Johnson wins third straight race, takes Cup points lead

FORT WORTH, Texas - Jimmie Johnson won a dramatic side-by-side duel with Matt Kenseth, grabbing his third straight victory to win the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. More importantly Johnson wrested the NASCAR Nextel Cup points lead from Jeff Gordon with two races left in the NASCAR Chase for the championship.

The reigning Cup champion, Johnson erased a nine-point deficit and moved to a 30-point lead over Jeff Gordon, who finished seventh heading to Phoenix next weekend.

Johnson edged Kenseth by 94-hundredths of a second -- about 10 car-lengths. Clint Bowyer ran third.