Carl Edwards wins rain-delayed NASCAR Texas race to seal title shot

A downpour just minutes before engines were due to be fired meant the cars didn't take to the track until close to six hours later.

That left cars set up for afternoon conditions having to adjust to a floodlit night race, which coupled with the green track and cooler temperatures made the race a voyage into the unknown.

After a handful of laps, Penske's Joey Logano slipped his Ford past polesitter Austin Dillon and dominated out front - leading all but nine of the first 167 laps.

But Logano was undone when Martin Truex Jr and Edwards both went for the undercut on Logano during the green flag pitstops.

That left Truex leading from Edwards, and a savvy display of teamwork by the Joe Gibbs Racing crew enabled the Chase contender to pass Truex for the lead during the caution triggered by a spin for Dillon.

Even a late pair of cautions, first for contact between Dillon and Kevin Harvick and then the reappearance of the rain couldn't upset Edwards, with the weather eventually being deemed too severe to continue 40 laps from home.

Edwards was declared the winner to secure a place at the Homestead championship showdown alongside Jimmie Johnson, who won last time out at Martinsville.

Logano finished second ahead of Truex, while a remarkable turnaround for Kyle Busch following a torrid weekend of damage to his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota allowed him to finish fifth, ahead of fellow Chase contenders Harvick and Matt Kenseth.

Ninth was the best Denny Hamlin could manage. Kurt Busch is effectively out of the chase after finishing in 20th, with only a win next time out at Phoenix realistically securing the 2004 champion a shot at the title in the finale.