Five things we learned at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday

Jimmie Johnson struggled with the handling of his car and finished 15th on Sunday. AP

Five things we learned this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway:

1. Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 team aren't perfect.

Before this race, Johnson had finished in the top 10 in 20 of his last 22 Chase races. In other words, when it matters most, he has a history of delivering. But on Sunday he struggled with the handling of his car, fell a lap down, and finished 15th. This was an uncharacteristic misstep for the No. 48 team, but it's not a devastating one. Though Carl Edwards, who won the race, trimmed 77 points off of Johnson's points lead, Johnson is still in command of this Chase. He's now 106 points ahead of Edwards, and all Johnson has to do is have an average finish of seventh or better over the final two weeks of the season and he'll be the champ, even if Edwards wins at Phoenix and at Homestead in the season-finale.

So as it stands, it seems highly unlikely that Johnson will clinch the championship on Sunday in Phoenix. He needs to leave the desert with a 196-point advantage, which means he'll have to gain 90 points on Edwards on Sunday. The odds of this happening are slim -- Johnson would have to finish roughly 20 spots ahead of Edwards -- but Johnson is still going to win the title. If he doesn't, it would be the biggest collapse in NASCAR history.

2. Carl Edwards is peaking -- just a little too late.

Now that Edwards has won the last two races and is fulfilling the promise he's shown all season, it's looking more and more like the key moment of the 2008 Chase occurred when Edwards triggered the Big One at Talladega on Oct. 5th. On that day Edwards rammed into the back of his teammate Greg Biffle in what was clearly on overaggressive move. This caused Biffle to lose control of his car and then both he and Edwards went spinning down the track collecting several cars. Edwards finished 29th and lost valuable points that day to Johnson, who came in ninth.

Still, Edwards, to his credit, has been defiant in stating that Chase isn't over, that he still has a chance to catch Johnson. And who knows? If Johnson has a mechanical problem next weekend, Edwards could make things interesting at Homestead. After all, these last two tracks on the circuit are two of Edwards' best. He's finished in the top five at Phoenix in three of his lasts five starts there and the Roush Fenway Fords have won the last four races at Homestead. So if it hadn't been for that brain cramp at Talladega, Edwards would be in prime position right now to win the title. If, if, if....

3. Joey Logano's debut in a Gibbs car was a dud.

Almost as soon as the green flag fell, Logano complained of a "wrecking loose" race car. Whenever he dove into the turns, the back wheels slid up the track, making Logano feel like he was out of control for the better part of three hours. He ended up seven laps down and came in 40th.

So in three Cup starts this season, Logano hasn't finished higher than 32nd. This is hardly the kind of performance that Joe Gibbs had in mind when he announced earlier this year that Logano would take over Tony Stewart's seat next season. And I've already heard whispers in the garage -- and they're growing louder -- from a lot of people who don't think Logano is ready for prime time. I still say he is. Once he starts working with Greg Zipadelli, who is Stewart's crew chief and will be Logano's next season, you'll see rapid improvement out of the 18-year-old driver.

4. Sam Hornish may be headed back to IndyCar.

For the past few weeks the garage has been rife with rumors that Hornish is considering moving back to IndyCar in 2009. Hornish has been a huge disappointment this season. The three-time IndyCar champ's best finish was at Charlotte in the spring (13th) and his average finish is an underwhelming 29.5. He'll likely win rookie of the year honors, but that says more about the weakness of this rookie class than it does about Hornish's season.

Why has Hornish struggled so much this year? I chatted with him earlier this season and he pointed to the fact that stock cars have far less grip through corners than the open-wheel IndyCars. Hornish simply hasn't been comfortable behind the wheel because he frequently feels like he's on the verge of wrecking in the turns. And this problem doesn't seem to be going away, which is why there's so much speculation in the garage that Hornish will be done with NASCAR after the final checkered flag waves at Homestead.

5. The floundering economy is hitting NASCAR -- hard.

As has been the case for most of the summer and fall, there were swaths of empty seats on Sunday at Texas. You could make the argument that the failing economy is hurting NASCAR more than any other sport. As many as 10 current drivers right now don't know if they'll have sponsorship for next season and many teams are laying off employees. But here's the clearest indication that the economy is walloping NASCAR: There's a real possibility that there won't be 43 cars vying for the 43 starting spots at next year's Daytona 500. Stay tuned.