Charlotte: Johnson wins

After an early challenge from Elliott Sadler, Johnson was unbeatable, with he, his team and his car performing flawlessly throughout NASCAR's longest race.

The key moment for Johnson came during caution on Lap 368, just the fifth of the race, after Ryan Newman and Derrike Cope collided, sending both to the wall. With 12 cars on the lead lap, all were pitted except the No. 42 of Jamie McMurray, who stayed out on 30-lap tyres. McMurray thus gained from third to first.

Also, Michael Waltrip and Jeremy Mayfield decided on right-side tyres, while all the other leaders took four. The order for the restart, then, was McMurray, Waltrip, Mayfield, Kasey Kahne, and Johnson.

Johnson wasted no time, making a risky and potentially disastrous move between Kahne (inside) and the lapped car of Robby Gordon (outside) on Lap 376, thus gaining fourth place and getting to clear track. Had either Kahne or Gordon not given ground, there could have been a costly wreck. Instead, Johnson came out looking brilliant.

Johnson had easily the fastest car all race long. He dusted off Mayfield for third on Lap 377, then brushed aside Waltrip for second on 379. Finally, with the calm of a man taking time for exact and careful aim, he shot down McMurray with an inside pass on the backstretch on Lap 383.

That wasn't the end of the tension, however. On Lap 393, Newman's engine blew, bringing caution, and NASCAR threw one a red flag, stopping the field. The final restart came with three laps to go.

Johnson easily got away on the restart. On the final lap, Bobby Labonte tagged the wall, bringing out the yellow and causing confusion over the order of finish at the time of the yellow lights. There was no doubt who had won, however.

Johnson's victory gave Hendrick Motorsports its seventh Coca-Cola 600 trophy. Johnson came close to Jim Paschal's all-time record for laps led in the 600 (335 in 1967). He also helped Lowe's to a weekend sweep at the eponymous speedway, with Lowe's-clad team-mate Kyle Busch winning Saturday's Busch Series race.

Johnson team-mate Jeff Gordon, five-time winner of this event, had a terrible night, with a car that simply did not perform. He was five laps down by mid-race and never was in contention. Newman, as noted, also had a bad night. Dale Earnhardt Jr. scrambled to a top-10 finish after falling a lap down early. Earnhardt retained the points lead, by a scant five over Johnson.