Jimmie Johnson took victory at Texas Motor Speedway in another NASCAR Sprint Cup race overshadowed by a another post-race brawl featuring Brad Keselowski.

Keselowski and Jeff Gordon and their respective crews became embroiled in a huge pitlane fight in response to a clash between the Penske Ford and Hendrick Chevrolet during one of the many late restarts, leaving both drivers battered and bruised.

Hendrick duo Johnson and Gordon each had dominant spells, but a plethora of caution periods and tire gambles mixed up the final part of the race. Gordon was relegated to 29th when Keselowski collided with him on the first attempt at a green-white-checkered finish.

Keselowski escaped unscathed and ended up third behind Johnson and Kevin Harvick after a close battle on the final restart, but was greeted by a furious Gordon as soon as he reached the pits. Kyle Busch, Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr. completed the top six.

“We drove down into Turn 1, and he just decided to body-slam us and cut our left-rear tire,” an irate Gordon said after wading through a mass of crewmen to get to Keselowski. “It ruined our night. It ruined our chances, ruined our night, might have even ruined our Chase hopes.

“It’s just uncalled for. I had to show my displeasure. It got ugly down there, obviously, and you know that’s alright. A lot of things are going to happen in the next couple of weeks.”

Keselowski was unapologetic.

“I’m not trying to dish out something that I couldn’t take myself,” Keselowski said. “But these guys have their own code, and they race differently than that. That’s their right. We’ll go through these battles. I’ve gone through them before and come out stronger. I’ll go through them again and come out stronger, a better racecar driver.

Like Earnhardt at Martinsville last week, Johnson was a non-Chase-eligible winner, meaning that at least three of the four title contenders at the Homestead finale will qualify via points not victories.

“I saw a little bit on the big screen going down the back straightaway,” said Johnson. “I would definitely have to go to the tape and watch and see what happened there. I know that second-to-last restart, I got hit from behind and I know Brad got to my outside, and I guess in the process of running into me and getting to the outside lane he ruffled some feathers.

Denny Hamlin ended the race in the Chase points lead via a 10th-place finish, just behind fellow title contender Carl Edwards.

Chase drivers Joey Logano, Ryan Newman and poleman Matt Kenseth could only manage 12th, 15th and 25th amid various pit and tire-related delays.

Results - 341 laps:
Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet       3h52m05.000s
 2.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +0.513s
 3.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                   +0.753s
 4.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota              +0.971s
 5.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet             +1.319s
 6.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet            +1.620s
 7.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet             +1.953s
 8.  Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +2.083s
 9.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford             +2.273s
10.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +2.395s
11.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +2.773s
12.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                   +3.150s
13.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford             +3.439s
14.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Chevrolet       +3.453s
15.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet           +3.750s
16.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota                +4.127s
17.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet           +4.147s
18.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet             +4.228s
19.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet       +4.402s
20.  Justin Allgaier     HScott Chevrolet              +4.486s
21.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet           +4.590s
22.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet             +4.684s
23.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford             +4.851s
24.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                    +5.127s
25.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +5.783s
26.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                     +5.912s
27.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                    +6.060s
28.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               +10.596s
29.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet             -1 lap
30.  Michael McDowell    Leavine Ford                  -3 laps
31.  JJ Yeley            BK Toyota                     -3 laps
32.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                -3 laps
33.  Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet             -4 laps
34.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                -6 laps
35.  Timmy Hill          Circle Sport Chevrolet        -7 laps
36.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        -9 laps
37.  Joey Gase           Go FAS Ford                  -11 laps

Retirements:

     Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           319 laps
     Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford           318 laps
     Brett Moffitt       Robinson Toyota              283 laps
     Jose Wise           Parsons Chevrolet            256 laps
     Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                    245 laps
     Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet            134 laps

Originally on Autosport.com

Quotes courtesy NASCAR Wire Service