(AP Photo/Ralph Lauer)
Johnson’s heartbreak proved to be Kurt Busch’s triumph at Texas Motor Speedway. Though little brother, Kyle Busch, looked strong through most of the race and was poised to complete the weekend trifecta, big brother Kurt was the one to win the fuel game. Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, and Mark Martin finished second through fourth.
Fuel issues dropped Kevin Harvick from second to fifth coming to the checkered flag.
Johnson was out of contention before the pressure came up on his tires. On lap three, Johnson was passing Sam Hornish Jr. on the outside when David Reutimann got the No. 77 loose. Hornish’s wiggle forced Johnson to the outside wall. Johnson looked like he had saved the No. 48 on that slide when the car took a hard turn to the left into field.
Hard contact, again with Hornish, then sent Johnson into the inside wall, first smashing the right front quarter panel before taking out the right rear. As Johnson limped the car down the backstretch the seriousness of the damage became visible.
The crowd cheered while the battered Lowe's Chevy came back around to the garage, as if it was Kyle Busch who was wounded right after his Richmond run in with Dale Earnhardt Jr. The complexion of the 2009 Chase had changed in less than five laps.
Off with its head
“Cut everything off,” Knaus ordered.
The Lowe’s team, with help from other Hendrick team garages, got a game plan together. The engine would remain. However, the front end and backend were pulled, repaired, and replaced over the course of the next hour and change. New parts mixed with parts harvested from the Talladega entry as the team worked for a car that could return to the track and maintain speed.
"The first report to me was that the car was done and we were going to put it on the truck," Johnson remarked after the race. "And then luckily the guys were able to massage some things around up front and get the suspension to work and sway bar to work and off we went."
Early on Marcos Ambrose looked strong having moved through the field from his 35th place starting position to run in sixth by lap 72. The Busch brothers had already established that Sunday’s trip to Victory Lane would have to go through them. Then the second yellow of the day came out as Hornish once again has problems including three flat tires from going into the wall.
Franken-Chevy returns to the track
A pieced together Lowe’s Chevy, sans rear bumper, emerged from the garage on lap 112 in 43th place. At that point, Kurt Busch was running fastest on the track with Kyle 1.5 seconds ahead in the lead, and Ambrose up to the third spot.
Johnson tested the drive of the No. 48 coming in and out of the pits multiple times over the course of several laps. The crew addressed tire rubs and tight conditions. On lap 131, Knaus warned Johnson, “You can not go any slower than you are right now.”
It was clear the car would remain on the track. On lap 134, Johnson came up to speed at 185 mph, trailing the leader by 117 laps.
Montoya took his car to the garage after heavy contact with the wall and Carl Edwards on lap 174. Montoya would later return to the track and remain ahead of Johnson in the finishing order.
Battle of the Busch Brothers
By lap 229, it became apparent that fuel strategy would play a role in the finish as the race leader, Kyle Busch, was warned that he’d be short on gas. Kyle commented how he enjoyed seeing Kurt in the rearview mirror all day at lap 251, which would become a jinx for the No. 18 Toyota. Up to that point in the race, the Busch brothers had held all but 13 laps.
Kyle stopped on lap 269 as the pit stops cycled through and later reported a tire vibration. Reassured that the tires are firmly attached, Kyle entered into fuel conservation mode. On lap 305, Kurt was warned about being two laps short. Others blinked, coming down for a quick gas and go beginning at lap 311, but Kyle remained out in the lead.
On lap 325, Kurt Busch was told to forget his brother, as Kyle was expected to be short on fuel. Despite his best efforts to slow and conserve, Kyle ran out of gas with three laps to go, but made it back to his pit. Kyle finished in eleventh.
Johnson ended the race running and stuck in the 38th spot. "It was definitely not the day we wanted. We did not want to lose points like that. Luckily we had a big margin...We've been saying all along that anything can happen, I just wish the Sam [Hornish] could have waited a little while longer before he hit something. Instead, he lost it and hit me and off we went."
Despite the plummet in the points cushion, Johnson remains atop the standings with his lead cut by more than half. Mark Martin remains in second, 73 points behind Johnson. Jeff Gordon is now 112 points back with two races to go. Kurt Busch moved up two spots to fourth with the win, and Tony Stewart round out the top-five in the Chase.
For more information on Southern California Motorsports, check out:
California drivers show relatively well in Nascar's trip to Texas (Article with slide show)
Jimmie Johnson versus the field: Cowboys and dark horses
Kevin Harvick saved NASCAR from disaster
Camping World West Champion Jason Bowles to race Nationwide at Phoenix
Top ten finish for Jimmie Johnson more luck than skill
Janelle Jalbert is a fan of a variety of racing formats and equally enjoys the history of the sport. Janelle grew up in an auto mechanic’s family and swears that there is carb spray running through her veins. She can be reached via email for both comments and story ideas. You can follow Janelle as the Southern California Motorsports Examiner on Twitter as @SoCalMotorsport.
Janelle also serves as the NASCAR Truck Series Examiner. Feel free to join the discussion about the hard racing in the CWTS at the NASCAR Truck Series Examiner fan page on Facebook
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