The Pace Lap: The Dickies 500 @ Texas Motor Speedway

Welcome to The Pace Lap, your catchall preview post! Let's get you started on race weekend with a metric truckload of stats, facts, opinion and innuendo. The race: The Dickies 500 @ Texas Motor SpeedwayThe specs: 334 laps around a 1.5-mile trackThe broadcasts: ABC, plus the live chat right here on Yahoo! SportsDefending champ: Carl Edwards, pictured there at right shootin' up a storm. Interestingly, a woman was hit by a bullet at Texas Motor Speedway during the time of this race last year. Perhaps ... nah. The standings leaders: Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin (-184), Jeff Gordon (-192)The history: Texas is one of a bunch of similar -- don't say cookie-cutter! -- 1.5-mile tracks on the Sprint Cup circuit. It has the dubious distinction of having closed down two different racetracks to take their dates -- North Wilkesboro and Rockingham. After Atlanta and the restrictor-plate tracks, it's one of the fastest tracks on the circuit.Back in the springtime: Jeff Gordon notched...