Johnson boosts margin with win

CONCORD, N.C. -- Jimmie Johnson raced to his third victory in the Chase for the Sprint Cup last night to widen his lead in the championship standings.

Johnson held off Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon on a handful of late restarts last night in a 500-lap race for his sixth career victory at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Although he's long dominated at the track, the win was the Lowe's-sponsored driver's first since 2005.

It came at the perfect time for Johnson, who extended his lead over Mark Martin, another teammate, to 90 as they head next week to Martinsville Speedway. Johnson has won five of the past six races at Martinsville.

Matt Kenseth was second, followed by Kasey Kahne, Gordon and rookie Joey Logano.

Former Chesterfield native Denny Hamlin's night was ruined by an engine problem that led to a 42nd-place finish after he had led 53 laps early in the race. He went to the garage shortly after the halfway point when his motor began to sputter. After looking under the hood, his team called it a night. The result left him 11th in the Chase standings, 372 points behind Johnson.

Seeking a record fourth straight Cup championship, Johnson led every practice session and won the pole to complete yet another dominating run at Lowe's. He has been the driver to beat at the suburban Charlotte track since early in his career, and the victory was the Lowe's-sponsored driver's sixth on the 1.5-mile oval.

"Man, we pulled off a perfect weekend and we've always wanted to do that," Johnson said.

Martin, who started the race 12 points behind teammate Johnson in the standings, finished 17th in part because of front-end damage received when he ran into the back of Juan Pablo Montoya on an early restart.

It was that kind of night for several title contenders, as eight of the 12 finished outside the top 10 in a rare off night for the Chase drivers.

Montoya, who was third in the standings and just 58 points out of the lead at the start of the race, dropped to sixth and is now 195 points out. He damaged the front and back ends of his car on the restart problem with Martin and Clint Bowyer, and fell two laps down trying to get pit road for repairs.

In addition to Hamlin's engine trouble, Carl Edwards blew a motor, Greg Biffle was in a late spin and Tony Stewart never contended.

That left it up to Kahne and Gordon to chase down Johnson, and despite some thrilling late restarts, neither came close.

Gordon finished fourth but lost ground to Johnson in the standings and is now 135 points out as only Martin is within shouting distance of the champion.

Johnson has six victories this year and 46 overall -- 17 in Chase races.