Carl Edwards Claims Atlanta While Jimmie Johnson Continues Chase Roll

The 2008 Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway continued Jimmie Johnson's incredible 2008 Chase run. Johnson overcame an early mistake to finish a strong second and extend his point lead. Carl Edwards won the race and moved to second but it seems to be too little too late for his 2008 Championship hopes.

Qualifying

Once again rain was the big story of qualifying and the field was set based on car owner points. This put the Chasers at the front of the pack for the green flag lead by Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton, Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer.

Drop Of The Green

The front row spun the tires on the start and Jimmie Johnson got away and lead the first lap. Carl Edwards was quickest in practice on Saturday and quickly moved up to second place. Edwards took over the top spot on lap 21 and continued to lead the early going.

Storylines

Jimmie Johnson made another move towards his third consecutive Sprint Cup championship. Johnson overcame a pit road speeding penalty on lap 89 and a late-race decision to give up track position for fresh tires to finish second.

Johnson extended his point lead to 183 points with only three races remaining. Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports team continue to have everything go their way. They recovered calmly from today's problems and Jimmie once again ended up near the front of the pack.

Jimmie Johnson and his team are putting on a clinic in how to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship.

Chasing The Checkers

Carl Edwards had the car to beat early in the race and returned to the lead when leader Denny Hamlin spun his tires on a restart with just fifteen laps to go.

Edwards was able to get away and won the race by more than 2.6 seconds over a surging Jimmie Johnson who had fresher tires.

Top Ten

1. Carl Edwards
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Denny Hamlin
4. Matt Kenseth
5. Kyle Busch
6. Kurt Busch
7. Jamie McMurray
8. David Ragan
9. Jeff Gordon
10. Greg Biffle

The Points

Carl Edwards' win popped him up two spots in the standings to second place. He is now just two points ahead of teammate Greg Biffle in the battle for second.

At the front of the pack Jimmie Johnson extended his point lead and will win his third Sprint Cup Championship in a row.

1. Jimmie Johnson -0
2. Carl Edwards -183
3. Greg Biffle -185
4. Jeff Burton -218
5. Kevin Harvick -307
6. Jeff Gordon -312
7. Clint Bowyer -314
8. Tony Stewart -401
9. Matt Kenseth -413
10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. -419
11. Denny Hamlin -425
12. Kyle Busch -465