Kyle Busch was on his way to adding a page to the NASCAR history books on Sunday with a dominating performance in the Dixies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Busch won both the Camping World Truck and Nationwide Series races on Friday and Saturday at the 1.5-mile track. But after dominating 232 of the race’s 334 laps, Busch ran out of fuel with just two laps remaining, handing the win to his older brother, Kurt.

“I’m proud of our team and everybody pulling together hard, Kurt said. “Racing my little brother head-to-head for the win is bitter sweet. I was rooting for him, but at the same time, we wanted to put our Miller Lite Dodge in Victory Lane. We raced hard. It was cat and mouse on those restarts. Then it came down to the crew chief, Pat (Tryson) putting in the right calls and getting us the fuel mileage to bring it home.”

Texas was the first race for Kyle Busch with a new crew chief after Dave Rogers replaced Steve Addington atop his pit box. Busch, however, was unavailable post race for a comment, leaving the racetrack immediately following the event.

The younger Busch wasn’t the only racer to run out of fuel in the closing laps, either. Many teams were running close on fuel and opted for a pit stop in order to make the distance. Taking advantage of others’ misfortune was Mark Martin, who ended up claiming a top-5 finish in the aftermath. The additional spots padded his point-gain on Jimmie Johnson with just two races remaining in the race to the Chase championship.

Johnson lost over 100 points on Sunday after being involved in a wreck just three laps into the event when David Reutimann clipped the rear of Sam Hornish Jr.’s Dodge. As Hornish’s car swept sideways, Johnson was forced into the outside wall. His Chevrolet then spun down track, collided with Hornish’s car yet again, and then bounced off of the inside retaining wall. His crew spent over an hour making repairs and he ended the race in 38th. Entering next weekend’s event in Phoenix — a track Martin won at in the spring — Johnson holds a 73-point advantage.

“Luckily we have a big points lead,” Johnson said. “All along we've been trying to tell everybody this thing is far from over, [that’s] what our mindset has been. Luckily we've raced for every point throughout this Chase. We still have a decent points lead right now. We need to dust ourselves off, head to Phoenix, [and] get a good one in the bank there.”

For his part, Martin was not ready to take anything for granted. “I still have got my hands full for the top-6 positions [in the points] with all those guys. Two guys that knocked me out of championships are breathing down my neck, so the race is still on. I don't know why everybody tries to cap this thing out and doesn't just wait and watch. There are still two races to go and still things that can happen.”

Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth, Martin, and Kevin Harvick finished second through fifth. Tony Stewart, Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton and A.J. Allmendinger rounded out the top 10. Driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, Allmendinger claimed the finish in a Ford for the usual Dodge team, as RPM prepares for its 2010 manufacturer switch.

Polesitter and April’s Texas winner Jeff Gordon could have joined Martin in capitalizing on Johnson’s misfortune, but struggled. After leading 11 laps early, Gordon’s crew made numerous adjustments but none seemed to be the right one for the 24 car. He ended the event 13th and trails his teammate Johnson by 112 markers.

"I am just really disappointed in this day,” Gordon said. “A total missed opportunity that completely got away from us. We just didn't have it today. We had more of our typical Texas race where we needed our spectacular Texas race like we had in [the spring]."

Though Gordon’s drive for five titles might be hindered a bit at this point in the season, if he, in addition to Johnson and Martin are able to hold onto the top three positions in the standings, it would be the first time teammates swept the top three spots.

Del.icio.us | Digg it | Athlon Sports RSS Feeds