Kurt Busch wins at Texas

While fuel mileage turned out to be the deciding factor in the battle for victory between the two Busch brothers, the real story of the race was Johnson hitting trouble for the first time during this year's Chase, bringing the championship back to life when it looked a foregone conclusion before the weekend started.

Johnson was moving up in the order from his 12th place on the grid when he got hit by Sam Hornish Jr as the Penske driver got loose on his inside as early as lap three. Johnson's car hit Hornish's and then the barrier, suffering massive damage both at the front and rear ends.

The three-time champion drove his stricken machine into the garage, while on the track Jeff Gordon continued to lead laps after starting from pole. Suddenly the title race looked to be on, as Johnson's closest rivals raced at the front of the field.

While Johnson's crew made their best effort to get the #48 car back on the track, Gordon's speed started to vanish, first Kurt Busch taking the lead on lap 13 and then his brother Kyle emerging ahead from the first round of green-flag pitstops on lap 59.

The Joe Gibbs driver continued to lead the race while more than an hour into the race Johnson finally made it back to the track in last place. With four cars already out, Johnson hoped to get as many points as possible by just completing laps, even if more than a second off the pace.

Some of his closest rivals in the points would pass by a big opportunity of getting back in the hunt for the title when on lap 175 Juan Pablo Montoya got loose on the inside of Carl Edwards while battling in the top ten, both spinning and hitting the wall.

Edwards' race ended on the spot, while Montoya's car suffered massive damage, forcing him to go to the garage for lengthy repairs.

Gordon was also involved in the incident after spinning on his own while trying to avoid hitting another car. He managed to escape without contact and resumed the race but never had the pace after that to contend at the front.

At the sharp end of the field, the battle carried on between the Busch brothers, while David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose looked capable of keeping up with them at times.

In the end, Busch's pitstop sequence and superior fuel mileage gave him the edge, as he completed his final stop a couple of laps later than his brother Kyle.

As the race on went without cautions, fuel calculations started coming into play in closing laps and while many avoided the risk of running out of gas, the younger Busch stayed out hoping to save enough to get to the finish line.

However the dream of a hat trick for the 24-year-old, who had won in the Trucks on Friday and in the Nationwide series on Saturday, vanished with just three laps to go when he ran out of fuel on the backstretch.

While Kurt Busch went on to claim victory, Denny Hamlin, who was among those pitting early for a splash and go in the closing laps - taking also two new tyres - made the most of his strategy to finish second, followed by Matt Kenseth and Mark Martin while Kevin Harvick was the only one able to finish without an extra stop, although he rolled to the finish line without fuel.

Marcos Ambrose was another one trying to go the distance without a splash of fuel, but he also failed in his attempt.

Johnson was credited with a 38th place finish, which has allowed Martin to close to within 73 points of the championship lead, gaining 111 points on his Hendrick team-mate with just two races remaining.

Pos  Driver              Make        Laps
 1.  Kurt Busch          Dodge       334
 2.  Denny Hamlin        Toyota      334
 3.  Matt Kenseth        Ford        334
 4.  Mark Martin         Chevrolet   334
 5.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet   334
 6.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet   334
 7.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet   333
 8.  Greg Biffle         Ford        333
 9.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet   333
10.  AJ Allmendinger     Ford        333
11.  Kyle Busch          Toyota      333
12.  Ryan Newman         Chevrolet   333
13.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet   333
14.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet   333
15.  Marcos Ambrose      Toyota      333
16.  David Reutimann     Toyota      333
17.  David Ragan         Ford        332
18.  Scott Speed         Toyota      332
19.  Joey Logano         Toyota      332
20.  Jamie McMurray      Ford        332
21.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet   332
22.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge       332
23.  Michael Waltrip     Toyota      331
24.  John Andretti       Chevrolet   331
25.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet   331
26.  Brian Vickers       Toyota      331
27.  Robby Gordon        Toyota      331
28.  David Gilliland     Toyota      331
29.  Paul Menard         Ford        331
30.  Erik Darnell        Ford        331
31.  Bobby Labonte       Chevrolet   331
32.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet   330
33.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge       330
34.  Bill Elliott        Ford        311
35.  Brad Keselowski     Dodge       262
36.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge       248
37.  Juan Montoya        Chevrolet   231
38.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet   205
39.  Carl Edwards        Ford        174
40.  Sam Hornish Jr      Dodge        88
41.  Michael McDowell    Toyota       20
42.  Joe Nemechek        Toyota       13
43.  Mike Skinner        Chevrolet     6