Kurt Busch won today’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. This moved him up two championship positions, placing him 4th in the Chase for the Cup with just two races left to complete in 2009.

The other chase contenders weren’t so lucky however, with many of them finishing at the back of the pack. This included Carl Edwards who finished 39th, the current championship leader Jimmie Johnson who finished 38th, Juan Montoya who finished 37th, and Kasey Kahne who finished 33rd.

Though Johnson’s championship position didn’t change, he did lose a large portion of his lead, which fell to just 73 points after going into the race 184 points ahead of the second place contender, Mark Martin.

Top Finishers in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Dickies 500:

Pos  No  Driver               Make
  1   2  Kurt Busch           Dodge
  2  11  Denny Hamlin         Toyota
  3  17  Matt Kenseth         Ford
  4   5  Mark Martin          Chevrolet
  5  29  Kevin Harvick        Chevrolet
  6  14  Tony Stewart         Chevrolet
  7  33  Clint Bowyer         Chevrolet
  8  16  Greg Biffle          Ford
  9  31  Jeff Burton          Chevrolet
 10  44  A.J. Allmendinger    Ford

Top Teams in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship:

Pos  Driver               Points  Behind
  1  Jimmie Johnson         6297  Leader
  2  Mark Martin            6224     -73
  3  Jeff Gordon            6185    -112
  4  Kurt Busch             6126    -171
  5  Tony Stewart           6119    -178
  6  Juan Montoya           6061    -236
  7  Greg Biffle            6050    -247
  8  Denny Hamlin           5975    -322
  9  Ryan Newman            5973    -324
 10  Kasey Kahne            5898    -399
 11  Carl Edwards           5857    -440
 12  Brian Vickers          5777    -520
       ^Chase for the Sprint Cup^
 13  Kyle Busch             4183   -2114
 14  Matt Kenseth           4151   -2146
 15  Clint Bowyer           4078   -2219

Related Links:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: Series Information, Schedule, Standings, Past Champions, News, Videos