by Wire services , Contra Costa Times

Kurt Busch drove to Victory Lane at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth after his younger brother ran out of fuel with 2? laps left Sunday, finishing 129 laps ahead of the rebuilt car driven by Johnson, who saw his points lead slashed from 184 to 73 over Hendrick teammate Mark Martin with two races left.

"It was definitely not the day we wanted," Johnson said. "It's not as bad as it could have been. At one point I was told to hop out of car and I was done. ... It's still a big ouch."

Johnson, trying to become the first Sprint Cup driver to win four straight season titles, wrecked on the third lap when he was knocked into the wall by Sam Hornish. Johnson finished 38th after his crew needed more than an hour to repair and basically rebuild his No. 48 Chevrolet.

"We were in the wrong place at the wrong time," Johnson said.

Coming out of Turn 2, Hornish got loose after being tapped by David Reutimann. Hornish made contact with Johnson, who scraped the outside wall. It looked as if Johnson might save his car before he was hit again by Hornish, then slammed into the inside wall.

"By the time that I knew that I was hit, I was already sideways," Hornish said. "I was just trying to correct it and not get into the 48. Obviously, you don't ever want to detract from the championship when you're not really even involved in it."

Kurt Busch got his second victory of the season in the No. 2 Dodge with lame duck crew chief Pat Tryson, who is leaving at the end of the season to join Michael Waltrip Racing. Penske Racing only wants Tryson to visit its shop during the weekly competition meeting before races.

Busch's 20th career victory came with an average speed of 147.137 mph at the 1.5-mile oval and by a nearly 26-second margin over Denny Hamlin. Matt Kenseth was third.

Kyle Busch, who had already won the Nationwide and Camping World Truck races at Texas, was trying to become the first driver to win in all three of NASCAR's national series on the same weekend. He led 232 laps and was still ahead when his No. 18 Toyota slowed on the backstretch on lap 332.

"This is the first time Kyle and I raced each other hard," said Kurt Busch, who led six times for 89 laps while also running second behind his brother much of the race. "It's bittersweet, I was rooting for him, but at the same time this is for us. "

Kyle Busch had trouble refiring his car after his splash-and-dash stop and wound up 11th.

Dave Rogers, who made his debut as Kyle Busch's crew chief in Sprint Cup, said they thought they had enough fuel to finish the race and described the driver as "frustrated." Busch didn't talk to reporters.

Johnson returned to the track on lap 115, the front and rear of his car solid black after all the repairs. The front and rear suspensions and the drive shaft had been replaced, along with other repairs. Crew members from the teams of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. assisted in what looked like a makeshift body shop in the garage.

"His game has now changed. They have to definitely look over shoulder at whose behind him because the other guys feel he's vulnerable. Who knows," Kurt Busch said. "That's why we race the races. We don't do it on paper."

Motorcycles: Dani Pedrosa won the season-ending Valencia (Spain) Grand Prix ahead of world champion Valentino Rossi.chase for the Cup (After 8 of 10 races) Driver Points 1. Jimmie Johnson 6,297 2. Mark Martin 6,224 3. Jeff Gordon 6,185 4. Kurt Busch 6,126 5. Tony Stewart 6,119 6. Juan Pablo Montoya 6,061 7. Greg Biffle 6,050 8. Denny Hamlin 5,975 9. Ryan Newman 5,973 10. Kasey Kahne 5,898 11. Carl Edwards 5,857 12. Brian Vickers 5,777next race: Sunday, 11:30 a.m., NASCAR Sprint Cup's Checker O'Reilly Auto Parts 500, Phoenix International Raceway, Avondale, Ariz.

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