Jimmie and Jeff or Jeff and Jimmie - no one else really matters at this point...

Third time’s a charm for Jimmie Johnson: he finally has the points lead! Jeff Gordon now uncomfortably sits thirty points out of first place with only two races left of the 2007 Nextel Cup Season.

In a 333-lap race, there were twelve caution flags and twenty-five lead changes. However, Jimmie Johnson roughed it out and was able to hold off Matt Kenseth to clinch his third consecutive win of the season.

"I knew it was going to be a battle to the end," Johnson commented after the race. "When it comes to winning these races, everybody's going to fight hard. I expected a good fight.”

Martin Truex Jr. started the “good fight” by brining the field through the first lap of the day. Shortly thereafter, Juan Pablo Montoya got around him and lead for ten laps until the first caution brought everyone down through the pits. Opting to take only two tires, Jeff Gordon was the man to beat off of pit road. Gordon barley had time to bring his car to full power when fifth-place qualifier AJ Allmendinger cut a tire and made contact with the wall.

After two successive cautions for debris on the track from Jeff Burton’s car, Kyle Busch passed his Hendrick Motorsport teammate for the lead. Green flag pits shook up the field until Kyle re-took the lead. Carl Edwards, who had clinched the Busch Series championship, was not faring well. By lap 117, he was already two laps down and running in the thirty-seventh spot. But there were drivers who were having a much worse day than Carl. JJ Yeley drew the fifth caution after spinning through the infield grass, while David Stremme collected Bill Elliott and Kyle Petty after blowing a tire.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. finally seemed to have a good car under him as he stayed out of the pits to take the top spot. However, when David Gilliland and Reed Sorenson drew the seventh caution flag due to spins, Kyle Busch was the driver in the lead. By lap 160, positions six through thirteen were filled by Chase contenders. Twenty laps later, another round of green flag stops began.

Kyle remained dominant until Denny Hamlin passed him once the pits had cycled through. AJ Allmendinger’s day went from bad to worse. After taking his car to the garage to be fixed, his car spun out in turn two and smacked the inside wall. Allmendinger wasn’t the last driver to have a meeting with the wall. Casey Mears got loose and slid into Tony Stewart, who walked away with minor damage. However, David Gilliland, Dale Jarrett, David Ragan, and Mark Martin were not as lucky.

Matt Kenseth continued to lead as Greg Biffle mimicked JJ Yeley and spun through the infield grass on lap 232. Pits under yellow conditions granted Denny Hamlin the lead, with Kenseth and Jimmie Johnson right behind him. Kenseth and Hamlin battled for the lead until lap 271, when Kenseth was finally able to pull away, while Hamlin made contact with the wall, ending his afternoon at Texas.

Jimmie Johnson took the lead away from Kenseth after a round of yellow pit stops, but was soon passed again by Kyle Busch.  Ryan Newman threw himself into the mix after caution flag twelve. Kenseth made short work of Newman, leaving him to be hunted down by Johnson. For the last ten laps of the race, Johnson and Kenseth duked it out, racing side-by-side until Johnson was finally able to gain some ground and leave Kenseth in his wake.

With his win, Johnson and teammate Gordon have eliminated all other drivers from the championship race. Third place Clint Bowyer now sits 181 points back. Gordon was stripped of his lead, and now finds himself uncomfortably thirty points behind.

"We just weren't very good right from the start. There at the end was the best we were all day and night. We made the most of it,” Gordon later said.

“Making the most of it” won’t be enough for Gordon next weekend. He, along with Johnson, will need to bring everything they have as they duke it out for the 2007 Nextel Cup Championship.