While all the tense battles of NASCAR’s Chase for the championship rage on, Tony Stewart is driving in a world of his own.

It just so happens that Stewart’s world is way out in front of the drama.

Just having fun and driving for wins — not a championship — Stewart overpowered the field Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. And he made this one look almost too easy: “Smoke” led 278 of 339 laps, including the five extra laps because of a late caution, and often was so far ahead that he appeared to be turning laps all by himself.

Most of the action was well behind him, where Jimmie Johnson quietly grabbed away the point lead from Matt Kenseth by 17 points with a second-place-place finish. Stewart had to go five laps beyond the scheduled 334 in the Dickies 500, thanks to a late caution flag, but easily raced away to his second straight victory and third in the seven Chase races run so far this year.

“I thought we had the perfect car all day,” Stewart said. “It was just an unbelievable day. I’ve been racing for 27 years and I can count on my hands the number of times I’ve had a car like that.”

Sunday’s race tightened up the championship, with Johnson, Kenseth, Dale Earnhardt Jr., rookie Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick separated by just 105 points with two races remaining. All of them finished among the top 12 Sunday.

“This was a wild night, but a good one for us, all in all,” said Johnson, who came into the race trailing Kenseth by 26 points. “We just have to keep working, keep running hard and scoring points.

“We’ve had so much fun racing for this since we got down (in the points) early. We just want to keep having fun,” said Johnson, who has three runner-up finishes and a win in his last four starts.

Harvick finished third, followed by Kyle Busch, rookie Clint Bowyer and Earnhardt, who had a miraculous day.

Earnhardt, still feeling the effects of the flu that has dogged him all week, hung in at his favorite track and kept his title hopes alive. Junior somehow overcame a sick stomach, a bounce off the wall, seven pit stops for repairs and a penalty for speeding on pit road to move from fourth to third, 78 points behind Johnson.

AP

RESULTS:

Pos St # Driver Sponsor Car Pts Status Laps

1 8 20 Tony Stewart The Home Depot Chevrolet 190 Running 339

2 5 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 175 Running 339

3 21 29 Kevin Harvick GM Goodwrench Chevrolet 165 Running 339

4 11 5 Kyle Busch Carquest Chevrolet 165 Running 339

5 14 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 160 Running 339

6 10 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevrolet 155 Running 339

7 25 42 Casey Mears Texaco/Havoline Dodge 146 Running 339

8 23 24 Jeff Gordon DuPont Chevrolet 142 Running 339

9 3 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 143 Running 339

10 6 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Chevrolet 134 Running 339

11 35 45 Kyle Petty Wells Fargo Dodge 130 Running 339

12 36 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 132 Running 339

13 27 66 Jeff Green Best Buy Chevrolet 124 Running 339

14 34 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 121 Running 339

15 15 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 118 Running 339

16 13 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios/Betty Crocker Dodge 115 Running 338

17 19 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 112 Running 338

18 16 01 Joe Nemechek U.S. Army Chevrolet 109 Running 338

19 41 96 Tony Raines DLP HDTV Chevrolet 106 Running 338

20 26 18 J.J. Yeley Interstate Batteries Chevrolet 108 Running 338

21 7 38 David Gilliland Combos Ford 100 Running 338

22 28 6 Mark Martin AAA Ford 97 Running 338

23 22 49 Mike Bliss RoadLoans.com Dodge 94 Running 338

24 17 40 David Stremme Lonestar Steakhouse Dodge 96 Running 338

25 37 4 Ward Burton Lucas Oil Chevrolet 88 Running 338

26 42 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 90 Running 338

27 1 25 Brian Vickers GMAC Chevrolet 87 Running 338

28 40 32 Travis Kvapil Tide/Downy Chevrolet 79 Running 337

29 20 88 Dale Jarrett UPS Ford 76 Running 334

30 33 78 Kenny Wallace Furniture Row Chevrolet 73 Running 333

31 12 10 Scott Riggs Stanley Tools/Valvoline Dodge 70 Accident 331

32 30 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Dodge 67 Running 330

33 4 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 69 Engine 328

34 24 12 Ryan Newman Alltel Dodge 61 Running 328

35 39 16 Greg Biffle National Guard Ford 58 Accident 324

36 43 44 Terry Labonte Kellogg’s Chevrolet 55 Running 316

37 2 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 52 Running 310

38 29 31 Jeff Burton Cingular Wireless Chevrolet 49 Running 269

39 9 7 Robby Gordon Menards Chevrolet 46 Engine 256

40 31 14 Sterling Marlin Waste Management Chevrolet 48 Accident 208

41 32 15 Paul Menard Menards Chevrolet 40 Engine 194

42 18 21 Ken Schrader Little Debbie Ford 37 Accident 173

43 38 55 Michael Waltrip NAPA Dodge 34 Engine 109