Jimmie Johnson's wreck overshadows drama of Kurt Busch's victory at TMS

Posted Sunday, Nov. 08, 2009 Comments   (0) Print Share Share Reprints
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By ANTHONY ANDRO

aandro@star-telegram.com

Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage has pulled off several successful publicity stunts.

Having a fat lady sing in Victory Lane after Sunday’s Dickies 500 wasn’t one of them.

It turned out to be premature.

Jimmie Johnson’s seemingly insurmountable 184-point lead entering the Sprint Cup race was cut to 73 after he was caught up in an early crash and finished 38th.

Kurt Busch won the event for the first time in his career, but the battle with two races remaining is between Johnson and teammate Mark Martin, who finished fourth to make up 111 points.

"All along we’ve been trying to tell everybody this thing is far from over and what our mind-set’s been," said Johnson, who spent more than an hour in the garage with the No. 48 Lowe’s/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet and finished 129 laps down. "Luckily we’ve raced for every point throughout this Chase. We still have a decent points lead right now. We need to dust ourselves off in Phoenix and get a good one in the bank there."

Sam Hornish Jr., who was tapped by David Reutimann, hit Johnson exiting Turn 2 on the third lap. Johnson slapped the wall and then hit Hornish, sending the No. 48 to the garage in last place.

Crew chief Chad Knaus contemplated putting the car on the truck, but the team was able to get it back in the race. By that time Johnson was in scramble mode and was as much a spectator in Busch’s battle against his brother as the estimated 167,000 in attendance.

Kyle Busch, who had the dominant car for most of the race, led 232 laps but ran out of gas with less than three laps to go, finishing 11th and ending his bid to become the first driver to win all three NASCAR races on the same weekend.

Kurt Busch had just enough fuel to cross the finish line and beat Denny Hamlin by more than 25 seconds.

While other drivers vying for the win stopped for fuel in the final laps, Kurt Busch was able to conserve fuel and avoided pitting.

The win was sweet because it made a $1 million winner out of a fan who had randomly selected Kurt Busch to win the race and because it came after a duel against his brother.

"I knew it was the 18 [Kyle] and the 2 [Kurt] and to have him going for his sweep of the weekend, I was rooting for him," Kurt Busch said. "It was bittersweet. We took the sweet part, which was the victory in the Cup. You want to win on Sundays. We raced him hard and it felt like old times."

Martin and his No. 5 Carquest/Kellogg’s Chevrolet were in 15th place 100 laps into the race. But his car was at its best at the end of the race, and Martin goes to Phoenix next week with a shot at his first Sprint Cup title.

"We can go head-to-head with them, no doubt about it," Martin said.

"In Phoenix we led the most laps and won the last time there and we have no reason to think we can’t run strong at Homestead. There could still be swings in points. There’s two races left and you never know what’s going to happen."

Sunday’s outcome could have been worse for Johnson.

Getting the car back on the track earned him 15 more points than a 43rd-place finish would have.

He also benefited from Jeff Gordon struggling to a 13th-place finish. Gordon is in third place, but 112 points behind Johnson.

"There were a couple of small things that helped us in the end but it’s still a big ouch," Johnson said. "We’re still in a great position. We were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, or the wrong place at the right time depending on who you want to see win the championship."

Maybe the fat lady can take her show to Phoenix.

ANTHONY ANDRO, 817-390-7760

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