NASCAR's new leader
FORT WORTH, Texas — Nobody can say Jimmie Johnson backed into the NASCAR Nextel Cup points lead.
The reigning champion could have played it conservative and settled for second place in Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. He still would have grabbed the series lead away from Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon.
Instead, Johnson's competitive nature got the better off him, pushing the big-picture reality into the background as he won a dramatic side-by-side duel with Matt Kenseth, earning his third straight victory.
The race with Kenseth was breathtaking at times, with both cars wiggling dangerously as they came off the corners nearly touching.
"That was tough racing," Johnson said. "Matt was crowding me and I was trying to move him up a little bit and we were doing all that at 190 miles an hour. It was pretty intense."
The entire time Johnson, who came into the race nine points behind Gordon in the Chase for the championship, was well aware a crash would have taken him right out of the title battle.
"I feel like I was doing a good job balancing those emotions in the car," he said. "When I got inside of Matt and tried for a lap or two to get by him and he was crowding me, I actually backed off and let him go. So I just checked those feelings and regrouped and then went back after him.
"But, after seeing the video when I was doing the Victory Lane interview, I was more sideways than I felt like I was," Johnson added, laughing. "I think I was too focused on the prize and I was pretty crossed up a couple of times."
Even team owner Rick Hendrick, who already has six championship rings, was unnerved by the close racing.
"We've got an awful lot at stake here," Hendrick said. "You know Jeff was running seventh and I thought, `We don't need to do this.' But I felt like Jimmie was under control. I was nervous and I was wanting to hit the (radio) button, but I didn't."
The victory moved Johnson out to a 30-point lead with only two races remaining in the Chase.
Gordon, a four-time champion, led early in the race, but was no factor in the late going, struggling with handling before managing to squeeze out a hard-earned seventh-place finish that kept the points battle close heading to Phoenix next week.
"Thirty isn't much," Gordon said of his deficit. "The biggest thing right now is that we're just getting beat and those guys are winning races. We've got to go put some pressure back on them and outperform them.
"Phoenix is a good track for us," added Gordon, who won on the one-mile oval in the spring. "We'll go there and fight hard, just like we did tonight. Hopefully, we can get those points back."
Kenseth was one of four drivers who moved to the front on the final pit stops.
