Edwards wins, Johnson finishes 2nd at AMS

It isn’t often that the second-place driver steals the spotlight from the race winner. That was the case after NASCAR’s Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Sunday.

Carl Edwards got to do his traditional victory backflip after a victory, his seventh win of the season and the 14th of his career. There also was a good bit of celebrating going on in the pit area of second-place finisher Jimmie Johnson, who padded his Sprint Cup points lead with an impressive rally from 30th place.

Johnson battled back from a pit road speeding penalty that he drew for entering pit road too fast on a green-flag pit stop at Lap 89. His pass-through-the-pits penalty dropped him from the lead pack to one lap behind then race-leader Edwards.

It was impressive enough that Johnson got back in the top five, but his performance over the final eight laps was the stuff of what championships are made. His crew chief Chad Knaus called him to the pits for four fresh tires on the race’s final caution, which flew at Lap 314 of 325. Johnson used the advantage offered by fresher, more adhesive tires to make up every position by one and heads to Texas with a 183-point lead over Edwards.

“It was a risky call,” Johnson said of the decision to give up eighth place and restart 12th, even with the new tires. “But I put my cape on and off we went. …

“We’re leaving here very happy. It’s almost like a win.”

Johnson did acknowledge that even as fast as his No. 48 Chevrolet was at the end, it was no match for Edwards’ No. 99 Ford, which was out front six times for 98 laps.

“Carl was gone,” Johnson said. “I don’t think I could have caught him.”

Edwards’ greatest late-race challenges came from Denny Hamlin, who led 56 laps late in the race. But on a restart at Lap 310, Hamlin spun his tires and Edwards bolted past him to take a lead he never relinquished.

Edwards said restarts are more challenging than most realize, especially for the leader.

“You’re a sitting duck,” he said. “The hair on the back of your neck is standing up. It’s difficult to not spin the tires.”

But once Edwards got out front, he was in control. “Once I got the lead it was just ‘don’t mess up.’ ” Despite Edwards’ win, the points race is little changed.

Coming into AMS, Johnson’s lead was 149 over then second-place Greg Biffle, who finished 10th and dropped to third in the standings, 185 out of the lead.

Edwards’ victory celebration lost some of its shine when he was informed that Johnson had rallied to finish second. “Are you kidding?” he said. “Man, Jimmie is magic. We’ve got to go win those next three and hope for the best.”

Johnson said Edwards’ sentiments were understandable. “I’m just as shocked as he is,” he said, explaining that he’d resigned himself late in the race to finishing somewhere between seventh and 10th. “It just worked out,” he said.

Edwards said that the only way there will be much of a championship battle over the final three races — at Texas, Phoenix and Homestead — is if Johnson stumbles.

“We’ve got to hope that he has some of the things happen like we’ve had happen,” Edwards said.

Hamlin finished third ahead of Matt Kenseth and Kyle Busch as drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup swept the top five spots. Jeff Burton, who came to AMS third in points, was involved in a crash at Lap 303 and finished 18th, which dropped him to fourth in the standings, 218 points behind Johnson.