Fall tradition: Jimmie Johnson wins NASCAR race in Texas

I can go out there and race like I did tonight, lay it on the line, not worry about spinning out.

“I kept working on him, working on him”. He got real loose off of turn two, and I had a big run down the backstretch and drove it in really far into turn three, hoping to hear clear. So, I don’t really know. And with Kevin Harvick having registered four straight Phoenix victories and five of the past six, Keselowski’s odds of winning are equally remote. Sunday, Johnson kept prodding Keselowski, forcing him to react defensively before finding the opportune moment to power around the No. 2 vehicle.

“Our Budweiser/Jimmy John’s team did a great job in keeping up with the changes that we needed throughout the three rounds and we were able to keep it pretty consistent”, he noted.

When Logano got back on the track on lap 77, he was 64 laps behind Penske racing teammate Keselowski.

“We led 300-some laps and these debris yellows always favor someone, and it wasn’t our day for them to favor us”, Keselowski said.

“I’m still very proud of our effort”.

“We need to win the next two, I understand that”. Brad Keselowski, as mentioned above, couldn’t take care of business in the Lone Star State, which ended up forcing him into a must-win too. Only six other drivers have accomplished that feat – Gordon, Richard Petty, Darrell Waltrip, Dan Gurney, Rusty Wallace and Kyle Busch.

That would not be the last time that tires would be an issue. 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 vehicle in victory lane. Twice he had to make unscheduled pit stops to replace punctured tires and was forced to drive with on hand for an extended time, while keeping the other hand on the shift lever to keep the vehicle from slipping out of gear.

Keselowski was so dominant that until the final restart, he had pulled away from the field to more than a second lead within 10 laps and built on that over a long run.

Joey Logano finished last among the Chase drivers in 40th place.

“(The tire) just blew apart off of Turn 2”, Logano said. “The left rear tire came apart and tore up everything inside the vehicle”. “I think that shows a lot about what our race auto is going to be like in race trim and just how consistent it was throughout the speed on each round…” Listing to Harvick after the race, it would appear he was unfazed by his problems.

With four laps to go, Johnson finally seized his chance, getting a good run on Keselowski and passing him low. On the restart, Keselowski battled side by side with Martin Truex Jr. for two laps before pulling back in front. This team is strong. “We just had a good, hard race today”.

I thought it was a great weekend in so many ways. Standing in for the suspended Matt Kenseth, JGR development driver Erik Jones qualified in an impressive sixth place for what will be only his second official Sprint Cup appearance. Kenseth is serving a two-race suspension after intentionally wrecking Joey Logano at Martinsville (Va.) Speedway on November 1. They eliminate around of the chase for the NASCAR spring cup comes to a climax next Sunday afternoon as the green flies for the Quicken Loans race for heroes 500.

How do the NASCAR Chase Standings shake out after Texas?

Jeff Gordon is the only driver who has already clinched a spot in the Championship 4, and is not dependent on how other drivers do this weekend in Arizona.

Brad Keselowski won the NASCAR Xfinity race at Texas, leading a race-high 62 of 200 laps and wrapping up a third consecutive owners’ championship for Roger Penske. Splitters were confiscated from three of the four Joe Gibbs Racing teams – the No. 11 of Denny Hamlin, the No. 18 of Kyle Busch and the No. 19 of Carl Edwards.