NASCAR At Texas Motor Speedway: Tony Stewart Holds Off Carl Edwards To Cut Chase Lead

Here are some selected quotes from the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers following Sunday’s Chase race at Texas Motor Speedway, which was won by Tony Stewart. Click here for the complete NASCAR Texas race results.

Tony Stewart (finished first): “I mean, we did what we said we were going to do. We’re going to take it if we want it. Today is a perfect example. We took five points off that deficit today. We have that ability to do that the next two weeks.”

And then there were two.

It certainly looked like Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart were going to battle it out for the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship after Martinsville, but Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski were still hanging around at the time.

Michael McDowell had a tremendous opportunity on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway: Driving Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 18 car while the suspended Kyle Busch sat atop the team’s pit box and watched.

Unfortunately for McDowell, the driver change meant the No. 18 would have to start at the rear of the field. And with a long, green-flag run to open the race, McDowell and his temporary team never got much of a chance to work on the car.

There are just 712 more miles in the 2011 NASCAR season – and no one has any idea who will win the Sprint Cup Series championship.

Sure, we know the champ will almost certainly be one of two people – Chase leader Carl Edwards or Texas Motor Speedway winner Tony Stewart, who trails by just three points.

Tony Stewart and Carl Edwards are the top two championship contenders, and they proved that by battling for the win Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway.

Stewart, though, came out on top.

It’s NASCAR race day at Texas Motor Speedway, and we’ve got the actual race start time, the starting lineup and some other facts about the AAA Texas 500 for you below.

The following is a letter written by Kyle Busch to his fans, sponsors, teammates, competitors and fellow members of the racing community.

Busch was suspended from NASCAR competition on Saturday morning for his actions in Friday night’s Camping World Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Very little has changed to my NASCAR weather forecast for Texas Motor Speedway. The rest of the day Saturday will be mostly sunny and fair. It will be cool with temperatures only reaching the low-to-mid 60s, and it will also be very windy with sustained winds out of the south-southeast at 15-to-20 mph and gusts up to 27 or 30 mph.

Sunday’s weather forecast for the Sprint Cup race has also not changed, there is still a small threat of scattered showers or isolated thunderstorms.

Kyle Busch’s intentional wreck of Ron Hornaday has resulted in the first NASCAR suspension for an on-track action toward another competitor since 2002.

NASCAR President Mike Helton announced Saturday morning the Joe Gibbs Racing driver has been parked “for the balance of the weekend,” meaning he will not be able to participate in Sunday’s Sprint Cup Series race or today’s Nationwide race at Texas Motor Speedway.

NASCAR parked Kyle Busch after an early incident in Friday evening’s NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, also calling him to the NASCAR hauler at the conclusion of the event.

The move came after Busch intentionally wrecked championship contender Ron Hornaday Jr. under caution 15 laps into the 147-lap event. The two made contact racing around a slower truck, forcing Busch up the track and into the wall.

Conventional wisdom had the Roush Fenway Racing cars coming to Texas Motor Speedway with plenty of speed – as the team often has at 1.5-mile tracks this season.

It appears the conventional wisdom was correct.

David Reutimann, unceremoniously dumped from his Michael Waltrip Racing ride this week in favor of Mark Martin, told reporters Friday at Texas Motor Speedway that he’s struggling with his firing.

“It’s hard for me not to take it personal,” Reutimann told several media members, including Landmark Newspapers’ Dustin Long. “I’m an emotional guy anyway, so it’s hard for me not to take everything personal. People telling me it’s just business, really doesn’t make it any better. It’s still a disappointment.”

Until Friday, all we knew about Danica Patrick’s 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series schedule with Stewart-Haas Racing was the GoDaddy girl would start her Cup career with the Daytona 500.

Now we know the rest of it. Almost.

Danica Patrick is paying tribute to the late Dan Wheldon at Texas Motor Speedway this weekend, running a paint scheme and helmet honoring her former IndyCar Series colleague.

Wheldon, who was killed in the IndyCar season finale last month at Las Vegas, will have his trademark “Lionheart” logo on the black hood of Patrick’s Nationwide Series car.

Childress’ comments came during a news conference at Texas Motor Speedway announcing Advocare as a 20-race sponsor for Dillon, his grandson, when the young driver moves up to the Nationwide Series next season.

Dillon is currently leading the Camping World Truck Series point standings with two races remaining.

Calling it a “big day for Michael Waltrip Racing,” team owner Michael Waltrip announced Friday his Toyota-backed organization has signed Mark Martin to drive a partial schedule for at least the next two seasons.

Martin will drive the No. 00 car – the so-called “Aaron’s Dream Machine” – for 25 Sprint Cup Series races in 2012 and 2013. He replaces David Reutimann, who had been with the team since it began.

The

FRIDAY:

1:30 p.m ET

Sprint Cup Practice – Mostly cloudy – temp: 68

3:30 p.m ET

Nationwide Final Practice – Mostly cloudy – temp: 75

5:30 p.m ET

Sprint Cup Final Practice– Mostly cloudy – temp: 76

SATURDAY:

12 p.m ET

Nationwide Qualifying – Clouds and sunshine – temp: 63

1:30 p.m ET

Sprint Cup Qualifying – Clouds and sunshine – temp: 67

3:30 p.m ET

Nationwide Race – Partly Sunny skies – temp: 72

SUNDAY:

3 p.m ET

Sprint Cup Race – Mostly cloudy, cooler, possible shower – temp: 67