Sing a song about the heartland, the only place I feel at home.  Sing about the way a good man works until the daylight's gone.

See the rain on the roof on a summer night, where we still know wrong from right.  Sing a song about the heartland...sing a song about my life.

Country singer George Strait is proud to be from the heartland, and as a Texas native he's extremely proud of his roots.  Texas is a place where they do everything bigger and better.  Look at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, as it's the most state-of-the-art stadium the NFL has.

When it comes to NASCAR, they have their own big thing going on.  The Texas Motor Speedway has been one of the hot spots for the sport since it came onto the schedule in 1997.  In fact, it was so popular, no one wanted to win there twice.

Between 1997 and 2006, every race had a different winner.  Now, twice in the last three years, one driver has swept the races at this track.

It could be called a "cookie-cutter" track since it's a quad-oval, 1.5-mile speedway, but many of the drivers love being at this place because it provides very unique challenges.

And that makes for a great opportunity for drivers to see what they got, as a majority of the schedule the next few months consists of intermediate tracks.

But, who is ready to take a victory at Texas.  Here's the writer's picks for Saturday night's Samsung Mobile 500 at Texas:

Misan Ayuka (SB Nation):  Carl Edwards

Edwards has been up and down at Texas.  How does someone with three wins and 476 laps lead.  But in 12 starts Edwards has an average finish of 17.67 and only one top ten outside of his wins which was a tenth in the spring race in 2009.

Yet Edwards has been strong this season with a win, three top fives and four top tens in six races.  When Edwards is having a good season he is usually fast at Texas and I expect nothing less.

 

James Broomhead (The Checkered Flag):  Kyle Busch

You can never count out Kyle Busch.  He’s not Shrub anymore out when it comes to most races on the calendar, and that includes Texas.  I can only hope he’ll come good under the lights.

 

Kelly Crandall (Speedway Media):  Jimmie Johnson

Sticking with five-time for the second straight week.  He'll drive the same car this Saturday night that he drove to a second place finish at California two weeks ago and he finished second in this race a year ago.

 

Summer Dreyer (Skirts and Scuffs):  Tony Stewart

Stewart has gotten off to a slow start this year, so Texas would be a great track for him to rebound. Stewart started on the pole here last season and was able to lead 74 laps before Stewart got loose with Jeff Gordon underneath him and started a nine race pileup.

Stewart won at this track back in 2006 and has an average finish of 13.2.

 

Billy Fellin (Richmond Times-Dispatch):  Kevin Harvick

I gotta do this one.  Not only is he arguably the hottest driver right now, with two straight wins, but he's going to a track where he's got eight top-10's in his career, including the past three races there.

He'll be wearing the cowboy hat and shooting off those revolvers at the end of this one.

 

Michael Hirshbein (Fan Vs. Fan):  Kyle Busch

No commentary available.

 

Christopher Leone (On Pit Row):  Kevin Harvick

Harvick’s got all the momentum in the world right now after winning the past two races.  That actually makes it seem more likely that he won’t take a third consecutive win, but hey, if Johnson can win five TITLES in a row, Harvick can win another race, right?

It helps that he’s also pretty good at Texas - he’s tied with Mark Martin for the fourth-best average finish (a 12.4 despite no wins) and has only one run worse than 11th in his past seven Texas starts.

 

Kara Martin (Speedway Media):  Kyle Busch

While Hamlin seems like the obvious choice given his sweep of the track last year, my gut tells me to get a little "Rowdy!"

 

Ryan O'Hara (Speedway Media):  Jeff Gordon

Had this race last year if not for a crash and my pick worked last week.

 

Dustin Parks (All About Horsepower):  Kurt Busch

All the focus is on the younger of the Busch brothers, but has everyone forgotten about the double deuce?  Here's the facts, Kurt has only finished outside the top-10 twice in the first six races.  The only other driver that has more on the season is his brother.

But here's the thing, in the last year Penske has been incredible at this type of track.  Kurt swept the May Speedweeks at Charlotte last year, and his record at Texas isn't all bad.  One win, three top-fives and 10 top-10's, an average finish of 13.8; very strong statistics.

I've got to get back in the points, and I cannot wait to play the lotto at Talladega.  Now is the time for me to go out on a limb.

 

Sal Sigala Jr. (3 Wide and 1 To Go):  Kyle Busch

Even though Busch has yet to notch a victory in the Lone Star State, so far this season he has only failed to lead a lap in one race at Las Vegas.  Busch is showing a side of himself that many fans never knew he had.

The patience along with the willingness to race his fellow competitors clean, could be the deciding factor on Saturday night.

 

Rob Tiongson (The Podium Finish):  Kevin Harvick

It's been quite some time since a racer's won three events in a row, with Jimmie Johnson pulling off a "four-peat" streak during the Chase in 2007 when he won at Martinsville, Atlanta, Texas, and Phoenix.

I look for Harvick's team to be strong at Texas and after not factoring them with their wins at Fontana and Martinsville, I'm confident that the No. 29 Chevy will be among the elite for a Saturday night live fight.

 

Standings following Martinsville:

Sal Sigala Jr. (217) Jimmie Johnson finished 11th (1)

Kelly Crandall (203) Jimmie Johnson finished 11th (0)

Ryan O'Hara (194) Jeff Gordon finished fifth (1)

Rob Tiongson (189) Denny Hamlin finished 12th (1)

Billy Fellin (188) Denny Hamlin finished 12th (1)

Christopher Leone (177) Jeff Gordon finished fifth (1)

Kara Martin (175) Jimmie Johnson finished 11th (0)

Misan Ayuka (169) Denny Hamlin finished 12th (0)

Michael Hirshbein (167) Denny Hamlin finished 12th (1)

James Broomhead (160) Denny Hamlin finished 12th (0)

Dustin Parks (159) Jimmie Johnson finished 11th (0)

Summer Dreyer (152) Jimmie Johnson finished 11th (0)

 

Final Thoughts:  Just looking at the picks shows that the parody among the writers is just like the parody among the winners at this track.  Texas has always provided some moments where the fans can't help stand in awe.

The fight between Jeff Gordon and Jeff Burton last fall was unexpected.  The track opened with a multi-car wreck on the first lap of it's first race.  What can we expect this time?

It is a Saturday night shootout deep in the heart of Texas.  Coverage is at 7:30 pm ET tomorrow night on FOX.

 

Summary of Picks:

Kyle Busch-4

Kevin Harvick-3

Kurt Busch-1

Carl Edwards-1

Jeff Gordon-1

Jimmie Johnson-1

Tony Stewart-1