This Week in Auto Racing November 5 - 8

This Week in Auto Racing November 5 - 8

Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - The eighth race in the "Chase for the Sprint Cup" championship moves to Texas Motor Speedway this weekend. The Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series also run at the high-speed 1.5-mile track.

Sprint Cup Series

Dickies 500 - Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX

Jimmie Johnson got a huge boost in his quest for an unprecedented fourth straight Sprint Cup Series championship after surviving last Sunday's "wild- card" race in the Chase at Talladega. Johnson avoided the big one -- a 13-car pileup -- on the second to last lap and finished sixth, allowing him to take a 184-point lead over Mark Martin and a 192-point advantage over Jeff Gordon with three races remaining.

Martin was caught up in the big wreck at Talladega, as his car went airborne and then flipped on the track. He wound up finishing 28th. Gordon ran out of fuel during a late-race caution that led to a 20th-place run.

With Talladega now in the rear-view mirror, Johnson is in great shape to win this year's championship. Texas is the next stop on the series schedule, and Johnson has an impressive track record there. He has finished first or second in three of the last four races at Texas.

Johnson has been superb in the Chase so far with three victories -- Dover, California and Charlotte. He's the only driver with top-10 finishes in the first seven Chase races. If Johnson continues to widen his points lead, he could wrap the title next week at Phoenix.

"It's an exciting time for sure," Johnson said. "There's still a lot of racing left, and things can go wrong. We're in as good of a position as we could have ever hoped to have been in. So there's levels of excitement and emotion that comes with that. But I'm really trying to keep my head down and keep this team focused on doing the job the next three weeks. Not only do I feel it's important to do that for the championship's sake, but there are also some really good tracks for us coming up. I feel we could win one or two races here with the tracks we have left on the schedule, and we just need to keep going."

If Johnson averages a 10th-place finish in the three remaining races, he will clinch the title regardless of any other driver's performance.

Martin is a five-time race winner this season, with his most recent victory coming in the first Chase race at New Hampshire. The 50-year-old driver has finished no worse than 12th in the last three races at Texas. He won there in 1998.

Gordon's only victory so far this season came in April at Texas. Gordon snapped a career-long 47-race winless streak. He also won at Texas for the first time in 17 attempts there.

"It's just one of those tracks that typically I left there wanting to forget as quick as I could, but now I can't wait to get back there," Gordon said. "We've worked so hard during the off-season because of what we had learned there in November of last year, to come back and be strong at Texas knowing it's a Chase race, and it's a race that has haunted us for the last several years."

Gordon led a race-high 105 laps, but had to hold off a late-race challenge from Johnson to win his first points-paying race since October 2007 at Charlotte. He recorded his 82nd career victory, putting him one win away from tying Cale Yarborough for fifth on the all-time race winners list.

Homestead is the only active track where Gordon has yet to win a Cup race.

Carl Edwards has the most victories at Texas with three. Edwards won both races there last year.

"It takes a really, really good race car to win at Texas, that's the bottom- line," Edwards said. "You have to have a very powerful engine, and you've got to have a great aerodynamics package. Your crew chief and engineer have to have the car put together really well and sometimes you need great fuel mileage on top of that. It takes a lot to win in Texas."

Edwards led the series with nine victories in 2008, but has yet to win a race this year.

Forty-eight teams are on the preliminary entry list for this weekend's Dickies 500.

Nationwide Series

O'Reilly Challenge - Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX

After taking their final week off of the season, the Nationwide Series returns to action this weekend at Texas. Kyle Busch finished second in the October 24 race at Memphis and extended his lead to 215 points over Carl Edwards.

Busch has won the last three Nationwide races at Texas. In April, he led a track-record 178 of 200 laps. Busch also became the first driver to win from the pole in 17 races there.

If Busch wins Saturday's event, he will join Brendan Gaughan as the only drivers who have won four in a row at Texas. Gaughan won four consecutive Truck Series races there from 2002-03. Gaughan is a Nationwide rookie this year.

Busch also would tie Kevin Harvick for most Nationwide victories at Texas.

Harvick will compete at Texas. He has scored seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts there.

"I have a lot of confidence when it comes to Texas Motor Speedway," Harvick said. "I have been fortunate to win a lot of races there in my career. For whatever reason, I like this race track. We qualify well there in the Nationwide car and always seem to find a way to finish strong."

Edwards has yet to win in nine starts at Texas. He finished second to Busch in last year's fall race there.

Brad Keselowski, currently third in points (-257), has finished third and seventh in his last two races at Texas. He is coming off a win at Memphis.

On Monday, Penske Racing announced Keselowski will replace David Stremme in the No.12 Dodge for the final three Sprint Cup races this season, beginning with Texas. The 25-year-old Keselowski will drive the No.12 car full-time for the 2010 Cup campaign.

Forty-six teams are on the preliminary entry list for the O'Reilly Challenge.

Camping World Truck Series

WinStar World Casino 350K - Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX

Ron Hornaday Jr. continues to hold a commanding lead in the championship standings, despite a 17th-place finish last Saturday at Talladega. Matt Crafton finished 10th and trimmed Hornaday's lead to 202 points.

Hornaday won both races at Texas in 2008. Earlier this year, he led the most laps there with 55, but experienced an oil pump belt issue in the closing laps, resulting in a 19th-place finish.

"Texas has become a really good place for us over the last few years," Hornaday said. "I used to really struggle at Texas, but [crew chief] Rick Ren and the No.33 guys have really gotten a good set up for the track."

While Hornaday sits in a comfortable spot in the drivers' standings, the battle for the owners' championship is shaping up to be a good one. Kyle Busch picked up his sixth victory of the season last Saturday at Talladega and cut Kevin Harvick Inc.'s lead in the owners' points to just 100. Busch has won the last four races he's entered with the No.51 Billy Ballew Motorsports team.

"Crafton isn't our worry," said Hornaday, who is on the cusp of winning his record fourth Truck Series championship. "We are worried about [Busch]. He is fighting for the owners' points, and he's the guy we're racing too."

Hornaday has six victories this season, including five in a row from June to August.

Busch has yet to win a truck race at Texas, but finished second to Hornaday in both events there last year.

Todd Bodine leads all drivers with five victories at Texas. Bodine won there in June. He conserved his fuel long enough to lead the final 43 laps and become the first driver to win five truck races at the same track.

Bodine's 10 of 17 career victories have come at 1.5-mile ovals, making him the series' winningest driver on intermediate tracks.

Mike Skinner, currently third in points (-327), has five poles at Texas, including four in a row from 2004-06. Skinner has yet to win in 11 starts at Texas, but has finished no worse than 11th there.

Thirty-seven teams are on the preliminary entry list for the WinStar World Casino 350K.