Stewart snatches win from Johnson

Tony Stewart claimed his third NASCAR Sprint Cup win of the season at Martinsville by passing Jimmie Johnson on the penultimate lap, and jumped back up to second in the Chase standings.

The two-time champion rebounded from fighting to remain on the lead lap early on and then from an unscheduled pitstop for a suspected puncture to be in position to contend for victory following a two-tyre pitstop during a late caution.

Restarting from third after his final stop, where most of the fastest drivers of the day went for a full new set of Goodyears, Stewart was able to move up to second but following another caution he would drop to third behind Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton.

A further restart allowed him to pass Burton again, but ahead Johnson was able to pull a decent gap that would have been hard to overcome without the 18th and final caution of the day, in a race that turned into a demolition derby for some as drivers lost patience in the tight confines of the half-mile track.

Stewart restarted from the outside of the front row when the green waved for the final time, immediately attacking Johnson for the lead. Although it is unusual to be able to pass on the outside at Martinsville, the Stewart Haas racer found grip where others had not, clearing Johnson with two laps to go to claim his third win in this year's Chase.

The victory vaults Stewart up to second in the play-off standings, only eight points off Roush Fenway's Carl Edwards.

"I don't think anybody has ever passed Jimmie Johnson on the outside so, [it was] just determination, I don't think we had the best racecar today by any means," said Stewart about his pass for victory. "Carl Edwards had better be real worried. That's all I've got to say. He's not going to sleep for the next three weeks."

Johnson was disappointed to lose at arguably his best track, the final caution probably costing him the win. He was critical of Brian Vickers for repeatedly causing incidents, the final one being costly for him as the Red Bull driver spun to bring out the caution that allowed Stewart a final go at him.

During one of the late cautions where most of the leaders pitted for tyres, Johnson stayed out in the lead and although his crew chief Chad Knaus thought he had thrown away his chances of winning, Johnson believes they still were in position to score another Martinsville victory.

"Chad made a great call," said Johnson, who moved up one place in the Chase but is still 43 points back. "I thought it was going to bite us, staying out like we did; and with all the cautions that gave us an opportunity to win the race.

"And Tony hung on tough on the outside there and I just couldn't bring myself to leaning on him and moving him out of the way with where he is in the points. I just kind of raced him clean and then he got around on the outside and got in front of us."

Johnson's team-mate Jeff Gordon led for 114 laps after recovering from being involved in the first incident of the day, ignited by contact between an unusually aggressive Dale Earnhardt Jr and Penske's Kurt Busch. Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick finished a solid fourth, which moved him up two spots in the Chase, followed by Joe Gibbs Racing's Denny Hamlin, one of 12 different race leaders.

Edwards had a tough day in which he simply struggled for balance and speed for most of the running, twice recovering from being a lap down thanks to the free-pass rule. However he managed to stay out of trouble in a day when it proved hard to do so and eventually finished ninth, the highest he ran all day after dropping in the order from pole early on.

"It's unreal," said Edwards. "We were so bad. With about 200 laps to go I had become okay with the fact that we were probably going to finish 20th or 25th. I was thinking already about Texas and how we were going to have to go there and everything we were going to do, but my guys stuck with it and we got very, very fortunate. I'm just glad we can move on."

The Roush driver avoided a black-flag penalty for seemingly gaining positions on a restart before crossing the start-finish line. However officials rescinded the penalty as Edwards was apparently recovering his correct spot for the restart at the last minute.

His team-mate Matt Kenseth got into an exchange with Vickers but then with 36 laps to go he got into Kyle Busch, igniting a multi-car crash where both were badly damaged, sending Kenseth to the garage for lengthy repairs.

The Penske duo of Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch were also involved in incidents, the former spinning in the closing laps due to contact while running in the top 10.

Results - 500 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet 3h49m52.000s 2. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet + 0.170s 3. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 0.444s 4. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 1.014s 5. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 2.080s 6. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet + 2.214s 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 3.079s 8. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota + 3.300s 9. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford + 3.599s 10. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 3.733s 11. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford + 4.299s 12. Casey Mears Germain Toyota + 4.647s 13. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet + 4.975s 14. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge + 5.096s 15. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 5.846s 16. Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford + 7.810s 17. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge + 14.932s 18. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota + 17.204s 19. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet + 23.120s 20. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota + 23.126s 21. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Ford + 1 lap 22. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 3 laps 23. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet + 3 laps 24. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 3 laps 25. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota + 5 laps 26. Hermie Sadler TRG Ford + 7 laps 27. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota + 7 laps 28. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet + 9 laps 29. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 12 laps 30. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota + 16 laps 31. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford + 23 laps 32. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota + 36 laps 33. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford + 56 laps Retirements: David Gilliland Front Row Ford 357 laps Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 85 laps Reed Sorenson Gordon Dodge 77 laps Scott Speed Whitney Ford 74 laps David Stremme Inception Chevrolet 52 laps Michael McDowell HP Toyota 45 laps JJ Yeley Front Row Ford 40 laps Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 33 laps Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet 27 laps Mike Skinner Max Q Ford 7 laps

Edwards: I can handle title pressure

Carl Edwards says he feels comfortable leading the Chase after having topped the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings more than any other driver in 2011.

The Roush Fenway racer has been at the top of the points table for 18 of 32 race weekends during the year, leading most of the regular season before jumping back up front three weeks ago after the Chase round at Kansas, thanks to some very consistent finishes in the first three races of the play-off.

While many of his Chase rivals have already stumbled in the past few weeks, Edwards has been able to avoid trouble to remain in the lead despite not winning a race since the third event of this season at Las Vegas, almost eight months ago.

Back in 2008 Edwards was Jimmie Johnson's main championship rival for most of the play-off, actually leading the standings after the first two Chase races. However an incident at Talladega and technical issues at Charlotte gave Johnson an edge that would allow him to claim a third consecutive title, despite Edwards winning three out of the last five races of the season.

Edwards believes he is mentally in much better shape three years later as he faces his best shot at his maiden Cup title. He currently holds a 14-point advantage over his team-mate Matt Kenseth while Penske's Brad Keselowski and Stewart Haas' Tony Stewart trail him by 18 and 19 points respectively, ahead of Richard Childress' Kevin Harvick and Johnson.

"I've been doing this just long enough now to realise how great any advantage is," Edwards says. "Early on, I think maybe even in 2008, I felt that being in the points lead had some sort of pressure, it was an unfamiliar feeling, but especially this season we've led the points for a number of races.

"I have a comfort level with that and this week in particular, this week has been a relief to have this points advantage. It doesn't bother me anymore to lead the points. It doesn't add stress to me personally, it's just a cushion and part of that comes from realising how quickly it can go away. It can be gone this weekend, so I'll take all the points I can."

Last year Edwards won the last two races of the Chase but he was too far back in the points by then to be a contender. He says having gone through that makes him value his current position at the top of the standings even more.

"If it were a four-race Chase or something like that [last year], we would have been right there in the thick of it, but I guess it was frustrating because I felt like we were kind of spinning our wheels there because no matter how well we ran the last few races, we weren't going to have a shot at the title, so now I'm real grateful for being in he position that I'm in now - that we have not fallen off performance-wise.

"We're still running well and we're up there and we can fight for this title. Some of the guys that we're racing in this Chase have had bad races and had bad luck and they probably feel more like I did last year, where they're thinking, 'Man, we're 50-60 points out, but if we were even right now we could win.' So I guess I'm just truly grateful for the position I'm in."

With four races left, Edwards is not especially wary of any of his Chase rivals in particular and refuses to put Johnson out of the championship picture despite him being already 50 points behind, more than a race's worth.

"I think all of those guys [Kenseth, Keselowski, Harvick and Stewart] are going to be tough," says Edwards. "I know how tough Matt can be. He could literally go win three out of the next four races and dominate this thing. I think from what we've seen out of Brad this year, I think he's a huge threat. He hasn't made any mistakes. He's done a really good job.

"Tony is a two-time champion and only 19 points out. I think all of those guys are tough. Even Jimmie. I know a lot of people are discounting Jimmie, but those guys can definitely win this race. I know how fast they are at the new surface at Phoenix. They could win that one. They could literally just go on a tear and dominate this thing, too, so I still think the shape of it is not set.

"I don't think you can set one or two guys up there and say they're going to be the definite guys to race."

Edwards' worst finish in this year's Chase was his 11th place from last week at Talladega, his only result outside the top 10 over the past six weeks. He starts Sunday's Chase race at Martinsville from pole position.

NASCAR warns Johnson and team

NASCAR is set to keep a close eye on Jimmie Johnson's cars for the remainder of the season, following reports that reveal crew chief Chad Knaus asked his driver to damage his car intentionally after finishing last weekend's race at Talladega.

Earlier this week American website SBnation.com published a report that reveals a conversation held between Knaus and Johnson moments before the start, where Johnson was instructed to "crack" the rear of his car if he won the race. The audio was obtained by a fan from the live feed of Johnson's in-car camera, which was available to users of an application on nascar.com last Sunday.

"If we win this race, you have to crack the back of the car, got it?" Knaus can be heard telling Knaus on the recording. "Really?" replies Johnson. "Yes," Knaus responds. "Got it? You don't have to have to hit it hard, you don't have to destroy it. But you've got to do a donut and you've got to hit the back end, or somebody's got to hit you in the [rear]-end or something. Okay?"

Knaus explained to the website that his instruction to Johnson was a precaution; a battered rear-end would likely go through post-race inspection without issues, having an explanation for not meeting tolerances if that was the case.

During the weekend at Talladega the cars of Martin Truex Jr, David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte were found to have windshields that did not meet specification, the infractions resulting in fines, suspensions, and other penalties being imposed to the three teams.

On Friday at Martinsville Johnson said his crew chief's words before the start at Talladega were 'foolish' but he underlined that his car went clear through inspection a number of times during the weekend prior to the race.

"At the end of the day, while Chad was trying to protect himself post-race, he made a foolish statement," said Johnson. "That is truly it. At the end of the day, that car passed inspection multiple times at an impound race and was pushed out onto the grid. It was certainly something that we did not want to take place.

"You can tell from my reaction [to Knaus' instruction] it was something I had never heard in the car from him before, and it is what it is. The car passed [technical inspection] at the racetrack multiple times and people have to build faith in that; Chad and I certainly respect NASCAR and their inspection process and unfortunately it happened for really no reason at all and now we have to put it behind us."

NASCAR officials met with Johnson and Knaus on Friday at Martinsville to discuss the issue, wit officials warning that their cars will likely be inspected in detail at their R&D facility for the remainder of the season.

"We had the opportunity to visit with Chad and Jimmie this morning in Martinsville," said NASCAR spokesman Kerry Tharp on Friday. "As the sport's governing body we were doing our due diligence to look into this and gain some insight into the comments Chad made before the race at Talladega.

"We have a responsibility to the rest of the garage area to ensure that everyone is competing on a level playing field with the inspection processes we have in place. The #48 organisation [Johnson's team] knows that from this occurrence that their car is likely to be a regular customer at the R&D centre for post race inspection for the balance of this season."

Johnson currently runs seventh in the Chase standings, trailing leader Carl Edwards by 50 points, his biggest deficit ever six races into the play-off.

Rain hands Edwards Martinsville pole

Chase leader Carl Edwards and his Roush Fenway team-mate Matt Kenseth will start Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Martinsville from the front row after Saturday's qualifying session was cancelled.

The field has been set based on the owner points standings, which place all the title contenders on the first six rows of the grid.

Points leader Edwards will start from pole position for the first time at the half-mile venue in his Cup career, while Kenseth will be on the front row for only the second time there.

"We hope to have a good run here," said Edwards. "We're leaning on Matt Kenseth's success here from the last race and how well he ran, and I feel that we've got a good car, but you never know.

"This place has been a really tough racetrack for me and for our team, but we have had some really good runs here, and Matt's good run in the spring is really what gives us the confidence we have here, and, hopefully, we can go run well and keep this points lead or extend it moving forward toward some tracks that we're really confident about."

Officials have adjusted Saturday's schedule in the hope of having bigger window for Cup teams to get some practice in, so all drivers can sample the new tyre specification selected by Goodyear for the weekend.

Friday's on-track activities were hampered by rain and weather could still be a factor on Saturday but forecasts predict no rain for Sunday.

Dennis Setzer and Derrike Cope will not make the field for Sunday's 500-lap event as a result of the change to a points-decided grid.

Pos Driver Team/Car 1. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 2. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 3. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 4. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet 5. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 6. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 7. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 8. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge 9. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 10. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 11. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 12. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet 13. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet 14. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 15. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 16. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford 17. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 18. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford 19. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet 20. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 21. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 22. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 23. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 24. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 25. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 26. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 27. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 28. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota 29. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 30. Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet 31. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 32. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 33. Casey Mears Germain Toyota 34. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Ford 35. Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford 36. Hermie Sadler TRG Ford 37. Reed Sorenson Gordon Dodge 38. Mike Skinner Max Q Ford 39. Scott Speed Whitney Ford 40. Michael McDowell HP Toyota 41. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 42. David Stremme Inception Chevrolet 43. JJ Yeley Front Row Ford Non-qualifiers: Dennis Setzer K-Automotive Chevrolet Derrike Cope Stratus Dodge

Martinsville practice rained off

Rain hampered Friday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice at Martinsville Speedway, forcing officials to adjust Saturday's schedule.

The two 90-minute sessions planned ahead of Sunday's seventh round of the Chase could not be run as intermittent rain made it impossible for Cup cars to get on the track. The Truck series ran a shortened practice ahead of a rescheduled first Cup session but rain returned and then intensified later on.

Saturday's schedule has therefore been rearranged with 90-minute session at 8.30am local time, with officials hoping to get qualifying in as scheduled around noon.

However forecasts show there could be more rain on the way, which may eventually mean the field for Sunday's race would be set by the owner points if there is no practice, nor qualifying. If any practice is completed, the grid would be set based on the results of that session.

"I'm hoping we get on track and get some laps, get a feel for it," said Jeff Gordon. "For us, we were pretty strong here the last time and there's a slight tyre change I believe so we would like to think we should be pretty good based on how we were the last time and we would just make all our adjustments and calls for the race based on what we know from the last time and a little bit of information on the tyre data."

Teams will be running a new Goodyear right-side tyre this weekend, different to the one used earlier this year when the series last raced at the half-mile track. A few drivers sampled the new spec during a test in August, including Chase contenders Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr, along with Roush Fenway's David Ragan, Richard Childress Racing's Jeff Burton and JTG Daugherty's Bobby Labonte.

Waltrip and JTG teams penalised

The Michael Waltrip Racing and JTG Daugherty teams have been penalised for technical infractions found on their cars last weekend at Talladega.

The cars of Martin Truex Jr, David Reutimann and Bobby Labonte were found to have windshields that didn't meet NASCAR specification for thickness during the opening day technical inspection last Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.

The parts, critical to aerodynamic performance at the high-speed track, were confiscated by NASCAR and replaced by the teams before their cars hit the track for practice. A fourth car prepared by MWR for driver/owner Michael Waltrip passed the same inspection without issues.

As a result of the irregularities, crew chiefs Chad Johnston [Truex], Rodney Childers [Reutimann], Frank Kerr [Labonte] have each been fined $50,000, have been suspended from the remaining four NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Chase events and also suspended from NASCAR until the end of the season.

Car chiefs Anthony Lunders, Steve Channing and Raymond Fox have likewise been suspended for the same period, while Bobby Kennedy, director of competition for Michael Waltrip Racing, has been placed on NASCAR probation until the end of the year.

Each of the three teams, which are not part of those contending for the Sprint Cup series title, have also been docked 25 points in the drivers and owners championships.

"Michael Waltrip Racing is ultra-sensitive and very serious about working within the guidelines of NASCAR policy," MWR officials said in a statement. "We do not condone this type of activity and as such we will take appropriate internal corrective action immediately.

"We thank NASCAR for providing a fair and equitable platform for all of its competitors and respect its decisions; therefore, we will not appeal."

Neither MWR, nor JTG Daugherty plan to appeal the penalties imposed.

Roush denies Talladega team orders

Jack Roush claims there were no team orders for any Roush Fenway or Ford drivers during last weekend's Chase round at Talladega.

In the closing laps of Sunday's race title contender Jeff Gordon was left alone in the pack despite having agreed to work with Ford racer Trevor Bayne, who switched drafting partners on the final restart to work with Roush Fenway's Matt Kenseth.

Although such move would not necessarily be unusual, controversy was sparked as Ford drivers were reportedly told to avoid tandem drafting with cars from rival manufacturers.

Bayne said in an interview before the race that manufacturers dictated how the race would play out to some extent and that Ford officials probably wouldn't like to see him working with "a Chevrolet [driver] that's in the Chase".

However, Jack Roush has issued a statement saying that although he would prefer his drivers to work together, and that no specific orders were given to Roush or Ford drivers for last weekend's race.

"At Roush Fenway Racing we expect our individual drivers to make decisions that put themselves in the best position to win each and every race," said Roush in a statement Tuesday. "That is a philosophy that we have lived by for over two decades, and one that we will continue to abide by going forward.

"Of course, as in any team, we would prefer for our drivers to work together when possible. However, to be clear, we did not micromanage or dictate to any of our drivers, nor any other Ford drivers, how to race with other drivers at Talladega last Sunday.

"There are unique codes that all drivers establish and have to live by on the track. How they manage their code is up to our drivers as individuals. This weekend, there were no team orders, from myself or anyone at Roush Fenway, given to any of our drivers as to whom they could or could not choose to run with or assist, nor did I give similar directions or suggestion to any of the other Ford drivers."

Bayne drives for Roush Fenway in the Nationwide Series while Ford engines are all prepared by Roush-Yates, creating a bond that other manufacturers don't have among all their teams.

The Daytona 500 winner was apologetic on his twitter feed Sunday after the race, expressing his dislike for restrictor-plate racing becoming "too premeditated".

Although some drivers worked with different partners in the draft, even from rival manufacturers, most were running with their team-mates as proved by Richard Childress Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, whose drivers remained in pairings almost all afternoon.

RCR's Clint Bowyer eventually won the race from his team-mate Jeff Burton after both worked together for the 500 miles.

"I've spoken with Trevor [Bayne] and understand that he was put in a situation requiring a split-second decision on the track and in his response to questions justifying his actions afterwards, where it was almost certain that not everyone was going to be satisfied," said Roush about Bayne's quotes.

"Trevor is extremely talented, but it is still very early in his career. Over time he will grow to understand that in such a high-paced, competitive and hostile environment it is unlikely that all of his decisions will make everyone happy. I'm confident in his decision making, his ability and actions on the track, and I'm excited as we continue to move forward with his development."

Roush Fenway racing currently holds a 1-2 in the Chase, Carl Edwards leading his team-mate Matt Kenseth.

Gordon frustrated over Bayne orders

Jeff Gordon was left frustrated by a last minute call for rival Trevor Bayne, who left him alone in the draft ahead of the final lap of Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega.

The four-time Cup champion had been working with Hendrick team-mate Mark Martin for the whole race but the incident that caused the final caution involved Martin and meant Gordon was left looking for a new drafting partner for the two-lap sprint to the finish.

Gordon said he agreed during the caution to work with Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne, but the 20-year-old suddenly stopped pushing him and changed lanes as his Ford colleague Matt Kenseth came up behind.

There was reportedly an agreement between Ford teams to not push other manufacturers' cars during the race, but Gordon and Bayne had been good drafting partners earlier this year at Daytona.

In the end what could have been a good finish for Gordon turned into a 27th place as he dropped down the order without anyone pushing him.

"Well I just find it odd," said Gordon. "We talked on the radio a good bit and agreed that he was going to push me. I came on there and I said, 'Hey, what's your deal? You got anybody you're working with?' And he said, 'No, man, I'm pushing you.' And I went off my radio and talked to my guys and went back to his radio and we talked through it and he said, 'Yep, yep, yep'.

"So, Trevor came over to me [after the race in the garage] and said 'Hey, it wasn't me; it wasn't me. That's what I'm being told to do.' But I'm surprised that somebody didn't come back over [the radio].

"I just think it could have been handled better. If somebody is going to screw you, you'd like them to say it to your face, you know? Or, at least on the radio. I would have been fine with that but I'm sorry; I would have been totally fine with that and understood."

Gordon added: "Politics play out sometimes. He feels terrible about it. Listen, at that point you work with anybody that you can when you lose your partner then you're desperate to find somebody. I was going to go with the #13 [Casey Mears] but Trevor lined up behind me and when he agreed to it and I said 'hey, we can't go with a better person than that.'

"He's got a fast racecar; we already have history of working well together and I thought it was a no-brainer. But I probably should have known better."

Bayne wrote later on his Twitter account that he did not like being forced to work with certain cars only and having to leave Gordon despite agreeing to push him to the chequered flag.

"I'm not happy about what this has become... It's too premeditated. We should be able to go with whoever is around," Bayne wrote.

"That's why I'm so sick about all this. I won't race restrictor plate races next year before I'm put in that situation."

Bayne finished the race in 15th while Kenseth was 18th, a result that allowed the latter to move up to second in the Chase standings behind his Roush Fenway team-mate Carl Edwards.

Bowyer beats Burton at Talladega

Clint Bowyer edged his Richard Childress Racing team-mate Jeff Burton in a close finish at Talladega, giving the team its 100th NASCAR Sprint Cup victory.

The RCR pair worked in tandem all the way through the 500 miles and were up front when the green flag waved for the final restart with two laps to go, following the ninth caution of the race - caused by an incident in which Furniture Row's Regan Smith crashed hard against the SAFER barrier at Turn 2.

Bowyer lined up right behind Burton to push him in the two-car draft after crossing the start-finish line to start the penultimate lap, both gaining enough momentum to be able to break away from the pack immediately.

Then out of the final turn, with rivals way behind in their mirrors and the chequered flag in sight, Bowyer made his move on the inside to try to beat his team-mate, eventually being able to just edge Burton by 0.019 seconds in a close drag race to the finish.

"I knew it was too early to go, but it was going to be a drag race, give us both a shot at it," said Bowyer after claiming his fifth Cup win, his second at Talladega.

"[Burton] worked so well with me all day long. You hate that it comes down to that. It is what it is. You owe it to your team, to your sponsors to go out and win the race. Unfortunately it came down to that situation.

"But trust me, I was prepared to push him to the win no matter what the cost was if we would have had people breathing down or necks, too. Just wasn't meant to be for him. He's been a great team-mate. Learned a lot from him. He's already won a lot of races. I think he's won like 20-something races, I've only won five."

Dave Blaney ran third at the flag, pushed by Chase contender Brad Keselowski in fourth, ahead of the Red Bull tandem of Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne, the latter recovering from a spin earlier in the race. Tony Stewart led the most laps, working with at least three different drafting parters, and eventually finishing seventh.

Roush Fenway Racing's Carl Edwards finished 11th after a conservative run to the finish, pushed by his team-mate Greg Biffle. His solid result allowed him to increase his lead in the Chase standing up to 14 points over his team-mate Matt Kenseth, who finished 18th.

"That was a heck of a day for teamwork," said Edwards. "Greg did an unbelievable job of sticking with me and we get to come out of here extending our points lead, which is good. I am pleased that we are able to get out of here with the points lead intact because you just never know what can happen here and to extend it is just great."

Hendrick Motorsports drivers had looked strong in practice and qualifying, sweeping the front row of the grid, and despite all of them taking turns in the lead of the race while drafting together, they were unable to make enough progress in the closing laps, after running at the back of the field for most of the race while trying to avoid trouble.

"With the green-white-chequered situation, there's not a lot of time to get organised and we lost our momentum there and got to the outside and kind of stalled out up on the top and finished far worse than we had hoped to," said Johnson, who moved up one spot in the Chase but lags now 50 points from Edwards.

Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch were both involved in a multi-car incident on lap 104 when Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger lost control of his car while being pushed by his team-mate Marcos Ambrose. Kurt Busch was also among the Chase contenders hitting trouble, crashing hard into the spinning JTG Daugherty Toyota of Bobby Labonte later on.

Ryan Newman also had a tough day, spinning on lap 80 while pushed by his Stewart Haas team-mate Stewart, dropping to the bottom of the Chase standings as a result.

Labonte was checked for pain in one of his feet at the track's infield care centre while all other drivers involved in incidents were evaluated and released.

Hendrick sweeps front row at Talladega

Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson swept the front row of the grid in qualifying for Sunday's Chase round at Talladega.

The veteran beat the benchmark set by the reigning champion - who spent most of the session on provisional pole - with his second lap of 52.799 seconds, just edging his team-mate by two thousandths of a second.

Chevrolet dominated qualifying, taking seven out of the top 10 spots on the grid. Hendrick Motorsports placed all of its cars in the top-six starting spots, with all of them dipping under the 53 second mark.

Earlier this year Hendrick also swept the front row at Talladega and eventually the outfit had its drivers contending for victory on the final lap, Johnson claiming his first win of the season.

The Wood Brothers Ford of Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne was able to split the Chevy's at the front with the fourth fastest time - the best of those having to qualify on speed - while Roush Fenway cars filled the remaining spots in the top nine, David Ragan taking eighth ahead of Chase leader Carl Edwards.

Kurt Busch was the best among the Dodges on the grid in 14th, while Toyota teams struggled for speed on their own despite looking quick while drafting in tandem during practice. JTG Daugherty's Bobby Labonte was the fastest in 21st.

Geoffrey Bodine, Scott Speed, TJ Bell and Josh Wise failed to make the field.

Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet 52.799s 2. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet 52.801s + 0.002s 3. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet 52.835s + 0.036s 4. Trevor Bayne Wood Brothers Ford 52.903s + 0.104s 5. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet 52.930s + 0.131s 6. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet 52.934s + 0.135s 7. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet 53.007s + 0.208s 8. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford 53.021s + 0.222s 9. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford 53.138s + 0.339s 10. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet 53.140s + 0.341s 11. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford 53.142s + 0.343s 12. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet 53.168s + 0.369s 13. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet 53.186s + 0.387s 14. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge 53.209s + 0.410s 15. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 53.237s + 0.438s 16. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge 53.250s + 0.451s 17. Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford 53.250s + 0.451s 18. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford 53.264s + 0.465s 19. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford 53.278s + 0.479s 20. Kevin Conway NEMCO Toyota 53.291s + 0.492s 21. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota 53.297s + 0.498s 22. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet 53.305s + 0.506s 23. Michael Waltrip Waltrip Toyota 53.310s + 0.511s 24. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford 53.318s + 0.519s 25. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet 53.318s + 0.519s 26. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota 53.326s + 0.527s 27. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 53.372s + 0.573s 28. JJ Yeley Front Row Ford 53.393s + 0.594s 29. Michael McDowell HP Toyota 53.394s + 0.595s 30. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota 53.481s + 0.682s 31. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota 53.514s + 0.715s 32. Terry Labonte FAS Lane Ford 53.528s + 0.729s 33. Andy Lally TRG Ford 53.532s + 0.733s 34. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota 53.563s + 0.764s 35. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota 53.565s + 0.766s 36. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota 53.595s + 0.796s 37. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota 53.596s + 0.797s 38. Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet 53.616s + 0.817s 39. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet 53.641s + 0.842s 40. David Gilliland Front Row Ford 53.669s + 0.870s 41. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet 53.696s + 0.897s 42. Casey Mears Germain Toyota 54.262s + 1.463s 43. Robby Gordon Gordon Dodge 54.627s + 1.828s Did not qualify: Geoffrey Bodine Baldwin Chevrolet 53.637s + 0.838s Scott Speed Whitney Ford 53.956s + 1.157s T.J. Bell LTD Powersports 54.080s + 1.281s Josh Wise Max Q Ford 54.085s + 1.286s

Rule tweak 'won't change' Talladega

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers do not expect Sunday's race at Talladega to be affected by new technical rules after testing the changes during Friday's practice sessions.

Hoping to limit the tandem style of drafting that has prevailed at Daytona and Talladega this year, NASCAR issued a new restrictor-plate for this weekend's race, with an increase of 1/64th of an inch in the diameter of the plate holes which gives around a seven to 10 horsepower boost.

Additionally a new calibration for the pop-off valve that controls maximum pressure in the radiator was also set in order to try to prevent drivers from pushing each other for as long as they have done in previous restrictor-plate races this year.

However during both practice sessions at Talladega on Friday teams continued to run in tandems, many running for a lot of consecutive laps in the same order without having to swap in order to keep water temperatures under control.

"I didn't see anything any different," said Tony Stewart, a former Talladega winner, following practice. "I think the temperature, the water pressure, is what you are still focusing on right now. We have a cooler day than what we had here in the spring, so it's pretty similar right now because of the temperatures."

Carl Edwards and his Roush Fenway team-mate Greg Biffle topped the charts in the first practice, setting the highest averages of the day while lapping at nearly 199mph. Although speeds were close to the 200mph barrier, officials did not announce any changes ahead of Saturday's qualifying.

"It wasn't much different except for we are all nervous about blowing water out of the radiator," said Chase leader Edwards after practice. "None of us really know and I didn't run mine until the valve popped off when I was pushing Greg. I think that is the big unknown right now.

"I think that will keep people from staying nose to tail for so long. I think you will see more switching and that is the only thing I can see from my seat. I can't even see it from my seat they just told me to not let the thing build too much water pressure or we would be in trouble."

Penske's Brad Keselowski, who won at Talladega in 2009, believes the only way NASCAR will be able to get rid of tandem racing is by dramatically altering the grip-to-drag ratio the cars currently have.

For this weekend officials forbade the use of grease in bumpers as teams used it while trying to make it easier for bumpers to rub without upsetting the car being pushed. Keselowski reckons the ruling will only increase the possibility of more incidents taking place.

"You can't change the inherent nature of the cars when the cars get out there, whereas there's a lot of grip and drag," said Keselowski. "Those are the things that you have to change if you want to break up tandem racing.

"You can take away the grease on the bumpers and that's not going to stop you from tandem drafting, it's just going to make the likelihood of wrecking go up. Until you break up the high amounts of grip and drag, until you get rid of that, this is just the style of racing that we're going to see."

In an attempt to make the race even more dynamic, Talladega Superspeedway has offered a US $100,000 bonus to the driver who takes the lead the most if more than 100 lead swaps take place during Sunday's race, the record being set at 88 lead changes during last April's event at the track.

Johnson feeling no pressure

Jimmie Johnson is feeling less pressure than in previous years heading into Talladega's NASCAR Sprint Cup race, having fallen down the championship order after his crash at Charlotte last weekend.

The reigning champion enters the second half of the Chase with a larger deficit to the points leader than he has suffered since 2007, following a crash during the closing laps of the Charlotte race while he was running solidly inside the top 10.

Johnson remains positive that, despite his hopes of a sixth straight Cup title taking a hard hit, he can recover lost ground in the coming races.

Back in 2006 Johnson was able to charge back during the second half of the 10-race play-off to claim his first title after being in a similar position, scoring a win, three second places and a ninth-placed finish in the season finale to beat Matt Kenseth to the crown.

"We need points based on the way we finished up in Charlotte," said the Hendrick Motorsports driver. "We overcame a lot through the night in Charlotte with track position issues and were getting into a respectable finish there and had that huge impact off of Turn 2.

"It was a sore week, trying to get through the bumps and bruises at the end of the week. Things feel great now and we just got to go racing. There's still five races left in this Chase and a lot still can happen.

"I know that my team and myself are capable of [it] and we're going to go out there and fight for every point we can get."

Johnson claims for the first time in many years that he doesn't have to worry about protecting his position this late in the Chase, which puts the pressure on those ahead of him. For the past two years he has led the championship heading into the Chase event at Talladega.

"When you're coming to Talladega and you have to protect something it's tough and even when you go to the end of the year and you're going to Homestead, protecting the championship regardless of the racetrack," added Johnson.

"It just adds a lot of stress. And with the unknowns we have here [at Talladega], protecting makes for a long week and a long race when you're in the car.

"I don't want to enter this race hoping for anything from a big crash standpoint to happen and the guys all ahead of me [in the Chase] being caught up in that. I just need to go out and race. Stuff does happen on the track but if we go out and run well and get five points on some guys it's a step in the right direction.

"I don't have anything to protect, so Talladega isn't as dangerous this year, or as scary as it's been in year's past."

Johnson is the most recent winner at Talladega, having claimed his first win of the season at the track in April while pushed by his drafting partner Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Kyle Busch adds Nationwide team

Kyle Busch will expand his team's NASCAR operation to the Nationwide Series in 2012, fielding a fully-funded Toyota Camry next year.

Busch announced on Friday at Talladega Superspeedway that Kyle Busch Motorsports will continue to run the #18 entry in the Truck Series in 2012, while adding a full-time entry in the second-tier series.

The outfit first ran in Nationwide last May at Charlotte with support from NEMCO Motorsports, entering a car for Kimi Raikkonen following his debut in the Truck series a week earlier with KBM.

"Obviously it takes funding to do this deal and we wouldn't be able to do it without the partner that we've acquired," said Busch. "With working with them and going through all the due diligence and getting everything put down on paper, certainly it's been an exciting time.

"We've been going through this process for about four months. We're ready and excited that the opportunity has finally come that we can move up to the Nationwide Series. We wanted to do that at Kyle Busch Motorsports for a couple of years."

Busch, the 2009 Nationwide Series champion, is expected to drive for his own squad next year both in Trucks and Nationwide, although his team's line-up for the whole season will be announced at a later date.

Bayne to help Edwards

Johnson vows to keep on fighting

Reigning Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson says he will continue to give the fight in the second half of the Chase after crashing out of Saturday's race at Charlotte.

Johnson was on course for a solid top-ten finish in the fifth round of the play-off but lost control of his car while fighting for position with Stewart Haas' Ryan Newman less than 20 laps from the end of the race.

Following a hard impact against the barrier which caused massive damage to his #48 Chevrolet, Johnson was forced to retire and take a hit in the play-off ranking dropping from third down to eighth in the points.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver took blame for the incident while talking to his team on the radio and later admitted his poor score compromises his chances of fighting for a sixth consecutive Sprint Cup title.

"There are five races left, and right now all we have are those five races," said Johnson. "Definitely not the night we wanted. This is not going to help us win a sixth championship. Promise you, this team and myself, we won't quit. We will go for every point we can from here on out and hopefully we are still champions at the end of the year."

He added: "We just go racing. We cannot do much about tonight, it's happened, it's done, we have five races left and we will go out and give 100 percent and see where it shakes out, definitely not the night we wanted but not much we can do about it now."

Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus believes their race could have been different had they chosen to go for new right-side tyres instead of a full set when they pitted during the second caution of the race right before the halfway point.

At the time Johnson was running second to Roush Fenway's Matt Kenseth - who also dropped down in the order while running the same tyre strategy as Johnson. But while Kenseth was able to charge to the front again and eventually take victory, it took long for Johnson to break inside the top-ten as track conditions proved difficult for overtaking.

"Obviously we've put ourselves in a bit of a hole again, unfortunately," Knaus said. "It's too bad. We had a good car. Midway through the race I made a bad call and we took four tyres. We probably should have taken two tyres and we just had difficulty overcoming that. But, that happens. It's part of racing.

"I was real proud of Jimmie and the way the guys performed today. We had great pit stops once again. We got caught on pit road twice; leaving pit road and two cautions came and that hurt us pretty bad. So, it was difficult to overcome it.

"The #17 car [Matt Kenseth], he was in the same boat that we were. They took four tyres the same time we did and they came back and won. Obviously if we could have had a few breaks, we could have been there with him... that put us behind the eight ball and we just weren't able to overcome it."

Next up in the Chase schedule is Talladega, where Johnson claimed his first win of the season earlier this year.

Roush: Johnson's recovery unlikely

Jack Roush believes Jimmie Johnson will need his title rivals to hit trouble in order to allow him to recover in the championship Chase, having crashed out of Saturday's race at Charlotte.

The NASCAR team owner celebrated the fifth win of the season for his outfit with Matt Kenseth's victory in the fifth round of the Chase, while his team-mate Carl Edwards continues to lead the play-off standings, the latest in the season he's ever been in the championship lead.

Johnson had a lackluster start to his title campaign following a 25th place finish in the second round of the Chase at Loudon but he rebounded after that to take second place at Dover and a win at Kansas last week.

However, following his 34th place at Charlotte he now lags 10th and 35 points behind in the standing, a gap that Roush believes Johnson will not be able to overcome without his main rivals hitting some kind of trouble in the coming five races.

"For anybody that has a wreck or breaks an engine or has a cut tyre at the wrong time, you can't expect to get a mulligan," Roush said. "You'll be very lucky if somebody will give you a chance to make up a whole race.

"I thought that Jimmie Johnson would be a factor in it and he's definitely going to have to stand in line and wait or the other folks in the top five to have problems for him to get back in it.

"He won't race his way back in it. He won't finish high enough above the top four or five cars to beat them on the racetrack. He'll have to wait for them to have trouble, I think."

Roush says the fight at the sharp end of the Cup field is so competitive that the smallest mistake makes a big difference in a team's ability to contend for the championship.

Kenseth's third win of the season allowed him to jump up to third place in the standings, which makes Roush confident he will be another card in his outfit's hope of braking Johnson's run of consecutive titles.

"What happened to Jimmie Johnson is a sobering lesson for everybody," said Roush. "You can't afford to break apart, you can't afford to put a wheel long, or a loose lug-nut on pit road with an extra pass at the wrong time down to serve a penalty could be a championship-losing event.

"There's just a lot that these guys have to do that has to be really done correctly. And [crew chief] Jimmy [Fennig] and Matt got it done tonight and I'm sure they are going to be a factor in this championship coming down the stretch."

Roush Fenway drivers led a combined 116 laps out of the 334 of Saturday's race at Charlotte as the Ford squad had arguably its strongest outing of this year's Chase thus far.

Kenseth wins as Johnson wrecks

Matt Kenseth fended off Kyle Busch to claim his third win of the season while reigning champion Jimmie Johnson took a major hit on his title hopes after crashing out of the race.

In a night where the Roush Fenway Fords looked to be the class of the field, Kenseth made the most of his Fusion, timed his strategy and his moves to perfection, overtaking Busch following a late restart after the Joe Gibbs Racing had paced the field for 110 consecutive laps.

Once on clean air Kenseth was able to open a gap and then keep Busch on his mirrors, hoping the race would go green all the way to the checkered flag.

However with 18 laps remaining the caution waved after Johnson got loose while trying to overtake Ryan Newman for seventh place into turn one. The #48 car drifted towards the inside of the track but Johnson couldn't avoid his car then turning right, up into the banking and straight into the wall at speed.

The massive impact from which he was able to walk away unhurt brought Johnson's day to a sudden end while seriously hitting his points tally in the play-off ranking after he was classified 34th.

On the final restart, 12 laps from the end, Kenseth was able to pull clear of Busch and fend him off, putting things right after he had slipped back in a previous restart against the Joe Gibbs Racing driver while lining up beside him.

Kenseth's win vaults him up to third in the standings, while his team-mate Carl Edwards continues to lead the Chase trailed by Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick by five points.

"It was an awesome win for us," said Kenseth. "I knew we had a car that if we could get it to the front it would be hard to beat. But it was really hard to pass tonight, specially after you had 20 laps or more on your tyres, you needed to get it done right away.

"It was a fun race with Kyle. We had a pretty decent restart there in the second-to-last one, got by Denny [Hamlin] and Carl [Edwards]. After running Kyle down it was tough to get by him. Glad we could make it happen because it was challenging."

Kenseth's and Johnson's race had looked almost equally promising earlier while they run first and second before a caution ahead of the halfway point shuffled the order as tyre strategies came into play.

Both of them took on a full set of Goodyear's while a number of drivers led by Tony Stewart took only right-sides, but despite being on equal footing, Johnson struggled to make as much progress as his Roush Fenway rival in the end, the Hendrick driver only racing back to the top 10 again shorty before his incident.

"The #39 just got tight on my right rear quarter panel getting in to turn one and just took the air off the side of my car and around I went," said Johnson. "From there I was trying to save the slide, got pointed back to the fence and hammered the wall."

In a day when overtaking was at a premium as proved by Johnson's incident, the younger of the Busch brothers made impressive progress after being forced to start from the back of the field following an engine change.

Busch lamented having lost a possible win, although his second place allows him to move back up to fourth in the title race.

"That 17 [Matt Kenseth] -- he found something that none of us could find tonight and made something out of nothing," said Busch. "He just out drove me. Great run by the [team]. The guys did a great job and gave me a great car. Best run we've had here in a while. Still coming up short."

Edwards extended his impressive top-10 run of results in the Chase with a third-place finish ahead of Red Bull's Kasey Kahne who scored his third-consecutive top-5 finish in the play-off. Richard Petty's Marcos Ambrose was a surprising fifth after running towards the front of the field for most of the night as his team-mate AJ Allmendinger who was sixth behind Harvick.

Tony Stewart looked as a victory contender early on, leading the first 42 laps from pole position but didn't have as much speed in the deciding stages. A late clash with Greg Biffle cost him a few spots but he recovered most of those to finish eighth ahead of JGR's Denny Hamlin and his team-mate Ryan Newman.

Penske team-mates Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski had both a tough night, never being in contention for a top-finish. In the end Busch salvaged a 13th place while Keselowski was the first car a lap down in 16th.

It was also a difficult night for Hendrick Motorsports as besides Johnson's accident, Dale Earnhardt Jr lost further ground in the Chase after an unscheduled green flag pitstop lost him a lap to the leaders late in the race. His team-mate Jeff Gordon spun at turn two on a restart after getting tapped by Kahne, while Mark Martin had a lengthy stoppage in the garage with mechanical issues.

Pos Driver Team Laps 1. Matt Kenseth Ford 334 2. Kyle Busch Toyota 334 3. Carl Edwards Ford 334 4. Kasey Kahne Toyota 334 5. Marcos Ambrose Ford 334 6. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 334 7. A.J.Allmendinger Ford 334 8. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 334 9. Denny Hamlin Toyota 334 10. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 334 11. David Ragan Ford 334 12. Joey Logano Toyota 334 13. Kurt Busch Dodge 334 14. J.P.Montoya Chevrolet 334 15. Greg Biffle Ford 334 16. Brad Keselowski Dodge 333 17. Paul Menard Chevrolet 333 18. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 333 19. D.Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 333 20. Brian Vickers Toyota 333 21. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 333 22. J.J. Yeley Ford 333 23. Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 332 24. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 332 25. Regan Smith Chevrolet 332 26. David Reutimann Toyota 332 27. Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 332 28. Landon Cassill Chevrolet 332 29. Bobby Labonte Toyota 331 30. Mike Bliss Ford 331 31. Trevor Bayne Ford 329 32. Casey Mears Toyota 323 33. Hermie Sadler Ford 322 34. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 316 35. Dave Blaney Chevrolet 292 36. David Gilliland Ford 289 37. Mark Martin Chevrolet 287 38. Robby Gordon Dodge 33 39. Michael McDowell Toyota 30 40. Travis Kvapil Ford 27 41. David Stremme Chevrolet 22 42. Andy Lally Ford 20 43. Joe Nemechek Toyota 11

Hamlin: Toyota teams to collaborate

Denny Hamlin says Toyota teams in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series plan to work closer together in order to have a better shot at the title next year.

Following the announcement earlier this year that Joe Gibbs Racing, the leading Toyota outfit in Cup, is set to run Toyota Racing Development (TRD) engines like those used by Michael Waltrip Racing and Red Bull Racing, the Japanese manufacturer plans to get its teams to share more information in the future.

Speaking at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Denny Hamlin said he ran a Michael Waltrip Racing car equipped with the new for 2012 fuel injection system during last week's test at Phoenix International Raceway. He said the move was part of a new philosophy of having a bigger pool of information for all Toyota teams in NASCAR's top Series.

Chevrolet currently has more than a third of the Cup field, while Ford has almost the same amount of cars, leaving the smallest roster to Toyota.

"I think there are some things in both programmes and if we work together, the two Toyota teams, we can make all of them better," said Hamlin. "But, there has to be some transparency between the teams and I think they are starting to do that.

"It's not the one element that we have to work on to make our cars drive like the MWR cars because I feel like our cars are strong in the running sense and a lot of areas. You got to kind of mesh those worlds. It definitely opens up your eyes to see different changes that you might want to have."

Part of the success that Toyota has enjoyed in the Truck and Nationwide Series, where it has already been champion, has been due to TRD bringing its teams together in an effort to beat rival manufacturers Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge.

Hamlin believes the possible closure of the current Red Bull Racing Team may eventually bring the number of Toyota teams down to only two, making it even more important to join forces between the remaining outfits.

"Realistically [it could be] two teams after this year is over with the Red Bull cars going away, so we have to optimise," he said. "When you think about it, Roush has probably 10 cars out here in different teams and things like that. So, they have 10 engines, so when they work on fuel development and things like that, it's affecting a large part - 25 per cent - of the field.

"Same with the RCR [Richard Childress Racing], Hendrick engines - you have so many Chevrolet cars and Ford cars that they're able to share that fuel information and everything.

"We have to really figure it out between a couple teams. If we can double our capacity by getting more information from MWR and MWR coming over and helping JGR, then that's going to help all Toyota teams.

"That's our goal, to try to make Toyota as strong as possible because the better they run, it's going to help us and vice versa. I think in the future you'll see all the teams work a little bit closer together."

Hamlin reckons Toyota may currently be at a disadvantage relative to its competitors in the engine department, given that all other manufacturers have released new engines over the past four years while Toyota continues to run the same block it has since joining the series in 2007.

"They have the oldest engine, believe it or not, of all the other manufacturers," he said. "Ford and Chevrolet and Dodge, I feel, have come out with new engines these last few years and it's really seemed to help them where we have the oldest block.

"We have the same block that we started with years ago. Things change and obviously we're trying to optimise that engine as much as possible, but maybe we should go to NASCAR and lobby to get a newer engine.

"Their support is unwavering. I feel like they're going to do whatever it takes to get on top of this game. It took a little while for it to happen in the Trucks and even longer to happen in the Nationwide Series and the same thing goes for Cup.

"This is a very competitive business and asking them to just be out here and be the best right off the bat, it's possibly too much to ask for. It could be some time before you'll see that."

Toyota's chances of fighting for this year's Cup title rely solely with Kyle Busch right now, as Hamlin has lost too much ground in the title race, following a poor start to his Chase.

Childress laments Bowyer's exit

Team owner Richard Childress says he regrets that Clint Bowyer is leaving his outfit and all but confirmed that financial reasons caused their split.

Bowyer announced last week that he will join Michael Waltrip Racing for the next three years after agreeing a deal with the Toyota outfit and sponsor 5-Hour Energy.

When speaking about his deal Bowyer said he tried to get his sponsor to be part of a new deal with that had been in the works with RCR for months, but that negotiations hit a stumbling block.

Speaking at Charlotte Motor Speedway Childress said the team had a car fully sponsored for Bowyer to run but admitted they could not agree on financial terms.

However he left the door open to Bowyer returning with his outfit sometime in the future. Childress gave the former Nationwide Series champion his break in NASCAR back in 2004.

"We knew what our financial model was and Clint knew where he needed to be and we just couldn't ever come together to make it work," Childress said. "We had the car completely sponsored but it just didn't really work out and I'm very sad that it didn't because I really like Clint.

"He's going to be a great driver. Never say never; hopefully he will be back some day at RCR."

Following Bowyer's departure, the outfit is expected to downsize its operation back to three full-time cars again, with a fourth one being fielded at some events for RCR protege and Truck Series leader Austin Dillon, who made his Sprint Cup debut at Kansas last week.

However Childress did not completely rule out making further use of his fourth entry.

"Right now we're looking at three Cup cars with an occasional Cup race," he said. "Who knows what may come up between now and then? I've had offers to race people and race drivers and had another full sponsorship with a driver; I just want to make sure it's the right move when we make it. So we're still, as of right now, three Cup teams."

He added: "I'm sure if we don't have a team we may stick Austin in another car one or two times. We've got a couple of other people that said 'hey, we want to run.' If we see it's the right opportunity for a change that we can test something or look at a driver or something we may do that."

Bowyer has scored the most points this season out of those not in the Chase, outperforming many of the title contenders in the past four races and coming close to victory three weeks ago at Loudon.

Stewart claims pole at Charlotte

Tony Stewart claimed his first pole position of the season in qualifying for Saturday's Chase round at Charlotte.

Rebounding from two weekends where he lost ground in the standings -after winning the first two races of the play-off - the two-time Cup champion beat the benchmark set by fellow title contender Matt Kenseth by 0.006s in order to win his first pole position in more than a year.

"I thought we could pick up time [relative to practice] because we were watching lap times and guys weren't picking up as much [time] as we're used to seeing here at Charlotte," said Stewart. "I knew [Stewart Haas team-mate] Ryan [Newman] would put in a good lap.

"I rely on Ryan a lot when it comes to qualifying because he's the master at it for sure. So just took some of the information he gave us and went forward.

"It'd be nice to be the first guy to get to the start-finish line at the start of the race this week. This is a place where track position is really important so this is an awesome start for our team."

The Roush Fenway Fords of Kenseth and Chase leader Carl Edwards were two of a total four Fusions in the top-five as Richard Petty's AJ Allmendinger and Roush's Greg Biffle were fourth and fifth, ahead of Stewart's team-mate.

Richard Childress Racing's Paul Menard and Red Bull's Kasey Kahne had been fastest earlier in practice but could not improve significantly on their qualifying runs and ended up seventh and eighth ahead of reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

Most of the title contenders were spread through the field, RCR's Kevin Harvick pipping Hendrick's Dale Earnhardt Jr from provisional pole after his run but ending up just inside the top-15 in the order.

Penske drivers Kurt Busch and Brad Keselowski were among those not enjoying solid qualifying runs – ending up 20th and 26th respectively.

Trevor Bayne was the fastest of those having to make the race on speed, securing a top-ten starting spot on his series' return after last racing a Cup car five weeks ago at Chicagoland Speedway. Former Truck Series champion Geoffrey Bodine, Scott Speed and Josh Wise failed to make the field.

Teams will run two practice sessions on Friday focusing on race preparations ahead of Saturday night's event.

Times to follow.

Johnson feels 'back in the groove'

Reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson is confident his team is on top of its game as the halfway point of this year's Chase approaches.

The Hendrick Motorsports driver has charged from 10th up to third in the play-off standings in the last two weeks, following a second-place finish at Dover and his second win of the season at Kansas last Sunday, which placed him just four points behind championship leader Carl Edwards.

Johnson has led 394 laps during this year's Chase so far, more than twice the number of second-best man Kurt Busch, who has been up front for 164 laps. Johnson is also one of only three drivers to have led each one of the play-off races.

While still early to draw any conclusions about the championship, the Californian believes his team's level of performance is right where it needs to be in order to be in contention, although he remains cautious about labelling anyone as favourite with six races to go.

"I definitely feel that our groove is here, and it's been slowly building," said Johnson. "In some respects I wish it would have got here a long time ago. If you go back to the regular season and how we ran in Atlanta... Richmond was going to be a strong night for us...

"We had some good momentum in the three or four races coming into the start of the Chase. Chicago was a great race for us. I'm speaking also for the pit crew, as well, not only on track but on pit road. We've been slowly building in these last two weeks. It's hard to argue with a second and a first and all the laps that we led, what type of performances we've been having.

"I'm excited. I feel that we're where we need to be. We're in a groove of sorts, but this year it's been tough to stay consistent, not only for ourselves but for all the drivers, and I think it's going to make for an exciting Chase as we go here, and that's why you can't pick a favourite at this point.

"We're going to have to get three or four more races behind us to kind of see the picture of who's going to be racing for the championship."

Next up in the play-off schedule is Charlotte, a track where Johnson leads all Chase rivals with six victories in points-paying races. His recent performances at other mile-and-a-half tracks like Chicago and Kansas make him confident of keeping his momentum rolling at the halfway point of the title race this weekend.

However he remains wary of what the race may have in store from a technical standpoint after he struggled to be a contender for victory when the series visited Charlotte last May for the All-Star and the 600-mile races. Johnson retired from the season's longest event with an engine failure after fighting his way to a hard-fought top 10 spot in the closing stages.

"I think we're going to be a threat," Johnson said. "When I go back to Chicago, Kentucky, Kansas obviously, our mile and a half stuff has been coming along pretty good over the last two or three months, so I feel good about it.

"Charlotte, with that asphalt that's down, it is its own environment and really tough to get your car right from the start of the race to the end of the race. So I feel like directionally we're going the right way, but until I get on the track this week and understand what our grip level is and what our issues are, it's hard to build too much confidence.

"But it's been that way all year. It's so tough to take what you learn at one track and carry it to the next, harder than I have ever seen it in our sport."

Following Jeff Gordon's engine failure at Kansas last weekend, Johnson remains the only Hendrick Motorsports driver with a clean shot at the 2011 title as the four-time champion and Dale Earnhardt Jr are respectively 47 and 43 points behind in the Chase rankings.

Johnson dominates at Kansas

Jimmie Johnson took a dominant second win of the season at Kansas, strongly enhancing his quest for a sixth consecutive title.

The reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion probably produced his most emphatic display of the whole season, leading 197 out the 272 laps run, only looking under threat on the green-white-chequered finish, when the charging Red Bull Toyota of Kasey Kahne challenged him.

Johnson was more than 12 seconds ahead of the field when the third caution of the day waved for debris 61 laps from the end, apparently turning the race into yet another fuel-saving contest. However a further caution on lap 219 allowed the leaders the chance to pit, Johnson going for a splash while others like Tony Stewart, his main rival at the time, took on new right-side tyres also.

The Hendrick driver restarted from third behind Penske's Kurt Busch and Richard Childress' Kevin Harvick, both of whom stayed out during the caution to gain track position, but it took Johnson just a couple of laps to put things back in order at the front of the field.

Just when he looked under control once again, yet another caution waved only 27 laps from the end. Johnson and his team were aggressive with their strategy and pitted once again for two new tyres, while Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin gambled on staying out.

Again Johnson lost no time in jumping to the front, passing both drivers on the inside as soon as the green flag waved. As he pulled away from his rivals Kahne started to make up ground, getting an unexpected break to challenge Johnson in a two-lap sprint when the final caution waved due to fluid being spilled on the track from Jeff Gordon's failing engine.

Kahne spun his tyres on the final restart, then got pushed by Keselowski as a consequence, while Johnson pulled a couple of car-lengths ahead. The Red Bull Toyota reeled in the leader on the last lap but Johnson held Kahne off to win for the first time in the last 21 races, ending his longest win drought in Cup.

Johnson is now third in the points, only four points off the Chase lead. His victory also ensures he is the only Cup driver to have won at least one race in every Chase since 2004, Sunday's being his 20th victory in a play-off event.

"There are just days when you have the strength across the board and you can control the race," said Johnson, whose victory was the 199th for Hendrick Motorsports and gave yet another manufacturers' title to Chevrolet in the process. "It's just one of those days when we had the strength in all areas and we could capitalise on it."

Kahne's second-place finish kept momentum rolling for Red Bull Racing as the team remains amid the uncertainty of trying to secure funding to keep it rolling into 2012, once Red Bull pulls the plug on its backing.

Keselowski managed a strong third-place finish which allows him to move back up to fourth in the standings as the leading Penske driver, following a tough day for his team-mate Kurt Busch, who came back from a lap down to challenge at the front through strategy, but dropped down to 13th at the flag.

Roush Fenway's Matt Kenseth was fourth, leading the race for 26 laps - the most any other driver but Johnson managed. Behind him his team-mate Carl Edwards kept his top-10 Chase streak rolling with fifth, which vaults him up to the Chase lead. Edwards recovered from being a lap down in the late stages of the race while struggling with handling throughout the day.

"That was very, very bad at the beginning of that race," said Edwards. "I cannot thank my guys enough for sticking with it and working hard all day. I cannot believe we finished fifth. It feels like a win. That is the most we have done with a car that wasn't capable of winning ever."

Harvick charged to sixth in the end and drops to second in the standings, while the rest of the top 10 was filled by non-Chasers, led by RCR's Clint Bowyer.

Stewart, who looked to be Johnson's main threat for a while, finished only 15th after a four-tyre stop during the penultimate caution cost him track position. Although he moved up to seventh following that, he pitted once again under the final caution but slid in his pit-stall, having a long stop that placed him on the tail end of the lead-lap cars. His team-mate Ryan Newman got back on the lead lap during the final caution and finished 18th.

Patrick: Teams key to transition

Danica Patrick hopes being supported by top and established teams while moving to NASCAR will allow her to succeed in her transition.

The IndyCar star will be competing full-time in the Nationwide Series next season while running a number of Sprint Cup races in what will be the third year of a gradual entry into stock car racing.

Patrick is the latest open-wheel driver to make the move into the NASCAR ranks, following recent attempts from former IndyCar colleagues Sam Hornish Jr and Dario Franchitti.

While Hornish continues to race sporadically after losing his full-time Cup drive at Penske Racing at the end of last year, Franchitti could not complete his debut season in Cup with Chip Ganassi Racing, being hampered by an injury sustained during a Nationwide race at Talladega. The Scotsman then returned to IndyCar and is currently in the running for a fourth title, which would be his first in a row since his return to the series.

Despite her IndyCar peers' past experiences, Patrick believes her chance to tie up with top NASCAR teams can make the difference for her. JR Motorsports, her current team in Nationwide, is among the leaders in the second-tier series and is co-owned by Rick Hendrick, while she will be driving for Tony Stewart's Stewart-Haas Racing in selected Cup outings in 2012.

"The support that I have makes a big difference," Patrick said. "It makes a big difference when you have people looking after you and from the very beginning, at the end of the [2010 Daytona] ARCA race to hear Mr [Rick] Hendrick come on the radio and say something to me, and to get phone calls from him from time to time telling me 'good job', that's pretty cool.

"It's a good confidence booster and he's obviously paying attention. He cares along with all the other people that go with it.

"I'm really fortunate to have good people looking after me, hoping to their best to see me succeed."

At JR Motorsports Patrick currently works alongside Tony Eury Jr, who served as crew chief for Dale Earnhardt Jr in Cup up until 2009. He is expected to continue to work with her next season, something she values as they continue to build up to her first full season in the sport.

"I just try to surround myself with good people and get support and I ask a lot of questions and I try to take as much advice as I can from people, trying to fast-track my learning," said Patrick.

"I'm lucky to have Tony Eury Jr. I know he's got a lot of experience and he listens to me and I feel like we just keep getting better over time, for him to know what kind of characteristics on the car I like.

"And obviously I feel like I'm getting better to where I know what I'm looking for, more so than before. With those things hopefully we can be successful, but everybody's different."

She added: "I think the most important thing is that you're lucky enough to be with a very established team that has good resources."

Patrick competes at Kansas Speedway this weekend in her 22nd NASCAR Nationwide series outing, her ninth of the season thus far.

Biffle leads all-Roush front row

Greg Biffle claimed his second pole position of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season at Kansas to lead an all-Roush Fenway Ford front row for Sunday's fourth round of the Chase, beside Carl Edwards.

Two-time Kansas winner Biffle beat the benchmark set earlier by Edwards by 56 thousandths of a second with a lap of 30.877 seconds, at an average speed of 174.887 mph. Underlining the strength of the Roush Fenway Fords, Matt Kenseth secured a place on the second row of the grid, beside the fastest Toyota of fellow title contender Kyle Busch.

"Today was a very trying day, we were 35th this morning when we unloaded from the truck," said Biffle after claiming his outfit's eighth pole of the season, more than any other Cup squad has managed thus far.

"We had a lot of work to do and I'm really proud of my team to come back and put it on pole here. That says a lot for a team and that's what a championship team is made of, somebody that can turn the day around and we definitely did that today."

Edwards, who joins Richard Childress Racing's Kevin Harvick at the top of the Chase standings, beat the rest of the title contenders on a flying lap, while most of them made it into the top-15 of the grid for Sunday's race. However the Roush driver did not get carried away by his result, as the field faces two more practice sessions on Saturday in order to work on race trim.

"Qualifying here is not indicative of how you are going to run the race," said Edwards. "Hopefully our qualifying effort translates into a good race but we have to focus really hard on race trim tomorrow. The race is a long one and you can pass here. It really matters how fast your car is in race trim."

Kasey Kahne kept the momentum rolling for Red Bull after his fourth place at Dover with fifth on the grid for Sunday, ahead of RCR's Paul Menard, who had been fastest in practice earlier.

Reigning champion Jimmie Johnson did not enjoy a great run and ended up 19th fastest, while Tony Stewart had yet another lacklustre qualifying effort which left him 23rd in the grid.

Scott Speed, who became a father this week, enjoyed his best qualifying since returning to Cup full-time, finishing 25th fastest as the best of the non-guaranteed drivers.

Right behind him RCR's Austin Dillon, who leads the Truck Series points standings, qualified solidly for his Cup debut in 26th.

David Starr, Josh Wise and Mike Skinner failed to make the field.

Bowyer completes Waltrip deal

Clint Bowyer will drive for Michael Waltrip Racing from 2012, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series team announced on Friday.

Bowyer will turn a page on his career at the end of the season, leaving Richard Childress Racing after driving for the outfit in NASCAR since 2004. He has agreed a three-year deal to drive Waltrip's #15 Toyota Camry.

Despite having hinted at a new deal being close with RCR a couple of months ago, Bowyer's negotiations with his current employer hit a stumbling block. According to the 32-year-old 2008 Nationwide Series champion, negotiations with RCR to bring in a new personal sponsor to the team were not successful.

A few weeks ago MWR confirmed team officials had held talks with Bowyer and sponsor 5-Hour Energy about a potential deal which eventually came to fruition, adding a third car to the existing two the outfit fields.

In nearly six full seasons at Cup level, Bowyer has won four races and finished a career-best third in the standings in 2007. He missed the Chase this season but has been a contender at the front during the play-off races, losing a possible win at Loudon two weeks ago when he ran out of fuel while in the lead.

"This has been a very long summer, but I think for everyone involved, the best decision was made to be at Michael Waltrip Racing," said Bowyer.

"I am a big fan of 5-hour Energy so I was really happy when they approached me about putting a deal together. We were diligent in working through our options and finally found the right fit.

"I have been so impressed with what's going on at MWR. Then when the 5-hour Energy executives met with Michael and his people, we knew this was going to be our home.

"I've been with one organisation for my entire Sprint Cup career and leaving there was the hardest part of the decision. But now I'm ready to start the next chapter in my racing career."

MWR is in its fifth full season at Cup level, earning two wins thus far with David Reutimann, who drives the team's #00 entry. Martin Truex Jr has driven a second MWR car since 2010 and the squad gives technical support to JTG Daugherty Racing, which fields former Cup champion Bobby Labonte. It remains to be seen if that relationship continues into 2012 now that MWR will have its own third entry.

"This is a watershed moment for our young organisation," said Michael Waltrip, who co-owns MWR with Rob Kauffman. "Clint is a proven winner and consistent Chase participant. He had a lot of options and it makes me proud that Clint and 5-hour Energy chose to race with us.

"This announcement continues to show our partner Toyota, our sponsors, our employees and the entire NASCAR community that MWR is serious about success and dedicated to winning."

Alongside Bowyer's move, MWR recently announced the signing of former RCR director of competition Scott Miller who will become the outfit's executive vice president for competition.

Drives praise new Phoenix

NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers gave the new Phoenix International Raceway a collective thumbs up following an open test but many expect the track may spring a few surprises when they return for the penultimate race of the Chase.

Most of the Cup field ran during two days at the Arizona track, which has been repaved and reconfigured, throwing in an element of huge uncertainty at the venue that will host one of the final Chase races of the season.

Among the changes are a new, smoother surface, a new pitlane, wider front straight, reconfigured back straight and additional banking built into the turns.

Two-time Phoenix winner Jeff Gordon, the last driver to take victory on the track's old surface, said he liked the changes to what NASCAR officials called a "a brand new facility."

"What happened is Turn 1 is about the same," Gordon said. "You drive in really deep using a lot of brake. The left front tyre gets real light as you sort of crest that hill, as you get down in the banking. All that's basically the same. Once you get to the middle, you just put your foot in it. You have so much room off there.

"Then you just have this run down the back straight. It's kind of like a rollercoaster ride back there. You have all that space out there. It drops down. The car compresses into the racetrack, touches a little bit with the splitter, then you come back up out of that hole as you get to Turn 3.

"I haven't run side-by-side with anybody back there. But just looking at it and driving it, it's a lot of fun. I mean, it gets your attention the first couple times you go through there. Other than that, you know, it's a heck of a ride."

Joint Chase leader Carl Edwards, who won at Phoenix last year, believes the new surface and configuration may potentially generate unexpected situations that will make championship contenders wary as they hope to get to Homestead still with a clear shot at the title.

"Whenever you introduce something new like this new surface and new track layout, there are going to be guys that figure it out quickly and there are going to be guys that struggle, it's not necessarily the guys you expect," said the Roush Fenway driver.

"This race, I think we're all going to come here with a little bit of nervousness, a little trepidation on, hey, do we have the right setup? As a driver, I have to ask myself, am I driving the right way around the race track?

"The way the surface is, it's unforgiving so there could be some accidents and things happen that we don't usually see at Phoenix. To me it's going to be pretty amazing to be the penultimate race and have all those opportunities for something crazy to happen, it could shake everything up."

Kyle Busch, also a past winner at Phoenix, placed emphasis on Goodyear's tyre selection for the race weekend as being key to how the race turns out as he reckons grip was at a premium during the two-day test. Officials are expected to work on trying to rubber-in the new surface during this month before NASCAR returns for the race weekend.

"It's going to be kind of exciting to see how [the track] races, which is pretty cool," said Busch. "I'm looking forward to that. There's not a lot of grip in the tyres, so the more we run, the more rubber on the track, the better the tyres feel, but I still feel to move out of that lane it's going to be really difficult.

"Hopefully Goodyear really looks at it and brings the right tyre to the race and the track rubbers in the right way and we have a good show. I think the track is great, I think what they did with it is really nice."

Besides testing for the penultimate race of the season, the Hendrick, Penske and Waltrip teams, ran fuel-injected cars as they continue to develop the system before its fully implemented in 2012.

The test was the second for Cup cars at the venue, after a few teams ran a Goodyear test last month.

Edwards optimistic of title threat

Carl Edwards is optimistic about remaining a close title contender throughout the Chase after getting back to the top of the standings following the third round of the playoff.

The Roush Fenway Ford driver led the points throughout most of the regular season, but dropped back once the Chase field was set due to having a single win while many of his rivals scored multiple victories in the first 26 races.

Since the title race started at Chicagoland three weeks ago, Edwards has scored more points than anyone else in the Cup field and has finished inside the top 10 at every race, overcoming a pitlane penalty that put him a lap down last weekend to finish a close third at Dover behind reigning champion Jimmie Johnson.

Edwards is level on points with Kevin Harvick at the top of the championship - only behind his rival on countback - and the Roush man believes his team has got what it takes to continue to lead into the decisive races, in what is turning out to be a closely-fought championship.

"We led the points I think for 13 or 15 weeks," said Edwards. "I feel that our team, we know we can lead the points. We know we can finish well enough to stay up front, but our strategy hasn't changed much. Right now it's essentially as if we haven't run three races.

"Those nine guys separated by 19 points - I think was the way it ended up at Dover - so nine people separated by that small of a window, it's still as if we're just starting the Chase.

"All we have to do is keep doing what we've been doing, do the best we can. We got lucky at Dover. We need that luck on our side. But we're tied for the points lead because we've run well enough to be there.

"If we can just continue that, I think we have a real shot at this. I feel really good about it."

Edwards believes that in order to win the championship he will need to win more races while also avoiding a poor finish, something he has managed during the first three races of the play-off thus far, while others as Johnson have already stumbled.

The former Nationwide Series champion last drove to Victory Lane at Las Vegas - the third race of the season - and has finished second three times since then. He remains the most recent winner at Homestead, where the championship is expected be up for grabs once again.

"I do believe that the winner of the championship is going to win a race or two in the Chase," he said. "I feel you're going to have to run so well, you will win a race or two. We should have won at Dover. I think the more important thing is going to be the bad days.

"I truly believe that. You're going to have guys run out of fuel or wreck and take themselves out of that group of nine guys that are all competing. It's going to slowly whittle itself to seven, six, five. By the end of the Chase, you're going to have four guys, three guys going into Homestead with a chance. Then it's going to be who doesn't have that bad race at Homestead."

"Everybody knows that one mistake can cost them a shot at it. There's a lot of pressure on everybody."

Back in 2008 Edwards was Johnson's closest rival during the Chase but his outfit then endured a tough 2009 and he was only able to win again at the end of last year, taking victories in the final two races of the season.

Edwards believes since then his team has been on a charge that has reassured him of their ability to fight for victory every week and ultimately this year's title.

"We went through a very tough time in 2009," recalled Edwards. "Through all of that I think we learned how strong we can be. The thing I'm most proud of is we didn't collapse. Our team, we didn't start firing people or pointing fingers. Roush Fenway Racing buckled down, worked harder, worked smarter.

"We came back and were able to win the last two races last season, lead the points for most of the season. I feel we're a threat at every race track we go to. How that applies to me personally, I have more true confidence and a little more calm approach to this whole championship."

Besides his solid Sprint Cup season this year, Edwards has also enjoyed success in the Nationwide Series where he has won seven races, although he is not eligible to contend for the title.

Goodyear extends NASCAR deal

Goodyear will continue to supply tyres for NASCAR's national touring series through 2017 after the manufacturer signed an extended agreement with the sanctioning body.

The American tyre company will remain NASCAR's exclusive tyre supplier for the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, further extending a 57-year relationship.

"Our long-time relationship with Goodyear is a testament to the company's consistent high-quality tyre it supplies the race teams," said NASCAR's Jim O'Connell. "Not only are they experts in tyre performance, but they are also a brand that understands how to effectively engage and connect with our fans through creative activation."

Goodyear has been the sole tyre supplier for NASCAR since 1997, after last facing competition from fellow American manufacturer Hoosier in the late 1980s and mid-90s. Safety concerns and escalating costs during their rivalry led the sanctioning body to switch to a one-make tyre series.

"This extension is the continuation of a relationship between experts," said Pierre Jambon, vice president of Goodyear's off-highway business. "NASCAR is clearly the expert in stock car racing, and it has chosen Goodyear because of our expertise in delivering outstanding performance.

"Our tyre performance on the track validates our brand, inspires confidence for drivers and helps create exciting racing for fans. We are proud to continue to be an integral part of NASCAR."

NASCAR's technical relationship with Goodyear includes a number of in-season tests where they work jointly to develop tyres for every specific venue where the championships race.

Kurt Busch beats Johnson at Dover

Kurt Busch beat reigning champion Jimmie Johnson on a late restart and then held him off to claim his second victory of the season and move into close championship contention.

Although Johnson was the driver to beat for most of the day, leading a race-high 157 laps, his Penske rival surged on the penultimate restart to grab the lead as the reigning champion spun his tyres while powering off under the green flag.

Busch made the most of his rival's mistake to take the lead and never look back as Johnson started getting pressure from a charging Carl Edwards, who recovered from a pit-road penalty. In the end the Penske driver was able to manage a further restart and then traffic, keeping a gap at the front while Johnson did enough to keep Edwards in his mirrors.

The 2004 Cup champion had led the race early on but as the track rubbered in he seemed to lose pace relative to his rivals. The right adjustments and good strategy calls enabled him to get back in contention for a victory that seemed unlikely at first given Johnson's dominance.

Busch's second win of the season means he jumps up in the Chase standings to fourth place, as the play-off ranking was shaken following a bad day for previous leader Tony Stewart, who struggled throughout the weekend and finished two laps down in 25th.

"I just wanted to get out in front of [Jimmie] Johnson," said Busch about the decisive restart on lap 359 out of 400. "The first restart, I was on the high side. I didn't know what to choose, low or high.

"I just wanted to get that jump on him and stretch our lead because I thought that he would reel us back in with about 10 to go. We just had to maintain and bring our Dodge Charger to victory lane."

Johnson had looked dominant on the long green-flag runs but that speed didn't transpire in the final stint of the race while in dirty air behind Busch. The reigning champion lamented letting a possible win slip away but his second-place finish enabled him to get back in the thick of the title battle, moving up five spots in the Chase ranking.

"I blew it by spinning the tyres," Johnson said. "Kurt got a good launch, and we were door to door going into one, and he was able to get by on the outside.

"And then the next [restart], I was going to try to do that same thing back to him, and I was just trying to time when he was going to accelerate. I didn't time it right, had too big of a gap, and fell in behind him going into turn one."

Roush Fenway's Edwards could have also been a threat for victory had he not been forced to come back from a lap down following his pit-road penalty. He crossed the finish-line right behind Johnson and grabbed enough points to join Kevin Harvick in the lead of the play-off.

"That's the first time I've been caught speeding on pit road all year, but I've done it like 15 times in the Nationwide Series," said a frustrated Edwards.

Red Bull's Kasey Kahne gave his team some hope with a solid run to fourth-place, looking like a victory contender at stages but having his charge for the lead cut by one of the caution periods in the second half of the race.

Edwards' team-mate Kenseth was a top-five contender for most of the day but lost track position after his final stop, taking four tyres while most of the leaders took only two. He moved up from ninth to fifth in the closing laps and remains seventh in the championship.

Joe Gibbs Racing's Kyle Busch was sixth but lost two places in the Chase standing, while AJ Allmendinger and Marcos Ambrose rounded a good day for Richard Petty Motorsports with seventh and ninth respectively, split by Richard Childress Racing's Clint Bowyer.

Harvick now shares the Chase lead with Edwards, while Stewart's tough weekend means he drops to third, now nine points behind in the title race. It was a rough day for the Stewart-Haas organization as a whole, as Ryan Newman also finished two laps down in 23rd. Neither car had the speed to run close to the top-ten all day.

Hendrick Motorsports' Jeff Gordon was 12th and has dropped in the standing as well, while his team-mate Dale Earnhardt Jr had to pit under green for a suspected loose wheel late in the race and was unable to get back on the lead lap finishing in the middle of the two Stewart-Haas drivers.

Penske's Brad Keselowski ran out of sequence at one stage while trying to make up ground following a power-steering issue that dropped him out of the lead lap. Although he was able to get back in it, he wouldn't make further progress and crossed the finish-line 20th.

Results - 400 laps: Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Kurt Busch Penske Dodge 3h30m59.908s 2. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Chevrolet + 0.908s 3. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Ford + 1.149s 4. Kasey Kahne Red Bull Toyota + 3.744s 5. Matt Kenseth Roush Fenway Ford + 5.450s 6. Kyle Busch Gibbs Toyota + 7.855s 7. AJ Allmendinger Petty Ford + 8.344s 8. Clint Bowyer Childress Chevrolet + 9.858s 9. Marcos Ambrose Petty Ford + 11.310s 10. Kevin Harvick Childress Chevrolet + 11.873s 11. Jeff Burton Childress Chevrolet + 12.207s 12. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Chevrolet + 12.392s 13. David Reutimann Waltrip Toyota + 13.069s 14. Brian Vickers Red Bull Toyota + 14.425s 15. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 15.205s 16. Paul Menard Childress Chevrolet + 15.353s 17. Regan Smith Furniture Row Chevrolet + 15.510s 18. Denny Hamlin Gibbs Toyota + 16.035s 19. Mark Martin Hendrick Chevrolet + 16.358s 20. Brad Keselowski Penske Dodge + 16.951s 21. David Ragan Roush Fenway Ford + 1 lap 22. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet + 2 laps 23. Ryan Newman Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 2 laps 24. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Chevrolet + 2 laps 25. Tony Stewart Stewart Haas Chevrolet + 2 laps 26. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Toyota + 2 laps 27. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Ford + 3 laps 28. David Gilliland Front Row Ford + 3 laps 29. Joey Logano Gibbs Toyota + 3 laps 30. Martin Truex Jr Waltrip Toyota + 4 laps 31. Landon Cassill Phoenix Chevrolet + 5 laps 32. Dave Blaney Baldwin Chevrolet + 5 laps 33. Andy Lally TRG Chevrolet + 6 laps 34. JJ Yeley Front Row Ford + 10 laps 35. Casey Mears Germain Toyota + 34 laps 36. Mike Bliss FAS Lane Ford + 54 laps Retirements: Josh Wise Max Q Ford 56 laps Reed Sorenson Gordon Dodge 52 laps Joe Nemechek NEMCO Toyota 49 laps Michael McDowell HP Toyota 44 laps David Stremme Inception Chevrolet 31 laps Scott Speed Whitney Ford 24 laps Travis Kvapil Front Row Ford 12 laps