Crew members of the #48 Lowe's Chevrolet, break down the pit box of Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 DuPont/National Guard Chevrolet, during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

"With everything on the line, we’ve got to perform. We have to do our jobs. We’ve been having some issues, and today wasn’t going any better and with the No. 24 [Gordon] out of the race, it was a good opportunity for us to try it. .... Man, you watch pro sports and if people aren’t getting the job done, you’ve got to pull them out and put someone else in.”

Johnson said he respected the feelings of his teammates, but “you have to go out and try to win the championship. And if somebody’s feelings got hurt, that’s too bad. We’re here to win a championship, and we’ve got to do everything we can.”

Knaus, who said he made the decision to swap pit crews, said he hopes to return the regular 48 pit players to their spots for the Phoenix race.

“We needed to do something,” he said. “This is a team. The 24-48 shop has always operated as a team. It’s sad we had to do that. I’m hoping we can get back with the 48 guys and get everybody’s confidence up.

“That’s not what you want to do but sometimes what you need to do.”

The final 30 laps of the race were eventful for all three championship contenders.

Hamlin showed his best during that part of the day, particularly as he swapped the lead with Kenseth in the closing miles and ultimately held on to win.

Chad Knaus (Center) looks on as crew members of the #24 DuPont Chevrolet talk with crew members 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)

Harvick came home sixth to keep himself within range of the point lead despite some early-race pit troubles and a race car that appeared to become progressively loose as the laps rolled on.

Harvick bounced off the outside wall during the closing run but rallied from a ninth-place spot with seven laps to go to finish sixth.

“It was actually a pretty mellow day,” Harvick said. “We had a good car. I didn’t think we'd be anywhere in the hunt to tell you the truth after practice, and they did a great job getting the car ready. When it got dark, our Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet, we just got really loose and we got in the wall, twice actually. They fixed that and everything went as good as it could.”

Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 28 years. He has written several books on NASCAR, including "NASCAR: The Definitive History of America's Sport" and "Then Tony Said To Junior: The Best NASCAR Stories Ever Told". He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.