It was a day of desperation for Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle, who started the day needing to run up front all day long and hope Jimmie Johnson faltered.  Both things happened today, but it didn't come without plenty of drama.

Jeff Gordon led the field down for the green flag and led the first 14 laps before being passed by Clint Bowyer.  Gordon struggled early on, but took a gamble on fuel at the end of the race, and hung on for a 2nd place finish.  It was still no win for Gordon at Texas, but you have to figure that it probably felt like a victory for the #24 team considering how much Jeff Gordon loathes Texas Motor Speedway.  When Gordon began to fall back in the early going, David Reutimann was moving up through the field quite nicely.  Juan Montoya moved up fast from his 26th starting spot, and had a guaranteed top 10 car, but would find trouble late in the race.  Reutimann took over the lead from Clint Bowyer on lap 48.  Reutimann would end the day in 10th position, another solid performance for the 44 team, who have been running exceptionally well nearly every week since their 9th place finish in California back on Labor Day Weekend.

The race was caution free for the early going, and that led to green flag pit stops around lap 50.  Dale Jr. stayed out to lead a lap, then pitted and yielded the lead to Dave Blaney.  By the next lap, Blaney came down pit road, which cycled the lead back to Clint Bowyer.  But just 2 laps later, Carl Edwards took the lead, and for the most part, never looked back.  Bowyer would still have a very strong run, ending the day in 4th place.  Edwards had not even cleared Clint Bowyer for the lead when the first caution of the day came out on that same lap, 57, for Reed Sorenson's smoking car.  Sorenson broke an oil line.  He would finish 6 laps down in 37th position.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. thought he had a loose wheel from the pit stop he made less than 5 laps earlier, and led a line of cars down pit road.  Following the restart, 2 more Roushketeers found their way to 2nd and 3rd behind teammate Carl Edwards.  Biffle would lead a couple laps during green flag pit stops late in the race and finish 5th.  McMurray led 56 laps when he and some other drivers took 2 tires and got out ahead of Edwards, and McMurray finished 3rd.  It was another dominating day by the Roushketeers, as David Ragan was the lowest finisher of Jack Roush's 5 drivers, and he finished on the lead lap in 11th position...1st, 3rd, 5th, 9th, and 11th...not too shabby!

Meanwhile, as Carl Edwards is setting sail on the field, Jimmie Johnson is falling like a rock.  He went a lap down to Carl Edwards on lap 94, and never made it up.  Johnson would keep fighting and would finish 15th, but it still was a huge points swing, as the 48 team finally proved they're not invincible.  Chalk up today's race as Jimmie Johnson's mulligan.  Carl Edwards stayed one step ahead of him all day.  Edwards lapped Michael Waltrip a few laps later, and that was the end of Johnson's hopes, as he and Chad Knaus did everything humanly possible, but they were never the first car one lap down after that.

Another long green flag run led to another round of green flag pit stops.  Lap 143 brought out the second caution of the day for debris, and the lucky dog went to Tony Stewart.  As I said, Jimmie Johnson was never able to get back on the lead lap.  After the restart, Juan Montoya is running like a madman through the top 10.  He's up to seventh and digging for more.  Carl Edwards is pickin' 'em up and puttin' 'em down, and there are only 13 cars on the lead lap after another long green flag run and the 3rd set of green flag pit stops.  Caution #3 waves for debris with 94 laps to go.  The ledaders hit pit road.  After the restart, Kyle Busch passes David Reutimann for 2nd position.  Shrub would lead 2 laps, but would have to settle for a 6th-place finish.  As soon as Shrub passes Reutimann, Travis Kvapil slides through the grass on the front stretch, bringing out caution #4.

Carl Edwards brings the field down for the restart on lap 251.  11 laps later, David Gilliland squeezes Juan Montoya into the wall off turn 2.  On the next lap, Montoya just taps Gilliland as if to say "let me by, you are several laps down and out of contention, whereas I am in the top 10 and have a car that can contend for the win today."  Then, as they come off turn 2, Gilliland is on the outside as Montoya goes to complete the pass.  Gilliland then turns dead left and hooks Montoya straight into the outside wall, a clearly intentional move.  Gilliland claims it was accidental, but if that was accidental, then Ed Hochuli hasn't blown a call this year.  Montoya, after an awesome run, would finish 43rd.  David Gilliland was called to the NASCAR hauler following the race.  He was parked for 5 laps for aggressive driving, and eventually wound up being parked for the remainder of the race, and would finish 42nd.  I expect a hefty fine from NASCAR in the way of both dollars AND points this week.  Keep an eye out for updates on David Gilliland's punishment.  If I were NASCAR, I'd park him for Phoenix.  They parked Kevin Harvick for an incident in the Truck Series a few years ago, and they should do the same thing here.  This was the most boneheaded move I've seen all season, and he could've seriously hurt Juan Montoya.  Luckily Montoya is just fine, but congratulations, David Gilliland, you have just earned my DUMBA$$ OF THE YEAR AWARD!

After this restart is the point where Jamie McMurray leads the field for a while.  Fuel mileage is now coming into play.  With 20 laps to go, Kyle Busch and A.J. Allmendinger hit pit road.  Allmendinger gets today's D'OH award, as he got penalized for a commitment cone violation.  A lap later, word comes out that the 99 team is going to try to make it the rest of the way on fuel.  On lap 319, Jamie McMurray hits pit road, yielding the lead to teammate Greg Biffle.  On the next lap, Biffle pits, yielding the lead to Edwards.  The 88 bunch also decide to gamble, as they're out of championship contention and have absolutely nothing to lose now.  Jeff Gordon also is trying to take the gamble.  With 10 laps to go, Edwards can afford to conserve some fuel, as he's 10.6 seconds ahead of Earnhardt Jr.  With 6 laps to go, Dale Jr. hits pit road for fuel, but the car won't fire.  The gamble backfired for the 88 as he's out of fuel, and would finish 2 laps down.  Edwards and Gordon don't run out of fuel, however, and Edwards leads a total of 212 laps en route to the first ever season sweep of Texas Motor Speedway.

We've now got just 2 races to go, and Johnson's lead is now 103 points.  He lost 77 points today to Carl Edwards, who earned maximum points today.  Here's a look at the standings after Chase race #8...

1. Jimmie Johnson 6366
2. Carl Edwards -106
3. Greg Biffle -143
4. Jeff Burton -212
5. Jeff Gordon -255 (+1)
6. Clint Bowyer -267 (+1)
7. Kevin Harvick -279 (-2)
8.  Matt Kenseth -393 (+1)
9. Tony Stewart -404 (-1)
10. Kyle Busch -428 (+2)
11. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -429 (-1)
12. Denny Hamlin -431 (-1)

Next week, we head to Phoenix, where Jimmie Johnson will look to rebound, and Carl Edwards will hope for another falter by the 48 bunch.  If we have a repeat of today, Jimmie Johnson will be in serious trouble heading into Homestead, as he's been known to struggle there.  Don't miss next Sunday from Phoenix, same NASCAR time, same NASCAR station, 3 PM ET on ABC.  Until next time I'm your NASCAR VP hoping NASCAR rips David Gilliland a new a$$hole this week!

BK over and out