Keys to the race | Some of the bigger moments in Sunday's Dickies 500 at Texas

DAVID POOLE

The Charlotte Observer

Sunday, Nov. 04, 2007

Some of the key moments in Sunday's running of the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway:

Lap 248

Clint Bowyer comes to pit road with a loose left-rear wheel. Since he'd taken only right-side tires on his previous stop, the team believes the problem is on the right. But the time Bowyer gets the problem resolved, he has lost a lap and seen his long-shot championship hopes virtually disappear.

Lap 303

Jimmie Johnson's crew gives him four tires on the final pit stop and gets him off pit road ahead of Martin Truex, Kurt Busch and Kyle Busch, who also take four. Johnson is behind three cars that change only two tires, but there's enough racing left that four tires will be a big advantage.

Lap 324

With Johnson and Kenseth battling side-by-side for the lead, Kenseth's Ford wiggles badly as he comes off Turn 4. Had Kenseth not been able to catch the car, he and Johnson both might have wrecked. But Kenseth did hold on and the great finish kept building.

Lap 333

Johnson had been a nose ahead when he and Kenseth crossed the line on Lap 332, but it wasn't until the No. 48 Chevrolet managed to clear Kenseth's Ford that the lead - and Johnson's third straight victory - was secure.

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