Jimmie Johnson won his third consecutive fall race Sunday at Auto Club Speedway!

Johnson led a race-high 126 laps and held off his Hendrick teammates, Jeff Gordon and Mark Martin, to score his second victory in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images for NASCAR

“Real good day,” Johnson said. “There were points where the 42 was better than us.  I think a couple cars like the 11 for a handful of laps showed some really, really good pace.  But it seemed like on the long haul for the majority of the race, we had what we needed. So we made some is adjustments.  I think the track came to us some when the sun came out.  Our car, really, I know Chad was making adjustments, but usually the sun comes out, and the car wants to slow down and not handle as well.  With the adjustments we were making the car kept getting better and better. So we did a really good job staying on top of things.  We had solid pit stops.  Thankfully it wasn’t down to a two tire strategy or fuel only or something goofy at the end. The tough part at the end of the race was the restarts.  It’s so tough to with the straightaway this long on, it’s tough to get a good start.  It’s tough to control your destiny on a restart because the guys behind you really control who is going to lead going into turn one.  Sometimes you get it right, sometimes you don’t.  If the guy behind you gets a poor start, you’re not going anywhere.  It’s almost like being at Daytona or Talladega with the drafts. So that last start worked out well for he me.  Had a great start on the 24 and was just able to clear him off the two.  And that certainly made the difference for us.”

It came down to a 3-lap sprint to the finish after a multi-car accident red-flagged the race for 21 minutes and 45 seconds:

It was Johnson’s 4th race win at Auto Club Speedway, the most of any driver in the series. He’s also won a total of 16 races in the Chase play-offs. Johnson is seeking his 4th consecutive series championship. With 6 races remaining, Johnson has proved he has the momentum. He replaces his teammate, Mark Martin on top of the points standings. Johnson currently leads by just 12 points over Martin, now in 2nd place.

Jeff Gordon challenged Johnson over the late race restarts. He was able to hold on for a runner-up finish.

“I didn’t think we were a second place car,” Gordon said. “We were pretty happy about finishing second.  We had a good pit stop and some good restarts there and were able to get ourselves action into the lead but couldn’t maintain it. My car just didn’t work good on the outside, especially early in the runs.  So we kind of gave up that lane to the 48. You know, once you give up that lane to him, he was so good up there, you’re going to lose the lead.  So we did, and we’ve got to be happy with second, that was a good day for us.”

Gordon posted his 21st top-10 finish this season. The runner-up finish moved him up 2 spots in the standings. He’s currently 5th, 105 points out of 1st.

Mark Martin finished 4th. Martin said,“There was a time when we could go out front, but we were right there (at the end).”

It was a good day for Hendrick Motorsports with 3 of the 4 Hendrick drivers finishing inside the top-5. The Rick Hendrick documentary aired directly before tv coverage of the Pepsi 500 began.

“It’s been a good day,” Hendrick said. “It’s been a good week to celebrate the 25th Anniversary and the film.  And to come out today and win the race, you know, I think I missed the last two that they won, so I thought I wasn’t going to be able to come back (laughing).  Now I feel like I’m okay to show back up.  It was a great day.  Ran well.  Jimmie just drove the wheels off the car.”

Photo Credit: Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

Juan Pablo Montoya finished 3rd, his 4th consecutive top-5 finish. “We have four or five in a row and I’ve been losing points to the leader,” said Montoya. “(You’re not) going to make any points on anybody. Everybody that runs good is going to be there. You just got to make sure you don’t lose any.” Montoya is currently 3rd in the standings, just 58 points back.

That makes 7 of the 12 Chase contenders that finished inside the top-10: Johnson (1), Jeff Gordon (2), Juan Pablo Montoya (3), Mark Martin (4), Tony Stewart (5), Carl Edwards (6) and Kurt Busch (8).

Polesitter Denny Hamlin, Kasey Kahne, Greg Biffle and Brian Vickers didn’t fare so well.

Hamlin was in the lead with 60 to go when he made contact with Juan Pablo Montoya on a restart. he spun into a barrier

“I made a rookie mistake,” Hamlin said. “I thought I was clear and I misjudged it. I got to apologize to the team. They deserve better than that.”

Hamlin led four times for 21 laps and wound up with a 37th place finish after the crash. His team tried to repair the damages, but once back out on the track, Hamlin couldn’t reach maximum speed and had to finish his day.

With about 10 laps to go, Kasey Kahne and Greg Biffle collided on a late race restart after a debris caution. It started when Kurt Busch hit the wall on the restart which bunched up the field behind him.

“NASCAR threw a debris caution for no debris,” Kahne said. “We had a bad race to get a caution to put a show on for the fans.”

Biffle finished 20th while Kahne ended up 34th.

Tony Stewart was penalized for speeding while exiting pit road. He served a pass through penalty which put him down a lap. He was able to bounce back for a 5th place finish. “We were pretty fortunate to get a couple of breaks when we needed them,” Stewart said.

For the (unofficial) race results, click here.

There were 8 cautions for 30 laps and 29 lead changes among 9 drivers: D. Hamlin 1-10; J. Johnson 11-24; J. Montoya 25-39; Kurt 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; Kurt Busch 228; T. Stewart 229-233; J. Johnson 234-238; J. Gordon 239-243; J. Johnson 244-250

Once again, an ailing Kyle Busch climbed out of his race car. He had been diagnosed with the flu, strep throat and a sinus infection earlier in the week. He turned his car over to his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin after the first caution in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race. He once again climbed out of his car in Sunday’s race after 60 laps. David Gilliland filled the role of relief driver.

“I’m going to go lay down for a little bit and see if I can get some fluids or something in me at the infield care center,” Busch said. “I’m sorry I had to get out. I’m not feeling well. I was coughing real bad out there.”

Gilliland finished 24th, one lap down.

Photo Credit: Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR

The Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup continues at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the only night race in the 10 race play-off format this Saturday night. TV coverage begins at 7 on ABC.