Drivers come to the start finish line.
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“I was given two ponies by Texas Motor Speedway as a retirement gift”, Gordon said. Sunday at Texas he showed the eight remaining eligible Chase drivers that he may still have a say in who eventually is crowned the season’s champion. He alluded to Kenseth wrecking Logano last week at Martinsville Speedway and receiving a two-race suspension. Whatever went on with the adjustments the last pit stop and tracking cheat on him going down really helped white auto and it hurt his vehicle.
“It just blew apart off Turn 2”, Logano told NBC. This team isn’t quitting yet. Kyle Busch is second in the points, trailing Gordon by two.
Now Logano, who reeled off three consecutive wins in the second round of the playoffs, is in a must-win situation heading into Sunday’s race at Phoenix worldwide Raceway. He was 64 laps back when he returned to the track. Johnson is out of the Chase, but looking forward to the final races… Keselowski led a race-high 312 laps but was unable to overcome a tight setup for the race’s final run.
A race is never over until it’s over, and a caution with less than thirty laps to go set up a chance for someone to finally wrestle the lead away.
Kyle Busch finished fourth, followed in the top 10 by Edwards, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kurt Busch, Truex, Gordon and Jamie McMurray.
On the restart, Keselowski battled side by side with Martin Truex Jr. for two laps before pulling back in front.
The Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau once again took on primary sponsorship of a auto for Sunday’s race. “I found out I guess for sure last night when everything was all said and done”. Though the victory is a small bit of gratification, Johnson said it was good for the team as a whole, both the pit crew and the ones at the race shop in North Carolina.
Keselowski finished second with Kevin Harvick third.
In a season in which Johnson won four of the first 13 races but waned in the summer, that team owner Rick Hendrick deemed patently disappointing and Knaus characterized in even harsher terms, this was a hopeful limbering for 2016.
Just in case anyone had forgotten about him, there was Jimmie Johnson on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway, winning a race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup and inching closer to more historic milestones.
“I also had to keep my hand on the shifter”, Harvick said. He got real loose off of Turn 2 and I had a big run down the backstretch and drove it in really far into Turn 3 hoping to hear clear. So, I don’t really know.
Texas was a golden opportunity for a driver to win a race and punch their ticket to the championship round at Texas.
Johnson raced Keselowski clean, fighting to his back bumper several times, but completed the pass without making contact.
“It isn’t pressure”, Keselowski said. Johnson led only six laps, but took home the checkered flag. A lot to be proud of. Came up one spot short, which is unfortunate.
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“If we finished second (Sunday), we would be in the same boat going into Phoenix”, Logano said. Top-5 or top-10 finishes by these three drivers should be enough to race the following week for the championship if none of those drivers in trouble are able to park their auto in victory lane. “We got [Gordon] through last week and now it’s time to go out here and not have to worry about teammates and just go for a win and we got it. Just very rewarding for the team, this No. 48 team worked all year to be in championship contention…”
