NASCAR Cup Series

Checkered Countdown: Top-Five Texas Finishes

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 4:12 p.m. ET

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Apr 9, 2016; Fort Worth, TX, USA; A view of the field as they prepare to start after a two hour rain delay during the Duck Commander 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

As the end of the season closes in we go to Texas for the AAA 500. The pressure is building up on those eight remaining Chase drivers. Here are the five best finishes ever in the Lone Star State.

Last sunday Martinsville caught a few chasers off guard and put them in bad situations going into the Texas race. Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards all had finishes below their expectations at the Paperclip. They are now 16, 18 and 32 points below Kyle Busch who sits in the last transfer spot and they will be looking to bounce back at Texas. One guy who is sure he will be racing for a championship at Homestead is Jimmie Johnson who won at Martinsville.

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His record is quite impressive at Texas too: he is the winningest driver there with six victories. Considering that the track was opened just in 1997 those are pretty amazing stats. He also has 18 top tens, the most of anybody. Johnson will obviously be part of our top-five.

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No. 5 Johnson passes Brad Keselowski with four to go, wins it (2015).

Last year after more than 300 laps it came down to the final four to see the last lead change. Keselowski had pulled away from the rest of the field, but Johnson tracked him down. The battle began with six to go: the Penske driver tried to always pick his competitor’s line to close all the gaps. That strategy worked until Johnson had a big run on the outside of turn two and easily got by Keselowski. Then it was just three more laps between him and victory lane. That win ended up having huge Chase implications: had he won the race, Keselowski would have been guaranteed a spot in the final four at Homestead. But Johnson beat him and he was eventually eliminated at the end of that round.

No. 4 Carl Edwards’ great comeback in the closing laps (2005).

Edwards was sixth after the last caution in 2005. He had told his crew chief on the radio: “If we restart sixth or better we’re going to win” and he did it. He had such a superior car that he quickly made up all those positions plus all the lapped cars in between. Only the two front running drivers Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth proved to be harder to catch and pass. Martin was leading and hoped that Kenseth would set up a big fight against Edwards but that did not happen.

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The driver of the #99 took second place away from him with five to go: from there on it was a two-car race for the victory. The gap quickly disappeared and with two laps to go Edwards was already making a move on the outside of turn one. Martin knew he wouldn’t be able to hold him off and surrendered the lead. It was the fourth win in Edwards’ impressive rookie year.

No. 3 Elliott Sadler just barely beats Kasey Kahne to the line (2004).

The underdog vs the rookie: this was the situation that took place in the final laps at Texas in 2004. Sadler at the time had just one career win that had come three years earlier at Bristol. He was leading in the closing stages but the rookie Kahne caught him fast. The driver of the #38 protected the low line to reduce any kind of opportunity to pass. Kahne was faster in turns three and four and that could have made the difference on the final lap.

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While they were coming to the checkered they indeed encountered a lapped car in the last corners. That slowed the leader down while exiting turn four and helped Kahne get alongside of him. It did not happen soon enough though and Sadler won the race by a nose, ending a long winless streak.

No. 2 Jeff Burton wins thanks to a last-lap pass (2007).

Burton became the first repeat winner at Texas in 2007. In the last part of the race he was on the hunt for the lead, held by Kenseth. Burton’s lap times were way faster than the leader but once he caught him he couldn’t get by. When he got to his inside Kenseth kept taking the lead back on the outside. The two battled it out for the last ten laps with the lead never changing hands until the last one. Then, after many attempts Burton was finally able to clear the driver of the #17 out of turn two. He then pulled away to a comfortable margin that got him the win.

No. 1 Johnson beats Kenseth after a nail biting fight (2007).

With all the pressure coming from being in the hunt for the championship Johnson couldn’t afford any mistake. But when he caught Kenseth who was (once again) the leader, he got greedy. Johnson had four fresh tires while Kenseth just two but clean air was a big advantage for the leader. He indeed made full use of it to keep the Hendrick driver at bay for some laps but it was soon not enough. Johnson closed in and started making moves on the inside but Kenseth kept clearing him back. After some laps of side-by-side (and sometimes sideways) racing, the #48 eventually got the lead with two to go. He then sailed away and won for the first time at Texas.

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