Kurt Busch combined a fast race car with great fuel mileage to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas on Sunday. Busch conserved his fuel for the final 65 laps on the 1.5-mile speedway and then cruised home as others ran out or had to duck onto pit road to avoid doing so. Busch took the lead with three laps to go after his brother Kyle ran out of gas on the track. It was Busch's second victory of the season.
Perhaps the more important story than the race win was that of championship leader Jimmie Johnson. The three-time defending champion got caught up in an accident on lap three and spent the better part of the race in the garage for repairs. The end result was Johnson seeing more than 100 points shaved off of his overall lead. Mark Martin (fourth at Texas) climbed to within 73 of the lead, while Jeff Gordon is now 112 points out. Busch's victory enabled him to jump up two spots in the standings, 171 points behind Johnson.
There are now just two races remaining in NASCAR's 10-race playoffs. Next up is the race at Phoenix this coming Sunday, followed by Homestead-Miami on November 22.
On a tear, Kyle Busch started off the weekend in dominating fashion winnning both the NASCAR Camping World Truck and Nationwide races at Texas on Friday and Saturday, respectively. In the Truck race, Busch led the final 50 laps and now has a personal five-race winning streak in the series. In the Nationwide race, Busch led 179 of 200 laps en route to the victory, extending his championship lead over Carl Edwards to 272 points.
Goodyear quote, Steve Rigot: "Once again, the engineering prowess of our Goodyear Racing team won the day. Our Goodyear Racing Eagles showed excellent wear and durability through out several full fuel runs during the Sprint Cup race in Texas. The race ended up being decided by fuel mileage, and the smartest fuel strategy won the race."
