FORT WORTH, Texas -- The carnival atmosphere that surrounds Texas Motor Speedway was in full effect Sunday, both before and during the race. There were women using chain saws to create wood sculptures, wakeboarders jumping off a ramp into a temporary pool, and stilt-walkers clad entirely in pink. There was one driver displaying an obscene gesture to an official on pit road, and two others fighting on the backstretch after a crash that occurred under caution.

But none of it was as eye-rubbing incredulous as the sight of No. 24 crew members, in their black and red uniforms, servicing Jimmie Johnson's blue and white race car amid the most frenzied race of the tightest Cup Series championship race in years. A series of slow stops led No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus to make a move believed to be unprecedented in NASCAR's modern era -- a wholesale change-out of his over-the-wall crew in the middle of a race.

“

I don't know what we're going to do.

”

-- CHAD KNAUS

“

It's uncharted territory for us.

”

-- JIMMIE JOHNSON

Fed up over his crew's performance, and with Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon out of the race due to an accident, the four-time championship crew chief stunned everyone by making the call to the bullpen, and subbing out his over-the-wall gang with Gordon's. Of the original crew, only the tear-off guy remained. The borrowed squad from the No. 24 team worked the final three pit stops of the race, performing flawlessly to help Johnson salvage a ninth-place finish on a trying afternoon for the defending champ in the Lone Star State.

"At this point in the game, you can't have feelings," said Johnson, who lost the points lead to race winner Denny Hamlin and is now 33 back with two races remaining. "You have to go out and try to win the championship. If somebody's feelings got hurt, too bad. We're here to win a championship, and we have to do everything we can."

For Knaus, it was a calculated decision. Although it's far from unusual for a team to switch pit crews mid-week -- the Richard Childress Racing programs of Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer did just that two weeks ago -- or for an organization to switch out a certain position due to injury or performance, no one could remember a full-squad, mid-race switch like the one the No. 48 team did Sunday. Johnson's pit crew has had its issues in the Chase, but two poor stops to open the Texas event, one that apparently involved lug nuts being knocked off the right-front tire, proved the back-breaker.

"It's a professional sport, and you see it all the time," said Knaus, who added the call to make the change was his. "If somebody's out or somebody's not getting it done, say in football, you get a different receiver in the game or a different quarterback, or whatever it is. Unfortunately, our guys weren't hitting on all eight cylinders [Sunday], and we had an opportunity with the 24 crashing to bring those guys in. They did a good job. They came in and played relief, and I thought they did a good job [Sunday]. It's unfortunate. I don't like doing that stuff, nobody does. But it's kind of your job."

Johnson has faced obstacles late in the Chase before, even at this track -- who can forget the third-lap crash with Sam Hornish Jr. last year at Texas that slashed a triple-digit advantage in half? But Sunday's pit-crew swap-out was a bold, controversial decision that only further illuminates the first real crossroads moment in Johnson's championship run. For the first time during his reign, he's behind with two races left. No driver in the Chase's short history has come from behind with two to go to win the title. And on top of it all is a personnel decision that Johnson's main competition for the crown is already interpreting as a sign of weakness.

"You put the two pit crews toe-to-toe, and those guys are going to make mistakes," said Mike Ford, crew chief for Hamlin, who pitted directly in front of Johnson at Texas. "We've seen it this year, and we went beside them, and those guys faltered, and it made them panic and push to the point where they made changes." (Continued)