Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Wurth Ford, leads the sector past the green flag to begin the NASCAR Sprint Cup Collection AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway on November eight, 2015 in Fort Value, Texas. If the No. 2 had reached Victory Lane, that would put Martin Truex Jr. on the outside looking in while Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch would be facing an nearly non-existent buffer.
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Seemingly unfazed, and with enough vigor in his right arm to squeeze a post-race drink from a sipper bottle, Harvick wasn’t counting himself into the championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
That’s where he remained after Sunday’s race.
Joey Logano finished last among the Chase drivers in 40th place.
– For Jimmie Johnson, it was business as usual in Cowtown. We come to every race trying to win and this one’s no different.
President Tim Wolfe gave no indication he has any intention of stepping down, but agreed in a statement that “change is needed” and said the university is working to draw up a plan by April to promote diversity and tolerance. After getting intentionally wrecked out of the race lead at Martinsville and a catastrophic tire failure early at Texas, he can only advance with a win. He finished a career-worst 11th in the final driver standings past year and is now 12th with two races remaining. He is third in points and has won the last four races at Phoenix worldwide Raceway, the site of the next race. Certainly a Jimmie Johnson victory on a 1.5 mile oval is about the only thing one can be certain about in life besides death and taxes, but the manner of that victory, after a fabulous duel with the dominant Brad Keselowski in the closing stages, was the best possible reminder of what “quintessential NASCAR” is about. A new aerodynamic rules package introduced before the season that included a significant horsepower reduction was one of the main culprits why the No. 48 team lagged crew chief Chad Knaus said. I was just going along like normal. “Just a little loose and I thought it would come to me in the second run and it didn’t”.
It was a rough day on the track for most drivers as track conditions made it hard on tires.
Kenseth was absent serving the first of his two-race suspension from NASCAR after his appeals were denied. But he recovered to get back up to second by lap 143.
Now, Keselowski heads to Phoenix likely in the same position as seven other drivers: needing a win to make the final four at Homestead.
“I race people how they race me”, Johnson said. Only six other drivers have accomplished that feat – Gordon, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Dan Gurney, Rusty Wallace and Kyle Busch.
Still, it was a rather tame day at TMS, where racing in the AAA Texas 500 took a back seat to all that has been brewing in the NASCAR garage the last few weeks.
In the process, Johnson turned in a performance that showed why he ranks among the very best drivers ever to strap in a race auto.
Jones won the Camping World trucks WinStar World Casino 350K on Friday and finished fourth in the Xfinity O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge on Saturday. Keselowski was able to hold on until there were just three laps to go when Johnson finally got a run and passed Keselowski. The race’s second-biggest lap leader was third-place finishing Kevin Harvick. The No. 4 team wasn’t going to accept defeat, and both times bounced back and stayed on the lead lap.
Yes, because he led so many laps, right?
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Next week at Phoenix, if Logano doesn’t win the race, his season is over.
