Dover NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson breaks record with first 2013 Chase win

Johnson drove an awesome final stint. At the last stop his crew changed just two tyres while Earnhardt's swapped all four.

It seemed to work for Earnhardt as he leapt straight into second at the restart, but despite his best efforts Earnhardt could not get close enough to make a pass stick.

The race boiled down to a fight between the Hendrick Motorsport and Joe Gibbs Racing superteams. Hendrick racer Jeff Gordon led a lap during the pitstops and looked to be in a strong place before the final caution neutralised the race.

A slow restart dropped him to fourth, which is where he finished.

On the Gibbs side, both Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch ran up front, but the decision to change just two tyres on points leader Kenseth's car in the final stop backfired.

It was the weakest the car had been all day, and he slipped down the order, losing sixth to Kevin Harvick on the last lap.

In contrast, Busch was on the move on his four fresh Goodyears, battling his way to fifth over the final run.

After a quiet day, Joey Logano used his four fresh tyres to slot into third during the run to the flag.

It was a miserable race for his Penske team-mate Brad Keselowski, who suffered a fluid leak and finished 37th.

Of the 13 Chasers it was a terrible race for Carl Edwards. His Ford Fusion was never a top five runner, but a top 15 finish was lost when the left rear hub broke. A 35th-place finish all but ends his title hopes.

Kurt Busch pitted his Furniture Row Chevy off-sequence to have a loose wheel examined. He fought back to finish 21st.

Kasey Kahne had a down on power motor in the closing stages, which limited him to 13th.

Chasers made up the entire top 10 in a race where not a single crash occurred.

Results - 400 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet
 2.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet           +0.446s
 3.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  +2.871s
 4.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet           +3.876s
 5.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota             +4.838s
 6.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet          +7.347s
 7.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota             +7.689s
 8.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +8.620s
 9.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford            +9.531s
10.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota               +9.885s
11.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  +10.111s
12.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota               +10.986s
13.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet           +1 lap
14.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet          +1 lap
15.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota               +1 lap
16.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                   +2 laps
17.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford            +2 laps
18.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          +2 laps
19.  Mark Martin         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +3 laps
20.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota             +3 laps
21.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet      +3 laps
22.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   +3 laps
23.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet  +3 laps
24.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                 +5 laps
25.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford               +5 laps
26.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Toyota         +5 laps
27.  Cole Whitt          Swan Toyota                  +6 laps
28.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                    +6 laps
29.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +6 laps
30.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               +7 laps
31.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                    +8 laps
32.  Ryan Truex          Phoenix Chevrolet            +8 laps
33.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet            +8 laps
34.  JJ Yeley            Baldwin Chevrolet            +10 laps
35.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford            +15 laps
36.  Timmy Hill          FAS Lane Ford                +19 laps

Retirements:

     Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  355 laps
     Landon Cassill      Circle Sport Chevrolet       275 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                 168 laps
     Tony Raines         Hillman Chevrolet            154 laps
     Reed Sorenson       Leavine Ford                 139 laps
     Josh Wise           Front Row Ford               128 laps
     Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                 107 laps