Kurt Busch wins at Texas, Johnson crashes early
Fort Worth, TX (Sports Network) - Kurt Busch managed to conserve enough fuel to win Sunday's Dickies 500, while Jimmie Johnson crashed in the opening laps and saw his points lead drastically reduced at Texas Motor Speedway.
Busch drove the final 64 laps without pitting. Kyle Busch also gambled but ran out of fuel with three laps remaining, allowing brother Kurt to take the lead and capture his second victory of the season.
Johnson spent one hour and eight minutes behind the wall after crashing on the third lap and sustaining damage to the front end of his No.48 Chevrolet. On the third lap, David Reutimann made slight contact with Sam Hornish Jr., and Hornish then bumped Johnson, sending him into the inside retaining wall along the backstretch.
Crew members from Johnson's team replaced both the front and rear suspension, as well as the drive shaft and water system.
Johnson finished 129 laps behind in 38th place. His lead was cut from 184 points to 73 over Mark Martin with just two races remaining. Martin finished fourth.
Denny Hamlin took the second spot, while Matt Kenseth ended third. Kevin Harvick completed the top-five.
Kyle Busch, who was attempting to win all three of NASCAR's national touring series races at Texas this weekend, wound up 11th. He led the most laps with 232.
11/08 19:29:10 ET
