CUP: Johnson Vs. Keselowski

Sprint Cup

CUP: Johnson Vs. Keselowski – Race Eight

Battle for the Chase lead continues today at Texas Motor Speedway…

Mike Hembree | Posted November 04, 2012 Fort Worth, TX

Jimmie Johnson (Left) and Brad Keselowski (Right) are locked in a close battle for the Sprint Cup title. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

If everything is bigger in Texas, Jimmie Johnson’s two-point lead in the Sprint Cup standings might seem huge this morning as teams prepare for Race Eight in the Chase at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson won the pole Friday for today’s AAA Texas 500, giving him at least a psychological edge over Brad Keselowski, his closest pursuer in the Chase standings. The pole is Johnson’s second straight, and he turned last week’s first-place start at Martinsville Speedway into a first-place finish, a run that vaulted him in front of Keselowski in the point standings.

With only three races left in the season, momentum seems to be rolling with the No. 48 team, although Keselowski took some of the sting from qualifying by claiming the eighth spot Friday, something of a surprise. He hasn’t qualified well for months.

Johnson and his team usually bring their A game to each Chase race – evidence: five championships – and there is no reason to expect anything less over the closing weeks of this run.

“I look over the last couple of weeks and what our team was able to accomplish at Kansas with a damaged race car and then what we did last week, [it] is quite a statement in that we’re serious about this championship and we’re doing the right things to go out there and try to win this thing,” Johnson said.

Johnson leads third-place Clint Bowyer by 26 points and fourth-place Kasey Kahne by 29. He said miscues by his team and Keselowski’s Sunday could put Bowyer and Kahne back in the championship mix.

“Clint is a serious threat,” he said. “So is Kasey. Those guys have been very strong. I think both have shown their best in the Chase and have really delivered and stepped up. I’m glad that we have a gap over those guys because I like when it’s down to one person and not three or four to deal with.

“If we slip up, they are going to be right there in the middle of it and [with] strong, good tracks for both of them. I’ve said this about Kasey, too. If you look at his performance every year, he always finishes so strong. I’m happy from my own selfish perspective to have a little gap on him right now because he could finish this thing out really strong.”

Bowyer will start fourth Sunday, while Kahne is 13th on the grid.

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.

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Mike Hembree

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