Edwards wins in Texas to close NASCAR gap

By Lewis Franck

FORT WORTH, Texas (Reuters) - A dicey fuel gamble paid off for Carl Edwards on Sunday as he won his second NASCAR victory in a row to narrow the margin on Sprint Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson.

Edwards won the Spring race here at Texas Motor Speedway on his last tank of fuel and shaved 77 points off Johnson's lead. He now trails by 106 points with two races remaining in the Chase to the Sprint Cup.

"We're closing the gap on Jimmie, that's cool" said a jubilant Edwards who had dominated for most of the 334-lap 500-mile (805km) race.

The key to Edwards' victory was the decision to race the last 69 laps without pitting for fuel. It was touch-and-go with his team fearing he may come up short and telling him to conserve fuel.

Johnson, seeking his third-straight title, finished a disappointing 15th in a bad handling Chevrolet.

"Frustrating, we thought we could do better than that," he said, before adding optimistically "it's still not over."

Jeff Gordon finished second with Jamie McMurray, Edwards' team mate finishing third.

Next week the stock car series goes to Phoenix, Arizona and concludes the following week in Miami, Florida.

(Editing by Ossian Shine)