Keselowski Outlasts Johnson, Wins 2012 Championship

Kyle Busch had the fastest car all day, but he didn't have enough fuel to make it to the end, and he had to pit before the end of the race.  That allowed Jeff Gordon to come back after last weekend's brawl with Clint Bowyer to beat Bowyer for his second win of the season.  Jimmie Johnson was a factor during the middle part of the race, but when his engine failed about 40 laps from the end, Brad Keselowski was able to cruise to his first career Sprint Cup Championship. 

Keselowski celebrates winning the Sprint Cup Championship (Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Joey Logano won the pole award for the Ford EcoBoost 400, but after wrecking in practice with Greg Biffle and Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski and Marcos Ambrose moved up to the front row for the green flag.  Ambrose led the field to the green flag, and he jumped out to the lead over Keselowski.  Heading into Turn 3, Keselowski was passed by Carl Edwards for second.  Keselowski was then passed by Clint Bowyer, and fell to fourth.  On lap six, Kyle Busch got around Keselowski for fourth, dropping the No. 2 car back to fifth.  On lap 15, after moving his way up through the field, Busch passed Ambrose for the lead.  Edwards followed Busch past Ambrose for second.  On lap 22, Bowyer was able to get around Ambrose for third.

Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin hit pit road on lap 45 to kick off a round of green flag pit stops.  Jimmie Johnson hit pit road on lap 47 to make his pit stop, and was followed by his teammate Jeff Gordon.  Keselowski pitted on lap 48, and he wanted a double-adjustment to help make the car turn better.  Busch gave up the lead on lap 49 to make his stop.  When the stops cycled around, Busch was once again the leader.  Johnson was able to get ahead of Keselowski during the stops, and Johnson was seventh and Keselowski ninth after the set of stops.

On lap 58, Keselowski and Johnson began to race side-by-side for seventh position.  On lap 62, Keselowski was able to get around Johnson, and they both got around Ambrose, moving Keselowski up to sixth.  On lap 75, after running behind Keselowski trying to worry him into making a mistake, Johnson got around him for sixth place. 

The first caution came out on lap 78 for debris.  The field came in to make pit stops, and Busch beat everyone out.  Johnson came out in sixth, but Keselowski's team had trouble on the right rear, and came out in 13th.  The race restarted on lap 84, and Busch was able to get the lead heading into Turn 1.  Martin Truex Jr. made it three-wide on the restart, and was able to pass Edwards and Matt Kenseth for second. 

Busch leads Truex (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

On lap 118, after chasing him down since the restart, Truex finally passed Busch for the lead.  On lap 128, Mark Martin pitted to kick off a round of green flag stops.  Truex pitted on lap 129 with Busch, and Truex was able to retain the lead.  Before he made his pit stop, Johnson was able to lead a lap, getting that all-important bonus point towards the championship.  Keselowski was in on lap 131, and his team gave him a nice, solid stop.  After stops had cycled around, Busch was able to get up to speed faster than Truex, and he was able to retake the lead. 

On lap 142, the caution came out once again for debris.  The leaders came in to make pit stops, and Johnson got out of the pits first after taking two tires.  Keselowski took four tires, and he was scored 15th after the stops, the final spot where he could win the championship no matter where Johnson finished.

The race restarted on lap 149, and Johnson was able to get in front of Kenseth for the lead.  On lap 154, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who won the Nationwide Series Championship on Saturday, cut down a tire and hit the wall to bring out another caution.  Under the caution, Johnson and a handful of other cars came in to make pit stops, figuring for a fuel-mileage race.  Keselowski stayed out on the racetrack, and was scored seventh. 

Gordon races early in the race (John Harrelson/Getty Images)

Kasey Kahne led the field to the green flag on lap 162, and Johnson forced Keselowski to go three-wide through Turn 1, and Johnson was able to pick up multiple spots.  Busch was able to get past Kahne for the lead.  On lap 166, Kahne drove it down into Turn 3 to get ahead of Busch, but he fought back and took the lead back.  They raced side-by-side for a couple more laps, and Busch was able to pull ahead of Kahne to take the lead. 

With 67 laps to go, Busch gave up the lead to make his pit stop, and it handed over the lead to Johnson.  With 62 laps to go, Keselowski ran out of gas trying to stretch it to make his fuel window.  He was able to make it to pit road and get his car re-fired, but after his stop, he was 24th, one lap down, and he still had to make one more pit stop.  With 54 laps to go, Johnson pulled off to make his final pit stop of the race.  But the 48 team cracked under pressure; they had a missing lug nut, forcing them to come back in and make another stop.  Johnson got out in 25th, and he was scored 37 points behind Keselowski in the standings.

After Johnson's stop, Busch was once again the leader.  With 40 laps to go, Johnson pitted after complaining about smoke in the cockpit.  When he pitted, they found that he had lost his oil, and they pushed the car behind the garage.  With 39 laps to go, Brad Keselowski found out that he was going to be the 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion. 

Johnson's team pushes his car to the garage (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

With 19 laps to go, Keselowski pitted for the last time, and NASCAR officially announced that Keselowski was the Sprint Cup Champion.  With 17 laps to go, Denny Hamlin slowed on the track, as his engine had dropped a cylinder.  With 13 laps to go, Busch gave up the lead to pit for the final time, and Jeff Gordon took over the lead.  Gordon was able to save enough fuel to beat Clint Bowyer across the line for his second win of the season. 

Ryan Newman finished 3rd, and was followed by Kyle Busch, who led the most laps today.  Greg Biffle finished 5th, followed by Martin Truex Jr. and Aric Almirola.  Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. rounded out the Top 10.  Brad Keselowski finished 15th, which would have given him the Championship even if Johnson hadn't had problems.  Mark Martin finished 16th, and was followed by Tony Stewart in 17th and Matt Kenseth in 18th.  Kasey Kahne finished 21st.  Denny Hamlin finished 24th after losing a cylinder less than 20 laps from the end.  Jimmie Johnson finished 36th, after losing his engine to end his title run.

Jimmie Johnson was giving it his all, and was going to try to win the race to win the Championship, but a part failure cost him his shot at a sixth Sprint Cup Championship.  Not only did he not win, but he fell to third in points, allowing Clint Bowyer to finish second in the points.  Here are the unofficial points, courtesy of NASCAR.com:

The 2012 season is in the books, and it was one that we all will remember for years to come.  The season started with a bang (literally) at Daytona, when Juan Pablo Montoya hit a jet dryer, causing it to explode.  The season ended with one of the most exciting Championship hunts, and Brad Keselowski was able to outlast Jimmie Johnson to win his first Sprint Cup Championship.  As the longest season in professional sports ends, it is welcomed by drivers and fans alike.  But one can't help but think that the Daytona 500 is only 98 days away. 

2012 Champion: Brad Keselowski (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Harvick Out-Duels Busch in the Desert

In a race where Brad Keselowski retook the points lead from Jimmie Johnson, a melee between the teams of Clint Bowyer and Jeff Gordon broke out, and a last-lap wreck, Kevin Harvick was able to out-race Kyle Busch to win his first race of the season.

Harvick takes the checkered flag (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Kyle Busch won the pole for the AdvoCare 500, and he led the field to the green flag.  Busch was able to clear Martin Truex Jr. for the lead heading into Turn 1, and Denny Hamlin was able to get under Truex.  On lap seven, Truex's car slowed, and he started dropping back through the pack.  On lap 11, he brought his car into the pits so his team could diagnose the problem. He and his team diagnosed that his engine had started to blow up as early as lap two. 

The caution came out on lap 16 for Mike Bliss who got into the wall in Turn 4.  The field came in to make pit stops, and Brad Keselowski stalled his car exiting his pit stall, allowing Jimmie Johnson to get around him.  The race restarted on lap 21, and Busch was able to get down in front of his teammate Hamlin for the lead.  Kasey Kahne got a great run going through Turns 1 and 2, and he almost was able to get around Busch, but he beat Kahne down to Turn 3 to keep the lead.

Keselowski had restarted 22nd, but by lap 40, he was already up to 12th.  Johnson on the other hand, had restarted 20th, but had only made it up to 16th.  The second caution of the day came out for David Gilliland on lap 51.  Gilliland's right front tire went down coming out of Turn 4, and he pounded the outside wall.  The field came in to make pit stops, and Mark Martin got out of the pits first after just taking two tires.

Martin led the field back to the green flag on lap 59, but Busch was able to clear him coming out of Turn 4 to take back the lead.   On lap 78, Martin was passed by Hamlin for second, and then was passed by Paul Menard for third on lap 80. 

Keselowski races Busch for the lead (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

While working his way through lapped traffic, Busch started to see his lead shrink, and by lap 113, Hamlin had caught Busch for the lead; Hamlin became the first person to take the lead away from Busch under green on lap 118.  Martin pitted on lap 119 to make a green flag pit stop, and most of the field began pitting soon after.  Busch made his stop on lap 129, and Hamlin gave up the lead on lap 130 to make his pit stop.  While the leaders were making their stops, Keselowski inherited the lead, and he was able to get an all-important bonus point towards the championship for leading a lap.  Johnson inherited the race lead, but he was not able to lead a lap before he had to make his stop.  Hamlin was once again the leader when the stops had cycled around.

The caution came out on lap 166 for debris in Turn 4.  The field came in to pit, and Busch was able to beat Hamlin off pit road.  The race restarted on lap 174, and Busch was able to get around Ryan Newman, who didn't pit under the caution.  Coming out of Turn 2, Jeff Gordon had a problem, causing the field to fan out around him, but he only lost four spots before he got going again.  On lap 200, while Johnson was running in eighth, Keselowski was able to get around Kevin Harvick for third place, and pull to within one point of Johnson in the point standings.

Keselowski passed Newman for second on lap 209, and set his sights on Busch for the lead.  Keselowski finally caught Busch, and after racing side-by-side for about 10 laps, Keselowski was finally able to clear Busch for the lead on lap 233. 

Johnson's damaged car tries to make it to the pits (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

On lap 235, disaster struck for the 48 team: Johnson blew a right front tire coming out of Turn 4 and pounded the outside wall, crushing the right side of the car.  He had to take his car behind the wall to try and make repairs.  The field came in to make pit stops, and Busch won the race off pit road, beating Hamlin.  Keselowski dropped to fourth after a slow pit stop. 

The race restarted on lap 241, and Busch was able to get ahead of Hamlin to take the lead.  There was a mad dash for second place, with Keselowski, Hamlin, and Harvick all trying to get the position.  When it had finally settled down, Hamlin was second, Keselowski was third, and Busch had a lead of about three seconds. 

On lap 273, the caution came out for David Ragan in the wall.  At the same time, Johnson brought his car back onto the track, 33 laps down.  Under the caution, some of the leaders came in to pit, including Keselowski.  After the pit stops, Keselowski was scored in eighth after the first seven cars stayed out.

The race restarted with 35 laps to go, and Busch was able to clear Hamlin coming out of Turn 2.  Kahne also got around Hamlin for third.  With 31 laps to go, Tony Stewart got clipped by Aric Almirola trying to avoid his teammate Ryan Newman, and spun down the backstretch.

The race restarted with 28 laps to go, and Busch was able to get the lead again.  Harvick was able to get around Kahne for second.  With just 11 laps to go, Sam Hornish Jr. hit the outside wall after his left front tire went down after contact with Danica Patrick.

The race restarted with eight laps to go, and Harvick was able to clear Busch coming out of Turn 4 to take the lead.  With six laps to go, Jeff Gordon slapped the outside wall after contact with Clint Bowyer, but the race was able to continue green.  Coming to the white flag, Gordon waited for Bowyer to pass before wrecking him coming through Turn 3.  The wreck also collected Joey Logano and Aric Almirola.

A fight between the 24 and 15 teams erupts in the garage (SPEED.com)

After Gordon got into the garage and out of his car, he was jumped by Bowyer's 5-Hour Energy crew.  After they were separated, Bowyer jumped out of his car on pit road, and sprinted to the No. 24 hauler, where he had to be held back before he could enter Gordon's hauler.

The race was red-flagged while the track was cleaned up, and the caution came back out after 15 minutes.  Kevin Harvick was the leader for the first green-white-checkered, and he was able to clear Busch, while Keselowski started to lose spots.  Coming through Turns 3 and 4, Danica Patrick spun across the track, but there wasn't a caution.  Harvick was able to win when a melee started behind him.  The cars began sliding in the oil left on the track by Patrick, and Newman, Kurt Busch, Kenseth, and Menard all got together.  Newman spun back across the track and collected Martin.

This wreck collected Martin, Newman, Patrick, Busch, and Menard (Todd Warshaw/Getty Images)

Denny Hamlin finished second, and was followed by his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch.  Kasey Kahne finished fourth, and Ryan Newman finished fifth after getting collected in the wreck, and sliding backwards across the line.  Brad Keselowski finished sixth, Greg Biffle was seventh, and Kurt Busch was eighth.  Paul Menard and Mark Martin rounded out the Top 10.  Matt Kenseth finished 14th.  Danica Patrick finished 17th after running in the Top 20 all day and wrecking with one lap to go.  Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 20th and 21st, respectively.  Clint Bowyer finished 28th after wrecking with Jeff Gordon, and Gordon finished 30th.  Jimmie Johnson finished 32nd, after he was able to pick up one spot on the last lap.  Martin Truex Jr. finished 43rd after blowing an engine at the beginning of the race.

The Championship picture looks drastically different than it did heading into Phoenix.  With Jimmie Johnson's troubles, he now trails Brad Keselowski by 20 points.  And it is now down to a two-man race, with neither Kasey Kahne or Clint Bowyer being able to catch Keselowski to win the Championship.  Here are the unofficial points, courtesy NASCAR.com:

The AdvoCare 500 promised to have drama heading into Homestead, but it may have over-delivered.  No one expected the crews of Gordon and Bowyer to go at it, and have to be held back by police officers.  Johnson had a rare slip-up, and it may have cost him his sixth championship.  Keselowski just needs to finish off his unbelievable race towards a championship next weekend, and he may have enough left in his championship run to do it.  Next week, the Sprint Cup Season ends when the best drivers in the world roll into Homestead for the Ford EcoBoost 400.  The race can be seen next Sunday at 2 p.m., only on ESPN.

Jerry Markland/Getty Images

Johnson Dominates Texas

Jimmie Johnson took the points lead after Martinsville, and he came to Texas hoping to stay ahead of Brad Keselowski in the standings.  He was able to get the pole, and lead the most laps en route to a maximum-points-day win.  

Johnson takes the checkered flag (Chris Graythen/Getty Images)

Jimmie Johnson, for the second week in a row, led the field to the green flag after winning the pole.  Johnson was able to get ahead of Greg Biffle heading into Turn 1 to take the lead.  Kyle Busch was able to get around Biffle for second, but by lap 12, he was already 1.1 seconds behind Johnson.  Brad Keselowski started eighth, and he was able to move up to sixth place on lap 26.  On lap 37, Bobby Labonte pulled off the track to make his first stop of the day.  This set off the first round of green flag pit stops, and Mark Martin pitted on lap 42.  When Kyle Busch tried to make his stop, Matt Kenseth pulled out of his stall, causing Busch to slide through his pit stall.  Brad Keselowski pitted on lap 47, and Johnson made his stop on lap 48.  When the stops had cycled around, Johnson was scored in second behind leader Greg Biffle, but he was able to quickly regain the lead.  Busch, who pitted from second place, ended up tenth after sliding through his stalls. 

On lap 87, with Johnson's lead up to over four seconds, Martin came in to make another green flag pit stop.  Keselowski came in on lap 93, and he made it off pit road without any problems.  Johnson gave up the lead on lap 94 to make his green flag pit stop.  Johnson cycled around as the leader when the stops were finished.  On lap 96, Juan Pablo Montoya scraped the outside wall, but the race was able to continue green. 

The 48 crew goes to work on pit road (Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

The first caution of the day came out on lap 99 for debris, most likely due to Montoya's scrape of the wall.  The field came down to pit under caution, and Keselowski was able to get out first when his crew decided to take two tires while Johnson took four.  Ryan Newman chose not to stop under the caution, and he was the leader when the race restarted on lap 105.  Newman was able to clear Keselowski going into Turn 1 to take the lead.  Keselowski stayed in Newman's tire tracks, and he was able to get the lead heading into Turn 3 on lap 106.  Keselowski was able to get that all-important bonus point for leading a lap. 

The caution came out on lap 109 when AJ Allmendinger spun through the grass, ripping the front end off the car.  Under the caution, most of the cars behind Mark Martin, who was running in tenth, made pit stops.  The race restarted on lap 119, and Johnson was getting help from Bowyer heading into Turn 1, but the caution came out before the field could get out of Turn 2.  Labonte's car started to billow smoke after he made contact with Trevor Bayne when Bayne spun his tires.  Montoya also got a lot of damage when he caught the grass trying to avoid the accident.

Keselowski leads Johnson to the green flag (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Johnson was scored as the leader when the caution came out, so he led the field to the green flag on lap 129.  Johnson was able to get ahead of Keselowski coming out of Turn 2.  In just ten laps, with help from the clean air, Johnson was able to pull out to a whole second ahead of Keselowski.  Clint Bowyer pitted on lap 162 because it felt like he had a flat tire.  Just one lap later, his teammate Martin Truex Jr. pitted because he also thought he had a flat tire.  That began the next round of green flag pit stops, a little bit earlier than most expected.  Keselowski hit pit road on lap 166 for four tires and fuel.  Johnson gave up the lead on lap 167 to make his pit stop. 

When the stops had cycled around, Johnson was once again the leader, but Keselowski was now right behind the 48.  Johnson led until the caution came out on lap 186 for debris in Turn 1.  The leaders made pit stops under the caution, and Johnson beat Busch and Keselowski off pit road.  The race restarted on lap 191, and Busch was able to slide up in front of Johnson coming off Turn 2.  Keselowski was also able to get around Johnson for second heading into Turn 3. 

Busch was able to pull away from Keselowski for a little while, but he was slowly able to reel Busch back in.  Busch was the leader when another caution came out for debris on lap 223.  The leaders pitted under the caution, and Busch was able to beat Johnson and Keselowski back off the pit lane. 

Johnson leads Keselowski through a corner (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

The race restarted on lap 228, and Keselowski quickly pushed Busch ahead of Johnson heading into Turn 1.  Johnson fought back on the high side of Keselowski, but he was able to get ahead of Johnson going into Turn 3.  On lap 232, Busch radioed in to his crew that he, while leading, was experiencing a vibration under the hood.  Keselowski started to put the pressure on Busch for the lead, and he finally was able to complete the pass for the lead out of Turn 4 on lap 235.  On lap 244, Jeff Gordon was able to get past his teammate Jimmie Johnson third, and then passed Busch on lap 251 for second.

With 64 laps to go, Gordon slowed when he felt a tire going down.  He came in to make a pit stop, and his right front tire was indeed going flat, and it relegated him to 25th.  Gordon's misfortune helped put Johnson back into second place.  The caution came out on lap 275 for debris.  The field came down to make what would most likely be their final pit stops, and Busch beat Johnson off pit road.  Keselowski slid through his pit stall, and dropped all the way to ninth. 

The race restarted on lap 280, and Busch was able to pull ahead of Johnson heading into Turn 1.  Johnson started to catch Busch, but he wasn't able to clear him.  On lap 311, Marcos Ambrose pounded the outside wall when he blew a right side tire, bringing out the caution and changing the complexion of the rest of the race.  The leaders came in to make their final pit stops, and Keselowski only took two tires and won the race off pit road. 

Keselowski led Busch and Johnson to the restart on lap 315.  Busch was able to get to the high side to get ahead of Keselowski, but he cleared Busch coming out of Turn 4 to take the lead.  The caution came out with 14 laps to go when Kasey Kahne blew a right front tire and hit the outside wall.  Keselowski led the field to the green flag, but Johnson was able to stay with him through Turns 1 and 2.  Johnson was able to get around Keselowski for the lead, but Keselowski was able to fight back and take the lead back.  Johnson then had to hold off Busch for second place.

Martin spins through the trioval (Jerry Markland/Getty Images)

Just when Keselowski thought he was good to go, Mark Martin wrecked coming through the trioval.  The race was pushed to a green-white-checkered, and Keselowski led Johnson to the green flag.  Johnson was able to clear Keselowski coming out of Turn 2, and he never looked back.  Johnson was able to win the race, and extend his lead over Keselowski for the championship. 

Keselowski was able to win a hard-fought battle with Kyle Busch for second coming to the checkered flag.  Matt Kenseth was able to finish fourth, and Tony Stewart was fifth.  Clint Bowyer finished sixth, and was followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. in seventh.  Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, and Greg Biffle rounded out the Top 10.  Martin Truex Jr. finished 13th, and Jeff Gordon finished 14th.  Denny Hamlin had a dismal and uneventful day, and finished 20th.  Danica Patrick had a quiet day, and finished 24th.  Kasey Kahne finished 25th.  Mark Martin finished 29th after wrecking just laps from the finish. 

Jimmie Johnson was able to gain five points on Brad Keselowski, and now leads the driver of the Blue Deuce by seven points.  Also, Kevin Harvick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are now mathematically eliminated from the Chase.  Here are the unofficial points, courtesy NASCAR.com:

Jimmie Johnson showed why he and his team won five straight championships.  They were strong early in the race, but then they couldn't find the lead once the track went through a transition period.  But when the race was on the line, Johnson was able to power around Keselowski to win yet another Chase race.  Next week, Johnson will once again be strong at Phoenix International Raceway.  The AdvoCare 500 can be seen next Sunday at 2 p.m., only on ESPN.

Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images