FORT WORTH, Texas — Jimmie Johnson's drive to history took a hard hit against a wall and Kyle Busch ran out of gas trying to complete an unprecedented NASCAR trifecta.
Kurt Busch drove to Victory Lane at Texas after his younger brother ran out of fuel with 2½ laps left Sunday, finishing 129 laps ahead of the rebuilt car driven by Johnson, who saw his points lead slashed from 184 to 73 over Hendrick teammate Mark Martin with two races left.
"It was definitely not the day we wanted," Johnson said. "It's not as bad as it could have been. At one point I was told to hop out of car and I was done. ... It's still a big ouch."
Johnson, the series points leader trying to become the first Sprint Cup driver to win four consecutive season championships, wrecked on the third lap when he was knocked into the wall by Sam Hornish. Johnson finished 38th after his crew needed more than an hour to repair and basically rebuild his No. 48 Chevrolet.
"I'm still in great position. We're going to dust ourselves off," Johnson said. "There's not much we can do, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Coming out of Turn 2 on the third lap, Hornish got loose after being tapped by David Reutimann. Hornish made contact with Johnson, who scraped the outside wall. It looked as if Johnson might save his car before he was hit again by Hornish, then slammed into the inside wall.
"By the time that I knew that I was hit, I was already sideways," Hornish said. "I was just trying to correct it and not get into the 48. Obviously, you don't ever want to detract from the championship when you're not really even involved in it."
Kurt Busch got his second victory over the season in the No. 2 Dodge with lame duck crew chief Pat Tryson, who is leaving at the end of the season to join Michael Waltrip Racing. Penske Racing only wants Tryson to visit its shop during the weekly competition meeting before races.
Busch's 20th career victory came with an average speed of 147.137 mph and by a nearly 26-second margin over second-place Denny Hamlin. Matt Kenseth was third.
Kyle Busch, who had already won the Nationwide and Camping World Truck races at Texas, was trying to become the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR's national series on the same weekend. He led 232 laps and was still ahead when his No. 18 Toyota suddenly slowed on the backstretch on lap 332.
"This is the first time Kyle and I raced each other hard," said Kurt Busch, who led six times for 89 laps while also running second behind his brother much of the race. "It's bittersweet, I was rooting for him, but at the same time this is for us. "
Kyle Busch had trouble refiring his car after his splash and dash stop and wound up 11th.
Dave Rogers, who made his debut as Kyle Busch's crew chief in Sprint Cup, said they thought they had enough fuel to finish the race and described the driver as "frustrated." Busch didn't talk to reporters.
Jeff Gordon, another Hendrick driver who is third in points, finished 13th after avoiding serious problems of his own. He cut his points deficit to Johnson from 192 to 112 points, though lost ground on Martin.
"A total missed opportunity that completely got away from us," said Gordon, who in April won at Texas for the first time.
Johnson returned to the track on lap 115, the front and rear of his car solid black after all the repairs. The front and rear suspensions and the driveshaft had been replaced, along with other repairs. Crew members from the teams of Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. assisted in what looked like a makeshift body shop in the garage.
After finishing second at Texas in April behind Gordon, Johnson had another disappointing fall race at Texas while trying to close out a championship.
Last November, Johnson struggled to 15th while Carl Edwards gambled on fuel and won by a wide margin. Johnson left Texas with a 106-point lead in the chase last year, and won by 69 over Edwards.
Johnson goes to Phoenix next week with an even slimmer lead this time.
"His game has now changed. They have to definitely look over shoulder at whose behind him because the other guys feel he's vulnerable. Who knows," Kurt Busch said. "That's why we race the races. We don't do it on paper."
Johnson can clinch at Phoenix if he boosts his lead to 195 points. Or can win the title by averaging a fourth-place finish the last two races, or fifth if he leads at least one lap in both races.
Gordon avoided serious trouble in the second turn on lap 175, spinning but not hitting anything after Juan Pablo Montoya and Edwards made contact and spun ahead of him going onto the backstretch.
When Gordon turned down to avoid the other cars, he spun himself. He ended up with flat tires and a broken brace and came into the pit before it was opened, incurring the penalty that made him restart at the back of the field. He was still in 18th place, where he was at the time of the accident, when the race restarted.
Pro Sports
Kurt Busch wins at Texas
- Pro Sports
-
-
Kahne keeps Hendrick success rolling at Charlotte
Kasey Kahne powered to victory in the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday night, taking NASCAR's longest race for the third time for his first win with Hendrick Motorsports.
-
Spurs strike first in West finals, win 19th in row
Manu Ginobili scored 26 points and the San Antonio Spurs won their 19th in a row to tie the NBA record for longest winning streak kept alive in the playoffs, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 101-98 to open the Western Conference finals on Sunday night.
-
Konerko hits go-ahead HR, White Sox sweep Indians
Paul Konerko got a big milestone home run and the White Sox got a sweep of the only team between them and the AL Central lead.
-
Reds outslug Rockies on record day for HRs
Here's how easy it looked to hit home runs at Great American Ball Park on Sunday: Todd Frazier lost his grip on the bat during a swing. The ball wound up in the seats anyway.
-
Cubs lose 12th straight, 10-4 to Pirates
The Chicago Cubs didn't come to close to ending their longest losing streak in more than 15 years. Pedro Alvarez, Andrew McCutchen and Garrett Jones homered, Erik Bedard pitched six shutout innings and the Pirates beat Chicago 10-4, sending the Cubs to their 12th consecutive loss.
-
Franchitti wins his third Indianapolis 500
For the second consecutive year the Indianapolis 500 was decided by a last-lap crash Sunday, but this time Takuma Sato crashed while battling for the win and allowing Dario Franchitti to score his third win.
-
Mathis, Freeney making strides in shift to OLB
Late in Wednesday’s practice at the Indianapolis Colts training facility, outside linebacker Robert Mathis backpedaled into the end zone, shadowing tight end Coby Fleener on a wheel route.
When the ball was thrown, Mathis broke first and knocked the pass harmlessly to the ground. His defensive teammates were quick to surround him in celebration. -
Rondo leads Celtics to Game 7 victory
Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 85-75 in Game 7 on Saturday night to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.
-
Cubs' losing streak hits 10 in 1-0 loss to Pirates
A.J. Burnett and four relievers helped the Pittsburgh Pirates send the listless Chicago Cubs to their 10th straight loss by surviving on a night the Pirates allowed 10 hits and ran into trouble in just about every inning.
-
Dos Santos, Mir to battle for UFC title
The address from UFC president Dana White to fans in the official program for UFC 146 states “there’s nothing in sports like a heavyweight fight.” And there’s nothing that resonates with fight fans more than a contest for the heavyweight championship of the world. Such a fight headlines the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s card tonight from Las Vegas as champion Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos defends his title for the first time against two-time former title holder Frank Mir at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
- More Pro Sports Headlines
-


