Breaking down Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway

Why Jimmie Johnson won: He held off teammate Jeff Gordon on the final restart and then a hard-charging Brad Keselowski at the end. Johnson continued his dominance at Texas and has won the past three AAA Texas 500s.

Rising: Joey Logano

He finished outside the top six for the third time in his past 15 races, but managed to escape with a 12th-place run. That was good enough to put him atop the points standings and in good shape for one of four berths in the championship round.

Falling: Matt Kenseth

He avoided any retaliation by Kevin Harvick, but had a disappointing day from the pole position. He came in 25th and is now on the outside looking in for a championship round berth. He dropped to fifth in points.

Quotable

“If racing 100 percent trying to win races is wrong, then I did something wrong.” — Brad Keselowski

Notable

Gordon hanging on: Jeff Gordon was close to securing a berth in the championship round, but is now in a treacherous position. He only has a one-point lead over Matt Kenseth and Carl Edwards for the fourth and final spot in the championship round.

Hamlin solid: Denny Hamlin continued to put together solid runs at Texas and had another top 10 finish Sunday after starting 20th. He’s second in points and in promising shape for a championship round berth.

Newman stays in it: Ryan Newman hasn’t won a race and hasn’t made many headlines this season. But he’s third in points and in position to make the championship round despite a 15th-place run Sunday.

Edwards gains ground: After a forgettable race last week at Martinsville, Carl Edwards put himself in contention with a ninth-place run. That moved him up to sixth in points and he is trailing Gordon by a point going into Phoenix.

Telling number

13 Cautions, setting a TMS record during a Cup race

This story was originally published November 2, 2014 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Breaking down Sunday’s Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway."