NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
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CUP: Points Scrambled With Two Races Remaining
Deny Hamlin’s win at Texas Motor Speedway puts Jimmie Johnson in unusual spot...
Mike Hembree  |  Posted November 07, 2010   Fort Worth, TX
Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, leads Denny Hamlin, driver of the #11 FedEx Office Toyota, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)
Denny Hamlin's car ran like a backmarker’s. Jimmie Johnson's crew looked like the Keystone Kops. Kevin Harvick’s car was so loose late in the race that he slammed the wall while desperately trying to save positions.

For much of a long afternoon into evening, the day was a hard one for the Sprint Cup championship contenders at Texas Motor Speedway. But Hamlin and his team stepped to the forefront in the second half of the AAA Texas 500, fixed problems with their car and outdueled Matt Kenseth in a tense finish to win the race and take over the point lead.

Now the dynamic of the championship chase changes dramatically with races remaining Sunday at Phoenix and the following weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway in south Florida.

Instead of being the hunted, Johnson suddenly is the hunter. Sunday’s finish positions – Hamlin first, Harvick sixth and Johnson ninth – pushed Hamlin into the point lead by 33 over Johnson and 59 over Harvick.

“I told you I was going to pick it up with three [races] to go,” Hamlin told his crew over the team radio on the cool-down lap. “It’s on.”

Johnson, seeking his fifth straight title, is accustomed to protecting the point lead – not seeking it – at this point in the season. He has dominated recent Chase runs at Phoenix, however, so should be in good position to battle Hamlin on the one-mile track.

“I’ve lost plenty of championships [in other series] in the past,” Johnson said. “This is racing. You’re not going to get everything you want every single race and every single weekend. We’re going to work hard to get back on top.”

The 48 team’s pit problems were puzzling. Normally Johnson’s crew performs at its peak under the pressure of championship runs, but the team members were off their game Sunday.

Johnson lost several positions on the track during several pit stops, and crew chief Chad Knaus made the decision to ask Jeff Gordon's crew – which wasn’t busy because Gordon had crashed out of the race – to take over pit duties for their Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 teammates. It was the kind of dramatic in-race decision that is rare at the top levels of stock car racing.
Crew members of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet talk near a crew member of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, after the #48 crew was dismissed during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Gordon’s crew performed flawlessly the rest of the way while working in Johnson’s pit, giving Johnson the opportunity to finish in the top 10.

“It was just a long day,” Johnson said. “We had speed in the car and worked our way forward. Then we had some issues on pit road. I feel terrible for my guys that we had to make a change there. We gave up so much at the beginning that it was tough to get it back.

“It was a long day, but it is what it is. It is a team sport. We didn’t do our job today, but we’ll come back.”

Johnson called it uncharted territory.

“It’s something new, for sure,” he said. “It’s nothing we’ve done in the past. But I just watched the World Series, and when a pitcher is not doing his job, they make a change and get someone in who can. We know our guys are capable of doing it. We know it’s possible. We just had some things going on today that we couldn’t rebound from, and it really put us in a bad position on the race track and it kind of led to the bad result today.


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