FONTANA, Calif. (AP) - Jimmie Johnson is back in control of
NASCAR's Chase for the Championship.
The three-time defending champion easily pulled away from Jeff
Gordon following a restart with three laps remaining to win the
Pepsi 500 on Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.
The win was Johnson's fourth at the 2-mile oval, a place he has
used as a personal launching pad to the title the last two years.
Johnson dominated the second half of the race but had to sweat
out a series of double-file restarts following a number of
late-race collisions, including one that forced the race to be
red-flagged for 22 minutes with six laps remaining.
Juan Pablo Montoya was third, his fourth straight top-5 finish.
Mark Martin, who started the day with an 18-point lead over
Johnson, finished fourth and now trails Johnson by 12 points
heading into Saturday night's race at Charlotte.

NASCAR Sprint Cup-Pepsi 500 Results

Sunday
At Auto Club Speedway
Fontana, Calif.
Lap length: 2 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 250 laps, 148.5 rating, 195
points.
2. (10) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 250, 117.2, 175.
3. (4) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 250, 128.6, 170.
4. (9) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 250, 114.8, 165.
5. (20) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 250, 92, 160.
6. (11) Carl Edwards, Ford, 250, 98.2, 150.
7. (31) David Ragan, Ford, 250, 83.3, 146.
8. (24) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 250, 102.6, 147.
9. (8) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 250, 88.7, 138.
10. (7) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 250, 104.8, 134.
11. (16) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 250, 94.2, 130.
12. (22) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 250, 72.9, 127.
13. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 250, 79.3, 124.
14. (6) Joey Logano, Toyota, 250, 80.3, 121.
15. (36) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 250, 72.7, 118.
16. (14) David Stremme, Dodge, 250, 56.6, 115.
17. (34) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 250, 51.9, 112.
18. (42) David Reutimann, Toyota, 250, 67.2, 109.
19. (40) John Andretti, Chevrolet, 250, 48.7, 111.
20. (2) Greg Biffle, Ford, 250, 90.9, 103.
21. (21) Scott Speed, Toyota, 249, 58.6, 100.
22. (5) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 249, 80.8, 102.
23. (27) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, 249, 63.5, 94.
24. (19) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 248, 57.7, 91.
25. (37) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 248, 83.7, 88.
26. (35) Bobby Labonte, Ford, 247, 43.6, 85.
27. (41) Paul Menard, Ford, 247, 46.4, 82.
28. (26) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 247, 44.3, 79.
29. (32) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 246, 62, 76.
30. (18) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, accident, 245, 72.7, 73.
31. (28) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, accident, 244, 57.6, 70.
32. (39) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, accident, 244, 47.3, 67.
33. (12) AJ Allmendinger, Dodge, accident, 244, 57, 64.
34. (25) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, accident, 244, 72.4, 61.
35. (15) Max Papis, Toyota, 244, 29.8, 58.
36. (29) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 209, 44.1, 55.
37. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, accident, 195, 95.8, 57.
38. (38) Robby Gordon, Toyota, accident, 121, 42.1, 49.
39. (13) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, electrical, 29, 31.6, 46.
40. (43) Michael McDowell, Toyota, overheating, 25, 27.9, 43.
41. (33) Dave Blaney, Toyota, overheating, 22, 33.4, 40.
42. (30) David Gilliland, Chevrolet, overheating, 13, 30.6, 37.
43. (23) Mike Bliss, Dodge, engine, 11, 25.2, 34.
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Race Statistics
Average Speed of Race Winner: 143.908 mph.
Time of Race: 3 hours, 28 minutes, 28 seconds.
Margin of Victory: 1.603 seconds.
Caution Flags: 8 for 30 laps.
Lead Changes: 29 among 9 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D.Hamlin 1-10; J.Johnson 11-24; J.Montoya 25-39;
Ku.Busch 40-41; J.Johnson 42-43; J.Montoya 44-60; J.Johnson 61;
J.Montoya 62-64; D.Hamlin 65-67; M.Martin 68-72; J.Montoya 73-81;
J.Johnson 82; M.Truex Jr. 83-86; J.Montoya 87-114; J.Johnson
115-118; J.Andretti 119; D.Hamlin 120-124; J.Johnson 125-159;
J.Montoya 160; J.Gordon 161; T.Stewart 162; J.Johnson 163-186;
D.Hamlin 187-189; J.Montoya 190-194; J.Johnson 195-227; Ku.Busch
228; T.Stewart 229-233; J.Johnson 234-238; J.Gordon 239-243;
J.Johnson 244-250.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.Johnson, 10
times for 126 laps; J.Montoya, 7 times for 78 laps; D.Hamlin, 4
times for 21 laps; J.Gordon, 2 times for 6 laps; T.Stewart, 2 times
for 6 laps; M.Martin, 1 time for 5 laps; M.Truex Jr., 1 time for 4
laps; Ku.Busch, 2 times for 3 laps; J.Andretti, 1 time for 1 lap.
Top 12 in Points: 1. J.Johnson, 5,728; 2. M.Martin, 5,716; 3.
J.Montoya, 5,670; 4. T.Stewart, 5,644; 5. J.Gordon, 5,623; 6.
Ku.Busch, 5,607; 7. G.Biffle, 5,540; 8. C.Edwards, 5,536; 9.
D.Hamlin, 5,509; 10. R.Newman, 5,505; 11. K.Kahne, 5,422; 12.
B.Vickers, 5,377.
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NASCAR Driver Rating Formula
A maximum of 150 points can be attained in a race.
The formula combines the following categories: Wins, Finishes,
Top-15 Finishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap,
Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap
Finish.