NEXTEL CUP Johnson is Southern 500 winner; 'Chase' drama heightens

Kurt Busch still leads, but the top five positions are tight.
DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) -- Jeff Gordon was disgusted and Dale Earnhardt Jr. was disappointed.
Emotions were running high after the Southern 500 on Sunday, with both Gordon and Earnhardt losing ground in the Nextel Cup championship.
They were a long way off from Jimmie Johnson, who used a season sweep at Darlington Raceway to pull within striking distance of his first title. Then there was Kurt Busch, who once again overcame every obstacle to retain his lead in the standings.
The result is the closest points race in NASCAR history heading into the season finale next weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Just 82 points separate Busch the leader, from fifth-place Mark Martin.
Uncharted territory
"This is what we have now with the points structure, a playoff system where everybody is on edge, everybody has to make those split-second decisions and drive the same way," Busch said. "There's no real template on what to do because this has never been done before."
The title is up for grabs among drivers so skilled that it's not a question of who will win it, rather who will lose it.
Gordon thinks he came awfully close to giving up his chance Sunday.
He was the most dominant driver at Darlington, leading three times for a race-high 155 laps. But a mistake in the pits cost him the victory. His car came down on an air hose, causing a delay that cost them the lead as they pulled it out from under a tire and continued on with the pit stop.
Gordon wound up third, and is third in the standings, 21 points behind Busch.
"Mistakes happen. I've made them, everybody makes them," he said. "But right now at this time in the game in this championship, that cost us a lot. I'm pretty disappointed."
Pit practice needed
He sounded pretty angry, too, especially when he said "extra pit practice" would be essential this week in preparation for the finale.
Earnhardt had his struggles, as well.
His battery went dead late in the race, and only a timely caution helped him avoid a disastrous finish. His crew had time to change the battery under caution, and he salvaged an 11th-place finish. But he lost ground in the Chase. He's fourth, 72 points back.
"That's too many, too many points," he said. "We'll go to Homestead and, damn, try our best. But that's a lot of points for one race, especially the way Jimmie and Jeff ran at the test at Homestead, the way they always run, and the way they've run lately.
"We'll have to be lucky. Need to be good, too. It's hard to be both at the same time."
Busch has mastered that.
Lead intact
He battled an ill-handling car throughout the race but still eked out a sixth-place finish. He left Darlington with his lead intact, and has an 18-point advantage over Johnson.
"That's what it takes for any team to win a championship -- to prosper from a horrible day," Busch said. "We feel as if we dodged a bullet."
But no one is in better position that Johnson, who went from ninth place and seemingly out of title contention six weeks ago to within striking distance of his first championship.
He has won four of the past five races to slice his deficit from 247 out to right on Busch's bumper.
Johnson has dedicated his season to the 10 people killed when a Hendrick Motorsports plane crashed Oct. 24 en route to the race at Martinsville Speedway.
"Fighting our way back in this championship with what took place with the airplane and Hendrick Motorsports, I just can't believe it," he said. "We have eight wins now in the season with everyone still healing from the loss over everybody on that airplane.
Good medicine
"That void inside of me just isn't filled, but this certainly helps. This is good medicine. We'll just keep rolling with it."
Johnson, who gave his crew credit for getting him to the lead late in the race with two fast pit stops, had to overtake rookie Kasey Kahne and Jamie McMurray after they stayed out when the other leaders pitted for tires during the last of eight caution periods.
Johnson's Chevrolet beat Martin's Ford to the finish line to give him his second Darlington win this year.