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Points leader Denny Hamlin was dominating Sunday's Sprint Cup race at Phoenix International Raceway, but a fuel miscalculation led to victory for Carl Edwards and a tightened Chase for the Cup.

Hamlin was up almost 60 points in the Chase standings over Jimmie Johnson before he pitted for gas with 14 laps remaining. Hamlin now takes a slim 15-point lead over Johnson into next week's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Harvick is still in reach at 46 points out.

Hamlin wound up 12th, Johnson was fifth and Harvick was sixth. Edwards broke a 70-race winless streak.

Travis Pastrana is headed to NASCAR, both as a driver and team owner, Pastrana-Waltrip Racing announced Thursday.

Pending NASCAR approval, the Moto X, X Games and American rally racing star plans to debut in the NASCAR Nationwide Series in 2011 under the Pastrana-Waltrip Racing banner, meaning he will own and drive Toyota Camrys provided to him by Michael Waltrip Racing.

For more, click here.

Denny Hamlin addresses the media after winning the AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway and taking first place in the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship.

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Jeff Gordon talks to reporters after he took to blows with Jeff Burton due to the crash that knocked him out of the AAA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway.

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Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage recaps the AAA 500 and its potential impact on the Sprint Cup Chase for the Championship.

Denny Hamlin took the checkered flag for the AAA Texas 500 to take over the Chase lead at TMS with only two races to go.

More Chase coverage from Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday:

* Monkeys, drivers fighting, a one-fingered salute to a NASCAR official and Jimmie Johnson changing pit crews mid-race. When the dust settled at TMS, Denny Hamlin was the winner -- and the new Chase leader. To read Terry Blount's recap of a wild afternoon, click here.

* Former Chase leader Jimmie Johnson's crew tripped up at TMS, and they knew it. Especially when they were replaced mid-race with the crew from Jeff Gordon's team after the No. 24 had wrecked. For David Newton's recap, click here.

* "Have At It, Boys" was taken to a whole new level after Jeff Gordon shoved Jeff Burton and took a few swings at him after a crash after the caution had come out on Lap 192. Click here to read more about their dust-up.

Brad Keselowski explains his excitement after winning his first NASCAR championship and handing Roger Penske the Nationwide title.

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Team owner Roger Penske, who won his first title on the NASCAR level at TMS, discusses how special the moment is to him.

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O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge winner Carl Edwards goes over the confidence he had in his car's speed at TMS.

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Danica Patrick details the challenges she endured at the O'Reilly Auto Parts Challenge at TMS.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Brad Keselowski has clinched the Nationwide season title by finishing third in Texas, giving owner Roger Penske his first championship in one of NASCAR's national series.

Keselowski, who had to finish only 21st or better to wrap up the driver's championship with two races left, crossed the line behind winner Carl Edwards and runner-up Kyle Busch on Saturday.

While Keselowski did celebratory doughnuts in his No. 22 Dodge, Edwards got the checkered flag and went into the stands to mark his 28th career Nationwide victory with fans.

Edwards charged ahead on the final restart, a green-white-checker finish that added five laps to the scheduled 200-lap race. Busch was denied a NASCAR-record sixth consecutive win at Texas.

ESPN NASCAR analyst Dale Jarrett joins Mike & Mike to preview the NASCAR Sprint Cup AAA Texas 500 race at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday.

 

Eddie Gossage has come up with a few schemes to sell tickets over the years, but Sunday will be a first. He'll have two monkeys -- Miki and Rocky -- selling programs at Texas Motor Speedway.

Texas Motor Speedway announced that Texas Rangers pitcher C.J. Wilson will drive the official pace car that leads the 43-car field to the green flag at Sunday's AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

It's a rare honor for Wilson, who helped the Rangers reach their first World Series. Usually, honored race guests ride along in the official pace car or drive a secondary pace vehicle. NASCAR granted special permission to TMS to let Wilson drive the lead pace car.

The only previous celebrity to drive the lead pace car at TMS was actor Vince Vaughn, who did it for the November 2007 Sprint Cup race.

The AAA Texas 500 is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT Sunday and will be televised on ESPN.

NASCAR Nationwide driver Danica Patrick tackles the "Terrifying 10" on The Ben and Skin Show. Can the guys get her to sing on the air? Listen and find out.

 

There is always some monkey business at Texas Motor Speedway.

This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, two trained capuchin monkeys - Miki and Rocky - will be found selling souvenir programs for the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race. We’ve enlisted the help of Miki and Rocky, both decked out in “No Limits” gear, to sell the newly redesigned souvenir program, with a “No Limits” cover and special insert featuring Stephanie, one of “The Great American Sweethearts.”

In December, the management teams of the Speedway Motorsports Inc., race tracks were talking about the decline of souvenir program sales in college and professional football. Some teams no longer produce souvenir programs. Fortunately souvenir program sales at races remain strong, in part because of the huge crowds.

Then SMI chairman Bruton Smith piped up: “Hey, a trained monkey could sell souvenir programs.” And he went into his explanation of how to properly sell souvenir programs, something derived from an almost 60-year career in motorsports.

But the idea stuck. I quickly committed it to memory and looked around the room to see if any of them were as smart as me to seize the idea. Clearly, by their performance since the meeting, none of them were quick enough to pounce on the idea. Or perhaps they didn’t think it was good enough. Me, I never question the chairman.

So my friends Miki and Rocky will make their first public appearance Friday, Nov. 5, from 2:30-4 p.m. at the Hot Rod Café in the infield. They will return and be stationed on the concourse at Gate 4 on Saturday, Nov. 6, from 9:30-11 a.m. prior to the start of the NASCAR Nationwide Series O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge race and Sunday, Nov. 7, from Noon-2 p.m. before the start of the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race.

We’re selling souvenir programs, Bruton. No monkeying around with that idea.

Amid speculation that Anheuser-Busch would not continue to sponsor the No. 9 car past last weekend's race at Talladega Superspeedway, Budweiser said Tuesday it will remain a sponsor for Richard Petty Motorsports for the final three Sprint Cup events of the season.

Aric Almirola, who replaced Kasey Kahne, will drive the No. 9 for the third straight race at Texas Motor Speedway. Kahne moved to Red Bull Racing, where he will compete full-time next season. All four RPM cars are entered in Sunday's race at TMS.

It may be championship weekend this week for the NASCAR Nationwide Series at Texas Motor Speedway.

Brad Keselowski has a commanding 485-point lead over Carl Edwards in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings. All he has to do is start the last three races of the 2010 season. But a finish of 21st or better in Saturday’s O’Reilly Challenge at Texas Motor Speedway will clinch the first NASCAR championship of Keselowski’s career.

Significantly, it will become the first NASCAR championship for team owner Roger Penske. He has won 12 Indy Car national championships and 15 Indianapolis 500 titles through the years – both records – but has never won a NASCAR championship of any kind. The closest Penske has come was 1993, when Rusty Wallace finished runner-up to Dale Earnhardt for the NASCAR Cup Series title.

In the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, point leader Todd Bodine can’t clinch at Texas. He maintains a 216-point lead over Aric Almirola following a somewhat disappointing 18th-place finish at Talladega Saturday. Bodine, though, could drive a stake through the heart of his competitors here at Texas. He has won six times at “The Great American Speedway” and has an average finishing position of 6.58. That’s strong.

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series has an extremely tight three-way point battle going on coming to Texas. Jimmie Johnson holds a razor-thin 14 point lead over Denny Hamlin. Third-place Kevin Harvick is only 38 points out of first. Any of the three could easily leave Texas with the point lead, heading into the final two events of the season.

One championship could be resolved, one championship could become clearer and one championship could be turned upside down this weekend.

Drama.

Okay, race fans, what do you want?

You asked for it. You got it. So it's on you. Show up or tune in. We got us a tight, tight point race heading into Texas. It is a dandy!

Jimmie Johnson's “drive for five,” a phrase he frowns at, is in serious jeopardy. Denny Hamlin is only 14 points back and Kevin Harvick is only 38 points behind. The points have tightened up so close it's juicy. The way the points are awarded, Harvick could easily be the leader once the checkered flag drops on Sunday's AAA Texas 500.

Sunday's Talladega race was unique ... the supposed wild card in the Chase. But all three championship contenders finished close together so the point standings merely tightened up. A bunch.

Like I said last week, Johnson isn't sleeping well -- again.

At Talladega due to restrictor plates choking the horsepower on the big, big Alabama track, the cars run in packs. One bobble and you can have the big one -- 10, 15, 20 car pileups. Through no fault of your own, the big one can take you and your championship hopes and throw them out the window. As a result, some -- like Johnson and Hamlin yesterday -- ride around all day long at the back of the field, well out of the way. The theory being that they can negotiate through the wreckage if they come along a half-mile to a mile behind any accidents.

The only flaw in the plan is that at the end of the race you have to get up there and race for the finish. And that's when the big one usually happens. It sorts of did on the last lap yesterday -- A.J. Almendinger flipped to bring out the caution -- but it had no effect on the three title contenders.

But none of this strategy works at Texas. The pressure on the three jacks up in a different way this week. You have to run hard, as hard as you can, all day long.

“I really think one of the three will have to finish in the top five the next three races,” said Harvick. “If you're not able to do that you are not going to win the championship. You can't be conservative.”

So the gloves come off this week. Bare knuckle brawl. Mano y mano. May the best man win. Have at it boys!

What do you want? You asked for it.