NASCAR Cup Chase tightens, but adds little intrigue
Jimmie Johnson saw his lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series standings shrink over the weekend at Texas Motor Speedway.
He was collected in a crash on the third lap of the race and finished 38th. His lead in the Cup standings dwindled to 73 points over Mark Martin, who finished fourth at Texas.
Even though Johnson's lead was almost cut in half, he is still in a comfortable position and on course to win his fourth Cup championship in a row.
Kurt Busch won the race at Texas, moving up two spots in the Chase standings to fourth place, but he is still 171 points behind Johnson with two races to go.
Go to Haddock in the Paddock for comments from the drivers at Texas Motor Speedway.
-- Tim Haddock
Photo: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the No. 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, drives down pit road to rejoin Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. After a lap 3 accident, Johnson's crew was joined by members of the No. 5, No. 24 and No. 88 crews to help replace the rear-end housing, hood and nose to get the car back on the track on lap 115. Credit: Tom Pennington / Getty Images for NASCAR
