

1 day ago

December 11, 2025

Press Room

Latest in recruiting war for elite 2028 QB has Texas Football joyful

Neimann Lawrence list the Longhorns as one school that is standing out

As the Longhorns continue to build for the future, one of their targets is four-star prospect Neimann Lawrence. The Miami native is one of the best quarterbacks in the 2028 class and is attracting interest from some of the nation’s top programs. On Monday, Lawrence revealed the schools that have stood out so far, including the Longhorns.

While Mondays update was encouraging, Texas was not the only school Lawrence mentioned. He also highlighted Michigan, Miami, Ohio State, Texas A&M, and Tennessee. That is not an easy list of schools to go to battle with; the Longhorns have time to make themselves stand out.

Currently, the Miami Northwestern High star is ranked as the fourth-best quarterback in is class by 247Sports. They also rank him as the ninth-best player from Florida and the 39th-best player in the nation. With collegiate debut still over a year away, those rankings could change.

At the moment, the Longhorns do not have a commitment in the 2028 class, but they have made offers to some of the top recruits. That includes Brysen Wright, Jalanie George, Jamarios Canton, Micah Rhodes, and King Pitts. Landing any of those players would give Texas a bright future.

With a decision still months away, Lawrence will be a player to watch. A lot could change as his recruitment continues, but it is a good sign for Texas that they are standing out early on in the process.

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