NASCAR fans got a Texas sized battle between racing heavyweights Jimmie Johnson and Matt Kenseth at Sunday’s Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. When the smoke cleared, Johnson came out with his third consecutive win of the Chase and a 30 point lead over teammate Jeff Gordon in the series points’ standings.

PHOTO COURTESY NASCAR

No. 17 Matt Kenseth battles with No. 38 Jimmie Johnson in the closing laps of the Dickies 500

On the final pit stop of the night, Johnson and many others took four tires in preparation for a 29-lap shootout to the checkers. A group of five drivers opted for two to get better track position.

With 10 laps to go, it was a race between the leader Kenseth and his two tires, and Johnson’s four tires.

Johnson had trouble getting to Kenseth’s bumper and every time he got close, Kenseth would adjust his line to throw Johnson off.

With six laps to go, Johnson finally got side by side with Kenseth and the two swapped the lead four times over two laps.

Johnson backed off for two laps before making another two lap charge where the drivers swapped the lead five more times.

On the last lap, Johnson’s four tires prevailed and he drove away to his first victory at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I was shocked once I got by the other cars and I got to Matt that I didn’t get by him sooner,” said Johnson. “My four tires were better than his, that’s for sure, but I couldn’t clear him and he did the right thing to slow me down and keep me from passing.”

This is the second time this season Kenseth has been beat in the closing laps of a Texas race. Last April, Kenseth and former teammate Jeff Burton duked it out in the closing laps of the Samsung 500, before Burton edged out Kenseth to become the first repeat winner at the track.

“It is disappointing… You hate losing any of them, but there’s also times I think you go through that, you get yourself in a position to win, and maybe the other guy has a little trouble or whatever happens and hopefully you’ll win a couple that maybe you shouldn’t have, and it all kid of balances out,” said Kenseth.

PHOTO COURTESY NASCAR 

The win is Johnson’s ninth of the season, a series high this year.

Johnson’s teammate Kyle Busch dominated the early stages of the race, leading five times for 153 laps before falling back when the track started changing with the sunset. He rallied on lap 278 to lead 23 more laps before his lead was cut by the last race caution.

The race capped off a triple duty weekend for Busch who, in addition to running in Saturday’s Busch Series race, also raced in Friday’s Truck Series race.

Busch, who was very upset with his second place finish in the Saturday’s race, did not speak to the media after the race.

With two races left before the Nextel Cup Champion is crowned, the last five drivers ranked in positions 7 through 12 have been mathematically eliminated from the Chase.

BRIEFLY: 

This year’s edition of the Dickies 500 returned to its late starting time and finish under the lights that it had in the inaugural race in 2005.

The format creates unique challenges to teams who have to prepare the car to run well at the beginning of the race, as well as have build enough adjustability in the car to account for the more than 20 degree drop in track temperature over the course of the race.

Chad Knaus said he puts a lot of emphasis on when the race begins and ends. The team sets up the car so that it can be manipulated in a variety of ways throughout the course of a race.

“Usually, to win a race like this you can’t be the best car at the beginning, you have to be the best car at the end,” said Chad Knaus, crew chief of Jimmie Johnson’s No. 48.

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