NASCAR Capsules: Kurt Busch wins at Texas

FORT WORTH — Jimmie Johnson’s drive to history took a hard hit against a wall and Kyle Busch ran out of gas trying to complete an unprecedented NASCAR trifecta.

Kurt Busch drove to Victory Lane at Texas after his younger brother ran out of fuel with 2½ laps left Sunday, finishing 129 laps ahead of the rebuilt car driven by Johnson, who saw his points lead slashed from 184 to 73 over Hendrick teammate Mark Martin with two races left.

"It was definitely not the day we wanted," Johnson said. "It’s not as bad as it could have been. At one point I was told to hop out of car and I was done. ... It’s still a big ouch."

Johnson, the series points leader trying to become the first Sprint Cup driver to win four consecutive season championships, wrecked on the third lap when he was knocked into the wall by Sam Hornish. Johnson finished 38th after his crew needed more than an hour to repair and basically rebuild his No. 48 Chevrolet.

"I’m still in great position. We’re going to dust ourselves off," Johnson said. "There’s not much we can do, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Coming out of Turn 2 on the third lap, Hornish got loose after being tapped by David Reutimann. Hornish made contact with Johnson, who scraped the outside wall. It looked as if Johnson might save his car before he was hit again by Hornish, then slammed into the inside wall.

"By the time that I knew that I was hit, I was already sideways," Hornish said. "I was just trying to correct it and not get into the 48. Obviously, you don’t ever want to detract from the championship when you’re not really even involved in it."

Kurt Busch got his second victory over the season in the No. 2 Dodge with lame duck crew chief Pat Tryson, who is leaving at the end of the season to join Michael Waltrip Racing. Penske Racing only wants Tryson to visit its shop during the weekly competition meeting before races.

Busch’s 20th career victory came with an average speed of 147.137 mph and by a nearly 26-second margin over second-place Denny Hamlin. Matt Kenseth was third.

Kyle Busch, who had already won the Nationwide and Camping World Truck races at Texas, was trying to become the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR’s national series on the same weekend. He led 232 laps and was still ahead when his No. 18 Toyota suddenly slowed on the backstretch on lap 332.

"This is the first time Kyle and I raced each other hard," said Kurt Busch, who led six times for 89 laps while also running second behind his brother much of the race. "It’s bittersweet, I was rooting for him, but at the same time this is for us. "

Kyle Busch had trouble refiring his car after his splash and dash stop and wound up 11th.

Dave Rogers, who made his debut as Kyle Busch’s crew chief in Sprint Cup, said they thought they had enough fuel to finish the race and described the driver as "frustrated." Busch didn’t talk to reporters.

Jeff Gordon, another Hendrick driver who is third in points, finished 13th after avoiding serious problems of his own. He cut his points deficit to Johnson from 192 to 112 points, though lost ground on Martin.

"A total missed opportunity that completely got away from us," said Gordon, who in April won at Texas for the first time.

Johnson returned to the track on lap 115, the front and rear of his car solid black after all the repairs. The front and rear suspensions and the driveshaft had been replaced, along with other repairs. Crew members from the teams of Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. assisted in what looked like a makeshift body shop in the garage.

After finishing second at Texas in April behind Gordon, Johnson had another disappointing fall race at Texas while trying to close out a championship.

Last November, Johnson struggled to 15th while Carl Edwards gambled on fuel and won by a wide margin. Johnson left Texas with a 106-point lead in the chase last year, and won by 69 over Edwards.

Johnson goes to Phoenix next week with an even slimmer lead this time.

"His game has now changed. They have to definitely look over shoulder at whose behind him because the other guys feel he’s vulnerable. Who knows," Kurt Busch said. "That’s why we race the races. We don’t do it on paper."

Johnson can clinch at Phoenix if he boosts his lead to 195 points. Or can win the title by averaging a fourth-place finish the last two races, or fifth if he leads at least one lap in both races.

Gordon avoided serious trouble in the second turn on lap 175, spinning but not hitting anything after Juan Pablo Montoya and Edwards made contact and spun ahead of him going onto the backstretch.

When Gordon turned down to avoid the other cars, he spun himself. He ended up with flat tires and a broken brace and came into the pit before it was opened, incurring the penalty that made him restart at the back of the field. He was still in 18th place, where he was at the time of the accident, when the race restarted.

Notebook: Kyle Busch crew chief thrown into fire right away

FORT WORTH — It didn’t take Dave Rogers long to face a huge decision as crew chief for the volatile Kyle Busch.

Rogers said it wasn’t much of a decision at all. He was sure Busch had enough fuel to stay in front to the finish Sunday in Texas, where Rogers made his debut atop the pit box for the No. 18 Toyota.

Rogers was wrong by three laps. That’s when Busch ran out of gas just as he was starting another trip around the 1½-mile high-banked oval. He sputtered through the backstretch and was passed by older brother Kurt Busch and quite a few others. Kyle Busch finished 11th.

"Welcome to the club, huh?" Rogers said.

Busch, known for his outbursts when things aren’t going well and mistakes are made, didn’t disagree with the decision to stay out because Rogers said they never really discussed it.

"I told him my plan was to stay out. He trusted me. It didn’t work," Rogers said. "It’s discouraging. It’s hard for Kyle, and it’s hard for myself."

Rogers replaced Steve Addington after an inconsistent season kept Busch out of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship. Those points standings played a role in Rogers’ choice. He said it would have different if they had been racing for points.

"We really didn’t have anything to lose," Rogers said. "If we would have pitted, the 2 car certainly would have beat us. Our only shot to win it was to stay out, so we gambled. Sometimes when you gamble, you lose."

Rogers said he didn’t face the wrath of Busch, who disappeared without talking to reporters after losing despite leading 232 laps.

"He said, ‘We’re out of fuel’ and after the race he took his helmet off and went to his motor home and calmed down," Rogers said. "I think he handled it well. You lead all these laps and we could have gone for the clean sweep this weekend, won all three in a row, deserved to win all three in a row and we get beat. It’s tough."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. joined Kyle Busch among a group of several trying to push their fuel to the limit. He ran out, too.

Earnhardt ended up stalled on pit road after creeping up the standings while others ahead of him pitted. He ended up 25th.

STILL WINLESS

Carl Edwards’ oh-fer season continued.

The nine-time winner from a year ago was knocked out about halfway through the race when he pulled alongside Juan Pablo Montoya just before Montoya lost control and grazed Edwards, sending him into the wall.

Edwards took the optimistic outlook before the race when he said he preferred to view things as nine wins over two seasons rather than the big zero of 2009. He had the same rosy outlook after the wreck, too.

"I guess I’ll win the race home," Edwards said. "I get to go home and see the wife. That’s a good thing."

Montoya was hanging around the fringe of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, and got a boost when points leader Jimmie Johnson wrecked on Lap 3. His own wreck ruined a chance to gain significant ground.

"It was just really close racing," said Montoya, who picked up three points on Johnson but dropped from fourth to sixth in the standings, 236 behind. "I know Carl has had a frustrating season and was just trying to get to the front. He just didn’t give me any room."

The early departure was just another illustration of the stark difference between seasons for Edwards. Last year, he ran away with the fall Texas race for his second win in a row.

"It’s frustrating in general because I was having fun," Edwards said.

MORE TRIBUTES

Fort Hood soldiers played a prominent role in NASCAR’s prerace ceremonies just 170 miles from the site of the massacre that left 13 dead at the Army post.

There were 40 Fort Hood soldiers displaying the huge American flag during the national anthem Sunday. The number was supposed to be 45, but five soldiers scheduled to attend were among the 29 injured in Thursday’s shootings, track officials said.

A moment of silence was observed for the fourth time during the weekend. The other observances came during the Nationwide and truck series races, and Sprint Cup qualifying.

A U.S. Army logo with the words "God Bless Our Fort Hood Troops" was pained on the infield grass Friday.

SPACE RACE

Space shuttle pilot Doug Hurley went for a different ride before Sunday’s race. Two, actually.

Hurley, who guided Endeavour in July, was inside the pace car, which was inside a Chinook helicopter that landed on the infield. He drove the car off the helicopter.

The Marine colonel is a season ticket-holder at Texas Motor Speedway. Greg Zipadelli, crew chief for Joey Logano, married into Hurley’s family, and Hurley attended his first race earlier this decade at Watkins Glen not far from where he grew up.

Since he’s based in Houston, Hurley decided to become a regular at the Texas track. He presented Zipadelli with a hat that went into space with him.

SPARK PLUGS

Sunday’s unofficial attendance was 167,000, the lowest in 18 races at Texas. Attendance figures have declined steadily the past couple of years. The previous low was 171,000 last fall. ... Kurt Busch’s victory made a $1 million winner of Oklahoma school teacher Michael McGee. The 25-year-old from Broken Bow picked Busch in a random drawing of the 12 Chase drivers. McGee was chosen the Dickies American Worker of the Year, earning $50,000 and the shot at the bigger prize.

-- Schuyler Dixon

Jimmie Johnson wrecks on 3rd lap in Texas

FORT WORTH — Jimmie Johnson crashed on the third lap of the NASCAR race at Texas, where he was trying to move closer to an unprecedented fourth consecutive Sprint Cup season championship.

He returned to the track on lap 115 in a rebuilt car.

Johnson was coming out of Turn 2 on the third lap Sunday when Sam Hornish got loose after being tapped by David Reutimann.

Hornish made contact with Johnson and the series points leader scraped the outside wall. He looked like he may save his car before he was hit again by Hornish, knocking Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet hard into the inside wall.

"By the time that I knew that I was hit, I was already sideways," Hornish said. "I was just trying to correct it and not get into the 48. Obviously, you don’t ever want to detract from the championship when you’re not really even involved in it."

It took more than an hour to repair Johnson’s car, which was solid black on the front and rear when it got back in the race. Within a couple of laps, Johnson had moved out of last place, up two spots to 40th, though he was still 118 laps behind leader Kyle Busch at the time.

Hornish got back on the track only two laps after the wreck with a lot of tape on the car.

Crew members replaced the front and rear suspensions and the driveshaft of Johnson’s car, along with other repairs. It looked like a makeshift body shop in the garage area, with crew members from teammate Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. helping out.

Chad Knaus, Johnson’s crew chief, slammed his fist on the team’s pit box when the accident happened. A few minutes later, he could be heard on the radio calmly telling his crew to take their time and get it right.

Johnson came into the race with a 184-point lead over teammate Mark Martin and 192 over Gordon, the polesitter, though he could not have clinched Sunday even with a victory. There are two races left after Texas.

On lap 87, Hornish got loose coming out of Turn 2 again, spinning and making hard contact against the wall. His crew worked on pit row to make repairs to the left side of the car.

-- Stephen Hawkins