Charlotte NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson claims first win of 2014

Polesitter Johnson, the first man to win the 600 from pole position since he himself did in 2004, established an early lead at a track where he had not won since '10, but now holds the Cup record with seven triumphs.

Stewart-Haas driver Harvick pursued Johnson for the majority of the opening stints, taking the lead from the Hendrick Chevrolet for the first time on lap 76. The pair dominated the first half of the race, leading all but three laps between them in the fading sunshine.

As darkness fell, Kenseth, who was also searching for his first win of 2014, took the lead after the race's seventh caution period, moving past Johnson at the restart and making it a three-way fight into the closing stages.

Carl Edwards briefly looked like he might cause an upset on a fuel-saving strategy, but the final caution forced him to abandon that plan, and on the last restart Kenseth seized the lead from Jeff Gordon, who had gained places by only changing two tyres at his last pitstop.

Johnson reclaimed the lead for the final time on lap 391 of 400, diving underneath Kenseth after the Joe Gibbs Toyota driver had tried to hold him off with a strong block.

Harvick grabbed second from Kenseth soon afterwards. Edwards narrowly beat Jamie McMurray to fourth, with Gordon ending up seventh behind Brian Vickers.

Gordon reported only minor issues with the back pain that had sidelined him during practice on Saturday.

Kurt Busch's Indianapolis 500/Charlotte 600 'double' attempt ended when the engine in his Stewart-Haas Chevrolet expired after he had raced 906 miles in one day. He had earlier finished sixth at Indianapolis in his first IndyCar race.

His team-mate Danica Patrick briefly ran second, after starting from her highest qualifying position on a non-restrictor plate race in fourth.

She would later get caught up in a six-car crash triggered when Marcos Ambrose lost the rear end of his Richard Petty Motorsports Ford and slammed into the Turn 4 wall, before ultimately retiring when her engine, already a cylinder down, finally exploded.

Results - 400 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                     Time/Gap
 1.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet       4h07m27.000s
 2.  Kevin Harvick       Stewart-Haas Chevrolet        +1.273s
 3.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota              +1.841s
 4.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford             +4.985s
 5.  Jamie McMurray      Ganassi Chevrolet             +5.784s
 6.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota                +8.186s
 7.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet            +9.065s
 8.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet          +10.805s
 9.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota             +11.363s
10.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  +12.494s
11.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                   +13.740s
12.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                  +14.580s
13.  Tony Stewart        Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       +24.604s
14.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet             -1 lap
15.  Ryan Newman         Childress Chevrolet            -1 lap
16.  Austin Dillon       Childress Chevrolet            -1 lap
17.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                 -1 lap
18.  Kyle Larson         Ganassi Chevrolet             -2 laps
19.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet            -2 laps
20.  Trevor Bayne        Wood Brothers Ford            -2 laps
21.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford             -2 laps
22.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota              -2 laps
23.  AJ Allmendinger     JTG Daugherty Ford            -2 laps
24.  Casey Mears         Germain Chevrolet             -2 laps
25.  Martin Truex Jr     Furniture Row Chevrolet       -2 laps
26.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford             -3 laps
27.  Cole Whitt          BK Toyota                     -3 laps
28.  Michael Annett      Baldwin Chevrolet             -4 laps
29.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                    -4 laps
30.  Michael McDowell    Leavine Ford                  -4 laps
31.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                -5 laps
32.  Brian Scott         Circle Sport Chevrolet        -5 laps
33.  Alex Bowman         BK Toyota                     -8 laps
34.  Joe Nemechek        Robinson Toyota              -10 laps
35.  Blake Koch          FAS Lane Ford                -10 laps
36.  Landon Cassill      Hillman Chevrolet            -18 laps
37.  Justin Allgaier     Hscott Chevrolet             -22 laps

Retirements:

     Ryan Truex          BK Toyota                    303 laps
     Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       281 laps
     Kurt Busch          Stewart-Haas Chevrolet       271 laps
     Jose Wise           Parsons Chevrolet            229 laps
     Reed Sorenson       Baldwin Chevrolet            162 laps
     David Gilliland     Front Row Ford               160 laps