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It's not how you start the race -- or run the entire race which matters. It's how you finish.

Nobody's leard the valuable lesson of finishing more than six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. The driver of the iconic No. 48 for Hendrick Motorsports passed Brad Keselowski late to grab the win in the 500 mile affair at Texas Motor Speedway.

While Keselowski led over 300 laps, Johnson only led 6.

"I just like to race guys clean," Johnson said. "I kept working on him and working on him. I'm just so excited for everybody back at Hendrick Motorsports for digging in and working hard. So nice to get this 48 back in victory lane."

Brad Keselowski still finished in the runner-up position and while it seems like a great finish but not for a driver who needs a win to advance to the NASCAR Homestand finale. Keselowski, who led 312 of the race's 334 laps, knows a win is paramount.

"It was a good race at the end," Keselowski explained. "We led a lot of laps. A lot to be proud of. Came up one spot short, which is unfortunate. But still we had a great day. Just one step short of having the awesome day we needed to have. But we know if we keep running like we have the last two weeks, you know, we'll win races. We need to win the next two, I understand that. But I think we have a great opportunity to do it, as well."

Kevin Harvick like numerous other drivers battled tire issues but managed to survive and grab a third place finish. Harvick, who faced problems with the shifter as well and had to drive with one hand, led 11 laps en route to a third place finish.

ìWe just hung in there and fought like weíve done the last two years to make something out of the day there at the end,î Harvick said. ìIíve never had to drive a car with one hand that long. Iíve had to drive them with one arm on occasion, but never for 100 laps. We got lucky today that two flat tires didnít tear the back of the car off or the motor didnít blow up when the car popped out of gear.î

Kyle Busch took home a fourth place finish and now sits in prime position heading into the round finale in Phoenix next week. While Busch understands the position Keselowski is in he believes Johnson being a non-Chase contender and winning is best for his team.

"There's no denying that certainly us as the 18 car cheering for the 48 helps our situation," Busch explained. "It makes those guys that are in dire need of a win to have to work hard for it. Sometimes you can't put yourself in that situation. It may or may not have been his own doing last week at Martinsville. It's unfortunate for Brad. I've been in that situation before, maybe never to that magnitude of losing a race quite like that. I've lost plenty of them that way for sure, and probably even a couple of them to Superman. It's frustrating I'm sure for Brad.  

"For what we got going, to focus on the 18 car, it was a good thing for us today."

Carl Edwards finished in fifth place with Dale Earnhardt, Jr, Kurt Busch, Martin Truex, Jr, Jeff Gordon and Jamie McMurray rounding out the top ten finishers.

The race took a dramatic turn early when Joey Logano was forced to the garage after suffering a blown left rear tire which caused massive damage to the rear end of the No. 22 AAA Ford.

"We needed to win," Logano said. "We arenít out of it though. This team isnít quitting yet. We will go out there and gain a couple points, which donít mean anything but we will go to Phoenix and try to win that one. It is unfortunate. It just wasnít in God's plan today.î

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race Number 34
Unofficial Race Results for the 11Th Annual Aaa Texas 500 - Sunday, November 8, 2015
Texas Motor Speedway - Fort Worth, TX - 1.5 Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 334 Laps - 501 Miles - Purse: $7,075,075

Leader
Fin    Str    Car    Driver    Team    Laps    Pts    Bns    Driver Rating    Winnings    Status    Tms    Laps
1    8    48    Jimmie Johnson    Lowe's Chevrolet    334    47    4    124.0    $462,976    Running    2    6
2    1    2    Brad Keselowski    Wurth Ford    334    44    2    145.0    $394,391    Running    7    312
3    2    4    Kevin Harvick    Budweiser/Jimmy John's Chevrolet    334    42    1    118.2    $280,475    Running    2    11
4    3    18    Kyle Busch    M&M's Crispy Toyota    334    41    1    112.8    $242,766    Running    1    1

5    13    19    Carl Edwards    Sport Clips Toyota    334    39        108.1    $170,575    Running        
6    10    88    Dale Earnhardt Jr.    Kelley Blue Book Chevrolet    334    38        98.6    $171,240    Running        
7    7    41    Kurt Busch    Haas Automation Chevrolet    334    37        100.7    $162,615    Running        
8    23    78    Martin Truex Jr.    Furniture Row/Visser Precision Chevrolet    334    37    1    113.9    $160,910    Running    1    1
9    18    24    Jeff Gordon    Axalta Chevrolet    334    35        96.9    $172,351    Running        
10    27    1    Jamie McMurray    Cessna Chevrolet    334    34        87.9    $158,556    Running        
11    26    3    Austin Dillon    Dow Packaging/H-E-B Chevrolet    334    33        84.1    $156,576    Running        
12    6    20    Erik Jones(i)    DeWalt Toyota    334    0        92.4    $153,326    Running        
13    20    27    Paul Menard    Schrock/Menards Chevrolet    334    31        75.7    $120,440    Running        
14    21    33    Brian Scott(i)    Shore Lodge Chevrolet    334    0        83.0    $127,748    Running        
15    14    15    Clint Bowyer    Maxwell House Toyota    334    29        80.8    $142,973    Running        
16    11    10    Danica Patrick    GoDaddy Chevrolet    334    28        69.6    $116,140    Running        
17    30    47    AJ Allmendinger    Kroger/Scott Products Chevrolet    334    27        74.3    $137,398    Running        
18    24    43    Aric Almirola    Smithfield Ford    334    26        68.8    $143,526    Running        
19    12    16    Greg Biffle    Ortho Ford    333    25        71.2    $137,148    Running        
20    16    5    Kasey Kahne    Farmers Insurance Chevrolet    333    24        78.3    $120,765    Running        
21    28    17    Ricky Stenhouse Jr.    Fastenal Ford    333    23        66.0    $113,540    Running        
22    19    31    Ryan Newman    Quicken Loans Chevrolet    333    22        81.8    $137,240    Running        
23    15    55    David Ragan    Aaron's Online Dream Machine Toyota    333    21        60.0    $132,079    Running        
24    32    9    Sam Hornish Jr.    Sonic Ford    332    20        60.9    $130,910    Running        
25    36    40    Landon Cassill(i)    CRC/O'Reilly Auto Parts Chevrolet    331    0        52.2    $104,265    Running        
26    17    13    Casey Mears    GEICO Military Chevrolet    330    18        55.5    $126,123    Running        
27    39    35    Cole Whitt    Moen Ford    330    17        45.2    $115,398    Running        
28    43    51    Justin Allgaier    Texas Lottery Chevrolet    330    16        47.2    $120,587    Running        
29    41    38    David Gilliland    Love's Travel Stops Ford    329    16    1    40.5    $108,340    Running    1    1
30    35    34    Brett Moffitt #    Visit Dallas Ford    329    14        45.8    $103,130    Running        
31    37    46    Michael Annett    Pilot Flying J Chevrolet    329    13        37.0    $99,915    Running        
32    40    23    Jeb Burton #    Dr Pepper/Estes Toyota    329    12        33.7    $99,690    Running        

33    34    26    JJ Yeley(i)    Overture Promotions Toyota    329    0        41.3    $99,473    Running    1    1
34    33    95    Michael McDowell    Tommy Williams Drywall Ford    328    10        42.0    $99,240    Running        
35    38    83    Matt DiBenedetto #    Dustless Blasting Toyota    328    10    1    32.8    $99,040    Running    1    1
36    42    98    Ryan Preece    Xyience Chevrolet    326    8        28.9    $98,810    Running        
37    5    42    Kyle Larson    Target Plaid Chevrolet    304    7        86.9    $126,510    Accident        
38    9    11    Denny Hamlin    FedEx Office Toyota    304    6        45.1    $111,852    Running        
39    29    6    Trevor Bayne    AdvoCare Ford    296    5        50.8    $134,355    Running        
40    4    22    Joey Logano    AAA Insurance Ford    268    4        44.1    $132,988    Running        
41    31    7    Alex Bowman    Nikko RC/Toy State Chevrolet    236    3        42.3    $81,780    Engine        
42    22    14    Tony Stewart    Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet    52    2        39.5    $104,994    Accident        
43    25    21    Ryan Blaney(i)    Snap-On Tools Ford    26    0        30.8    $74,280    Accident        
 Race Comments:    Jimmie Johnson won the AAA Texas 500, his 75th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory. Prior to the start of the race, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reasons indicated: Nos. 98 (engine change) and 14 (missed driver introductions). 
 Failed to Qualify:    (2) 32 Joey Gase(i), 62 Reed Sorenson.
 Time of Race:    03 Hrs, 38 Mins, 38 Secs.    Average Speed:    137.490 MPH    Margin of Victory:    1.082 Seconds
 Caution Flags:    9 for 47 laps: Laps: 11-17 (#22 Spin Turn 3 [None]); 26-29 (#21 Accident Turn 2 / Competition [None]); 37-41 (Debris Frontstretch [None]); 53-57 (#14 Spin Frontstretch [88]); 102-106 (Debris Frontstretch [17]); 150-154 (Debris Backstretch [6]); 169-172 (#88 Spin Turn 4 [27]); 198-203 (#6 Accident Turn 2 [88]); 311-316 (Debris Turn 2 [20]).
 Lead Changes:    15 among 8 drivers: B. Keselowski 1-17; K. Harvick 18-26; M. DiBenedetto # 27; B. Keselowski 28-41; Kyle Busch 42; B. Keselowski 43-53; D. Gilliland 54; J. Yeley(i) 55; B. Keselowski 56-251; J. Johnson 252-253; B. Keselowski 254-297; K. Harvick 298-299; B. Keselowski 300-316; M. Truex Jr. 317; B. Keselowski 318-330; J. Johnson 331-334.
Top 16 Driver Points:     (1) J. Gordon 4,082;(2) Kyle Busch 4,080;(3) K. Harvick 4,079;(4) M. Truex Jr. 4,076;(5) C. Edwards 4,069;(6) B. Keselowski 4,057;(7) Kurt Busch 4,048;(8) J. Logano 4,013;(9) D. Earnhardt Jr. 2,259;(10) D. Hamlin 2,257;(11) R. Newman 2,253;(12) J. Johnson 2,240;(13) J. Mcmurray 2,235;(14) P. Menard 2,208;(15) M. Kenseth 2,197;(16) C. Bowyer 2,153.
3M Lap Leader    : Kevin Harvick, #4 11 Laps    American Ethanol Green Flag Restart Award    : Brad Keselowski, #2 
Coors Light Pole Award    : Brad Keselowski, #2 196.929 mph    Ingersoll Rand Power Move    : Kurt Busch, #41 5 positions
Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race    : Roush-Yates Engines, #2     Mobil 1 Driver of the Race    : Kevin Harvick, #4 
Moog Chassis Parts Problem Solver of the Race    : Jamie McMurray, #1 0.164 sec.    Sherwin-Williams Fastest Lap    : Kyle Busch, #18 
Sunoco Rookie of the Race    : Brett Moffitt, #34 
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race:    Nov. 15, 2015 - Phoenix International Raceway
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