Charlotte: Johnson wins as rain stops play

The finish concluded a week of terrible weather in the North Carolina, with seven inches of rain failing in the Charlotte area since Wednesday. The race was stopped twice because of brief showers, once at lap 107 and again at lap 263 - for good, as it turned out.

The race, considered one of NASCAR's majors, was scheduled to run for 600m (400 laps). Some questioned NASCAR's quick call to halt the event, although more rain was due to hit the speedway and the roads and car parks around the track were already nearly flooded.

The victory was Johnson's second in a week at Lowe's. He also won the non-championship The Winston last weekend. "I was walking to the red truck to look at the radar, and I walked in there, and they started shaking my hand and saying congratulations, you won," he said. "That was kind of unexpected."

Johnson had started 42nd after an engine change on Friday, but worked his way up through the field, using a faster pit-stop during the final round of pit stops on lap 241 to emerge in front.

Matt Kenseth, who led 82 of the 276 laps, jumped Bobby Labonte on the final restart to claim second. Jimmy Spencer finished fourth, ahead of Ryan Newman and Michael Waltrip.