Busch drives back to Victory Lane

FORT WORTH, Texas --- Kurt Busch was a little late getting to Victory Lane Sunday night because his Dodge ran out of gas during his celebratory lap around Texas Motor Speedway.

By the time he got there, most of his Penske Racing teammates -- at least the ones not pushing him down pit road -- were giving hugs and drinking beer. The party, however, lasted well into the night. Busch's victory came after 11 cars stopped in the final five laps for gas.

Coupled with Jimmie Johnson's crash on the third lap and 38th-place finish, the Sprint Cup Series can finally celebrate some sort of competitive Chase for the Championship heading into this weekend's race at Phoenix.

Johnson was in position to clinch a record fourth consecutive championship. Instead, he has a 73-point lead over Mark Martin, which translates to 15 total finishing positions in the final two races.

Kurt Busch was too far behind in the playoffs to worry about Johnson. His only concern was winning a race to get the Roger Penske-owned team a running start for 2010.

Busch kept a steady pace behind his brother, Kyle Busch, until he ran out with two laps to go. Kyle Busch, who led a race-best 232 laps, was trying to become the first driver in NASCAR history to win three national races in the same weekend. Young Busch won the truck race at Texas on Friday and the Nationwide Series race on Saturday.

"I knew it was the 18 (Kyle) and the 2 (Kurt)," Kurt Busch said. "I knew he was going for the sweep. I was rooting for him."

As soon as Kyle Busch's car stopped running, the older brother coasted through the turns to finish on fumes -- and a mile ahead of second-place Denny Hamlin.

Matt Kenseth was third, followed by Martin, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton and A.J. Allmendinger.

"When I saw him (Kyle) peel off with a couple laps to go, I knew what we had for fuel mileage," Kurt said. "We were playing cat and mouse on he re-starts. It's bittersweet for me to knock him off his three-peat. But right now, Penske Racing is on it."

Crew chief Pat Tryson decided with 120 laps to go to gamble on fuel.

Johnson started with a 184-point lead, but that evaporated early when Sam Hornish Jr. -- Kurt Busch's Penske teammate -- lost control in the second turn. The impact sent Johnson's car head-first into the inside wall. It took his crew 1 hour, 8 minutes to make repairs. He returned to finish 129 laps behind Busch.

"There's still an 'ouch' to it," Johnson said. "It can happen again next week. That's what worries me."

A crash involving Juan Pablo Montoya, Carl Edwards and Jeff Gordon ruined their chances to get back into contention.

Another winner Sunday was Michael McGee, of Broken Bow, Okla. The agriculture teacher and horse trainer was selected as the Dickies American Worker of the Year last month. He drew Kurt Busch's name in a random drawing, and claimed $1 million for Busch's victory.

Reach Don Coble at don.coble@morris.com.