Sunday, November 4 Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas

Jimmie Johnson (48, blue car) raced Matt Kenseth two-wide for several laps at the end of the Dickies 500 to take the win, and the series point lead. Race results and point standings in the Event Stats section below.

Johnson Wins the Battle; Leads the War

FORT WORTH, Texas – Defending NASCAR NEXTEL Cup champion Jimmie Johnson wants history to repeat itself.

It was at Texas Motor Speedway one year ago that Johnson took the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup points lead and never looked back. Sunday, before a screaming crowd of more than 150,000 fans, Johnson battled hard-luck Matt Kenseth side-by-side over the last 20 laps and finally passed him with two laps to go to capture the Dickies 500 – and as a result, moved to the top of the 2007 Chase standings.

Johnson's win, his first at Texas and ninth of this season, came at the end of one of the most competitive races in Texas Motor Speedway history, as driver after driver went to the front of the field in a burst of speed.

Johnson, however, saved his best for last, running in the top 10 most of the sunny afternoon as pit strategy and track position played a huge role in who ran up front. Johnson's pit crew, led by crew chief Chad Knaus, changed four tires on Johnson's final pit stop. The only cars beating him off pit road were cars that took on just two tires. Both Ryan Newman and Kenseth, as well as a couple others, beat Johnson back on the track with a 26-lap shootout remaining.

Trailing Johnson and Kenseth at the finish were pole winner Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Busch and Ryan Newman. Jeff Gordon, who came into the event with a nine-point Chase lead over Johnson, finished seventh.

Johnson now holds a 30-point lead over Gordon in the Chase with two races remaining – at Phoenix International Raceway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Kyle Busch led more laps than anyone in the race but his final pit stop did not match the speed of others and he came out behind most of the frontrunners. Kyle's brother Kurt was also a strong contender before a rash of bad luck cost him laps and track position.

The race had a record 12 caution flags and resembled a game of chess with pit strategy playing a huge role in the outcome. Crew chiefs, however, had to make their moves much quicker than a chess player. Chess allows plenty of time to think. Caution flags prompt quick reactions: Pit or don't pit? Two tires or four tires? Can a driver hang on to his track position with used tires?

Johnson and Gordon swapped the points lead back and forth throughout the event before Johnson came on so strongly at the finish.

Another duel involved Kenseth with then-leader Denny Hamlin, who diced back and forth with Kenseth for several laps before the two touched, putting Hamlin into the wall. It was a heartbreaking moment for Hamlin, who had raced with the leaders throughout the 334-lap race.

Several other drivers led the way in the highly-competitive race, including Kurt Busch, Newman, Truex, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 14th, and former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya, who lost a cylinder and finished back in the pack.

Going into next Sunday’s race at Phoenix International Raceway – the next-to-last event of the season – seven of the 12 Chase drivers have been eliminated from championship contention. The top six: Johnson (6,382), Gordon (6.352), Clint Bowyer (6,201), Kyle Busch (6,043), Carl Edwards (6,025) and Tony Stewart (6,009).

Complete race results and point standings in the Event Stats section below...

Checkered Flag Fast Facts

• Jimmie Johnson won the Dickies 500, his 32nd victory in 217 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series races.
• This is his ninth victory and 22nd top-10 finish in 2007.
• This is his first victory and seventh top-10 finish in nine races at Texas Motor Speedway.
• Johnson posted his third consecutive victory – the second time in his career he has won three straight races. He also won at Lowe’s, Martinsville and Atlanta in the inaugural Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup in 2004.
• Matt Kenseth (second) posted his 20th top-10 finish in 2007 and his sixth top-10 finish in 11 races at Texas.
• Martin Truex Jr. (third) posted his third top-10 finish in five races at Texas.
• Juan Pablo Montoya (25th) was the highest finishing rookie.
• Johnson now leads the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup by a margin of 30 points over Jeff Gordon. He took the lead in the point standings following this race in 2006 en route to THE NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship.
• Six of the 12 Chase drivers mathematically remain eligible for the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup championship.

Broadcast Times*

Prcatice: Friday, November 2 (ESPN2 at 2 p.m./AT)

Qualifying: Friday, November 2 (ESPN2 & TSN-alt at 5:30 p.m./AT)

Final Practice: Saturday, November 3 (ESPN2 at 7 p.m./AT - same day delay)

RaceDay: Sunday, November 4 (SPEED at 2:30 p.m./AT)

Countdown to Green: Sunday, November 4 (ABC & TSN-HD at 4 p.m./AT)

Race: Sunday, November 4 (ABC & TSN-HD at 4:30 p.m./AT)

*AT is one hour ahead of ET, i.e. if it's 2 p.m./AT - it's 1 p.m./ET...

Event Stats PDF files unless otherwise noted

Entry List

Starting Lineup

Race Results

Point Standings


Martin Truex Jr. won his first career Bud Pole Award Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. [starting lineup here]

Qualifying Notes

• Martin Truex Jr., won the Bud Pole for the Dickies 500 with a lap of 27.964 seconds, 193.105 mph.
• This is his first Bud Pole in 79 career NASCAR NEXTEL Cup races.
• This is his 14th top-10 start in 2007. He had previously started second three times: Loudon, Martinsville and Chicago.
• Truex became the 17th different Bud Pole winner this season – one shy of the modern era record set in 1997 and 2001.
• This is Truex’s first start better than ninth – and just his second top-10 start in five races at Texas Motor Speedway.
• Jeff Gordon posted the second-fastest qualifying time, posting his 12th front-row start this season.
• Juan Pablo Montoya (third) posted his eighth top-10 start of 2007 and was the fastest qualifying rookie.
• AJ Allmendinger (fifth) was the fastest of the drivers required to make the field on time. Allmendinger posted the best starting position of his 17-race NASCAR NEXTEL Cup career.
• Six of the 12 Chase drivers qualified in the top-10: Truex, Gordon, Kevin Harvick (fourth), Kurt Busch (sixth), Denny Hamlin (seventh) and Jimmie Johnson (eighth). Clint Bowyer (29th) was the highest qualifying Chase driver.
• Driver's that failed to qualify include Ward Burton, John Andretti, Michael Waltrip, Burney Lamar and Kevin Lepage.

Green Flag Fast Facts
The Race: Dickies 500
The Place: Texas Motor Speedway
The Track: 1.5-mile oval
The Distance: 501 miles, 334 laps
The Purse: $7,255,977
2006 Polesitter: Brian Vickers
2006 Winner: Tony Stewart
Pre-Race On-Track Schedule (ET): Friday—Practice, 12-1:30 p.m. Qualifying, 3:40 p.m.; Saturday—Practice, 11-11:50 a.m. and 12:50-1:50 p.m.
Season To-Date Results & Point Standings: click here

Track Map



Keys to Winning...

• This week Greg Zipadelli (crew chief for Tony Stewart) talks about what it takes to be successful at Texas: “Texas is a race track to me that has aged really well. The last few years, it has widened down and the tires have gotten better for the cars. It usually has gotten cooler when we go back the second time, which means there is a little more grip. The track doesn’t seem to be as sensitive to change in the fall as it is in the spring, because of the sun. You got to have a great car with a good body, a really good motor program and a driver that is willing to move around a little bit. As the race goes, you are able to move up the race track and the beginning of a run you run at the bottom. Not anywhere near as much as you see people run at Atlanta, but it just kind of turns out to be like that.”

Green Flag Notes...

• Since inception into the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup schedule in 1997, Texas Motor Speedway has been a wild card. Of the 13 races at Texas, only Jeff Burton (No. 31 AT&T Mobility Chevrolet) has won more than once. Ten years have gone by since the first green flag dropped at Texas and twelve different drivers have strolled into Victory Lane. Four of the twelve Chase drivers have reached the summit at Texas, but can those four do it again this weekend?
  
  Of the other eight drivers in the Chase that haven’t won at Texas, the most surprising are the top three drivers in the standings. Jeff Gordon (No. 24 DuPont Chevrolet) has five top fives at Texas, the most of any Chase driver. Earlier this season, Gordon started on the pole and finished fourth.
  
  With two consecutive wins Jimmie Johnson (No. 48 Lowe’s Chevrolet) has closed the gap between first and second to only nine points. Johnson has three top-five and six top-10 finishes at Texas.
  
  Clint Bowyer (No. 07 Jack Daniels Chevrolet) hasn’t won at Texas either in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, but he has been to Victory Lane at Texas in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driving the Jack Daniels truck for owner David Dollar. He currently is 111 points behind Gordon and 102 points behind Johnson.
  
  These next four Chase drivers have grabbed elusive Texas wins: Tony Stewart (No. 20 Home Depot Chevrolet) won the Dickies 500 last year on a late season run when he won three of the last ten races in 2006. Stewart dominated the race starting eighth and leading 278 of the 334 laps; Jeff Burton captured his only win of this season at Texas in the spring, becoming the first driver to repeat at the track. Ironically, he was the first driver ever to win at the 1.5-mile track. Currently in eighth, Burton had a boost this past weekend with a fifth-place finish at Atlanta – his second top five in the Chase; Carl Edwards (No. 99 Office Depot Ford) captured a second-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway last weekend, moving him up to fourth in the Chase standings. That top five just might be the spark to get this team turned around to make a late run at the championship. Edwards won at Texas in 2005 by edging teammate Matt Kenseth (No. 17 USG Ford) and then teammate Mark Martin (No. 01 U.S, Army Chevrolet). Earlier this year Edwards finished 12th at Texas; Matt Kenseth is coming off his second consecutive top five. He is the fourth driver in the Chase to have won at Texas. Of the Chase drivers, Kenseth has the second-most top fives at Texas with four, and earlier this season finished second at Texas.
  
  In that spring race, Kenseth led 16 laps and was on his way to his second victory of the season before Burton passed him on the final lap.
• With only three races to go, time is of the essence for the Chase drivers to make up every point they can on standings leader Jeff Gordon. All 12 Chase drivers are still mathematically eligible for the championship, though Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are setting a devastating pace. The Hendrick Motorsports teammates have won the last four races in the Chase and have the closest point margin between first and second since the Chase’s inception in 2004. Two more hurdles for those not named Gordon and Johnson: 1) Only Johnson has come back to win the championship (2006) with three races to go. 2) Gordon and Johnson are showing no signs of slowing down. Gordon has five top fives at Texas, one win and eight top fives at Phoenix, and three top fives at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Johnson, not far behind, has three top fives at Texas, three top fives at Phoenix, and two top fives at Homestead-Miami.
• Drivers outside the Chase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup field are lining up to play the role of spoiler this week at Texas. At the head of the line is Dale Earnhardt Jr. (No. 8 Budweiser Chevrolet). Earnhardt has been suffering through a 59 race winless streak dating back to May 6, 2006 at Richmond, but he should have a good chance of ending the slump this Sunday. Texas is the site of his first win in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series (April 2, 2000). Earnhardt Jr. has won at least once in all of his first seven seasons of competing in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series making these last three races critical for him if he wants to keep the streak alive. “We've done so many good things this year as a team and I've been given the most consistently fast cars of my career and the only thing lacking is a victory,” said Earnhardt. “Texas is definitely a place where we can resolve that problem. There are so many good memories for all of us at that place – not just the first win – but almost every race since then we've been a top-10 car,” said Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt Jr. has seven top-10 finishes at Texas.
• Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge) continues to lead the Raybestos Rookie of the Year point standings over David Ragan (No. 6 AAA Ford). Montoya finished 34th at Atlanta, yet still boosted his lead to 19 points (232-213).
• Chevrolet still has a firm hold on the Manufacturers’ standings, leading Ford by 81 points after another victory by Jimmie Johnson. The win gave Chevrolet totaling 24 victories on the year.

IMPORTANT: All information, schedules and/or scheduled events is/are subject to change without notice. Please check with the source to confirm.