[media-credit name=”Dan Sanger” align=”alignright” width=”215″][/media-credit]Kevin Harvick ran away with the O’Reilly Auto Parts Challenge 300 win on Saturday night in Texas, but it was the battle for the championship that stole the show.

That however, didn’t come until the final laps of the race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who entered the day trailing Elliott Sadler by six points, trailed him on the track most of the event. Stenhouse fought a car that was all over the track and he quickly fell out of the top 10 as Sadler ran with the leaders.

But in the end the defending champions rose to the occasion. Stenhouse charged through the field following two late cautions, coming home fourth. Nice recovery for the driver who led a handful of laps and won at the facility back in April. He never earned a bonus point on Saturday, but ended up with all the points he needed.

“I didn’t think we would get it back to a top five car. We weren’t near as far behind as we were at Kansas though so it gave us a little hope,” said Stenhouse. “The cautions came out and we were able to work on it as much as we could and I don’t think there were any more adjustments we could do to it to get it tight enough.

“We took advantage on that second to last restart with 40 to go and got our track position and that was the best we could do. It was a great night for us but disappointed because we wanted the win.”

Never one to settle, Stenhouse’s performance follows an incredible comeback from two weeks ago. At Kansas he got into trouble early and ended up two laps down. Only to come back and win in the final corner of the final lap when Kyle Busch ran out of fuel. The last two weeks Stenhouse has gone from 13 points behind Sadler to the point lead.

Well, tied. Heading into Phoenix Stenhouse holds the tiebreaker in wins. Six to Sadler’s four. The NNS does not have a Chase for the Championship as the Sprint Cup Series does, except they fail to need one.

The two continue to outdo themselves and provide a memorable season. Sadler needed time to compose himself after the race before commenting on his night. He finished 11th after fading late and falling outside the top 10.

Stenhouse acknowledge his team had to again fight from behind, making big adjustments: track bars, putting in rubbers and four rounds in the left rear.

“It wasn’t a great night for us. We felt we had a better racecar in practice,” he said. “The first run we were too tight and made an adjustment. I didn’t think we made too big of an adjustment but it went 180 degrees the other way. After that we played catch up all night long and got it a little bit better.

“We restarted with 40 to go and were 11th and in a couple laps we had found our way up into fourth or fifth and I was able to maintain the track position a little better for us. It was a great points night and we battled back and now we go on to Phoenix.”

Phoenix was the second race of the 2012 season. Sadler won and Stenhouse finished third. The two again anticipate being the class of the field, but with much more on the line. And with much better racecars than each had on Saturday, too.

“It is going to take a better racecar than what we had today. We aren’t going to be able to comeback like that every week,” says Stenhouse. “That is two in a row we have done that. It is going to take better racecars but I think we are capable and I feel comfortable where we are.

“We have made gains on it the last two weeks to where we are tied now. Really, I guess all we have to do is tie. Last a year tie won it [in Sprint Cup] with the most wins and we have that right now. I feel good about where we are.”

Denny Hamlin is no stranger to run-ins with young Nationwide Series drivers. Just Google or YouTube he and Brad Keselowski. He isn’t afraid to speak his mind either, even if his opinion might not be the popular or correct one. Rewind to Dover in 2010 following penalties handed down to Richard Childress Racing in the first Chase race.

Therefore, Saturday night in Texas wasn’t a surprise. Hamlin, upset about the way that Austin Dillon was racing him, made sure the rookie driver – and the racing world – knew about it. First by making contact with Dillon heading to pit road, then telling everyone what Dillon did wrong and finishing by saying what he did about it.

“First of all, he got his ride because of his name. Second of all, you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunity,” said Hamlin on pit road. “If he’s points racing, you can’t crowd a guy that’s running for wins. I’m on the bottom; I’m all the way to the apron. I’m doing everything I can and after the checkered flag, he wants to run into me – I ran him into the fence.”

Hamlin finished fifth, Dillon sixth. Though neither were a factor coming to the finish, they still managed to grab the attention. After the two finally made it to a stop on pit road, Dillon’s crew chief Danny Stockman and younger brother Ty headed over to speak with Hamlin. Stockman clearly upset about the events, Hamlin was unfazed.

“Danny says, ‘Look, he ain’t got to fix it.’ Maybe he needs to take his little ass over there and fix the racecar if he wants to keep wrecking. He needs to learn a lesson. I believe he got wrecked at Bristol a couple of times because he crowds really, really bad. That’s part of it. If you’re going to pinch, you’re going to pay.”

Hamlin’s performance kept the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 18 in the lead of the owner points. Dillon remains third in the driver standings, 21 behind Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and teammate Elliott Sadler with two races to go. But, those were minor details in comparison to the race’s ending.

Team owner Richard Childress declined to comment on the incident. Basking in the glow of driver Kevin Harvick’s dominant victory. Dillon though, stood by his actions, noting that Hamlin was the one who put everyone four wide and that it cost two other drivers.

Dillon simply said, “My last name is Dillon. If you look back in the books, there isn’t really anybody named Dillon that ran real well. My dad hit the wall a lot so I’m going to blame it on him. But no … That’s a good comment for him [Hamlin] if he wants to think that way. I’ll take the high road.”

While the two are known to play basketball together, Saturday was neither a game nor friendly. Dillon saying he was racing hard, Hamlin saying he wasn’t racing smart.

“I don’t know why he was upset. After the checkered flag he runs into me,” said Hamlin. “I don’t know if he feels entitled by the number on his door to think he’s tough. If he’s going to start it, I’m going to finish it.”