Jimmie Johnson's pit crew kept him in the top 10 for each of the 325 laps Sunday at Atlanta. Credit: Autostock

Johnson tips his cap, satisfied with second

Runner-up spot a 'shot in the arm' for No. 48 Hendrick team

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Jimmie Johnson knew he had a fight on his hands when he looked up with two laps to go and saw Carl Edwards scraping the wall in Turn 4.

After battling Greg Biffle head-to-head for 323 of the 325 laps in the Golden Corral 500, Johnson fell victim to a last-lap, last-turn pass by Carl Edwards.

Inside the Numbers Jimmie Johnson's past 10 races Track Start Finish Atlanta 3 2 Las Vegas 9 1 Fontana 8 2 Daytona 2 5 Homestead 39 2 Darlington 4 1 Phoenix 13 6 Atlanta 8 1 Martinsville 18 1 Charlotte 9 1 Average 11.3 2.2 GOLDEN CORRAL 500 •   Results •   Standings Casey Mears causes a huge pileup on Lap 1 Dale Earnhardt Jr. on his continued struggles Kurt Busch sustains heavy damage on Lap 158 Carl Edwards celebrates his Golden Corral 500 win Carl Edwards on his first Nextel Cup victory Sign up for TrackPass now BUY YOUR NEXTEL DRIVER PHONE

Johnson said he lost of lot of time on the penultimate lap trying to figure out how to keep Edwards at bay.

"I was sticking to my lane, and with two to go, I saw he had something on the top," Johnson said. "I moved up to try to find out if there was any grip, and coming to the white, I lost a lot of momentum."

"I watched everything Jimmie was doing," Edwards said. "I was hunting around trying different things, and I could tell I was giving him pressure."

Johnson said he was surprised to see Edwards' Ford get around him after moving up to block his path.

"I tried to get up there to take that lane from him, and he still found a lane around the top," Johnson said.

"There wasn't anything in the world that was going to take my foot off the pedal at that point," Edwards said.

Even through he was the second Hendrick driver to lose a photo-finish at Atlanta this decade -- Jeff Gordon lost by an eyelash to Kevin Harvick here in 2001 -- Johnson was glad to close a tumultuous week with a dominating run.

On Tuesday, crew chief Chad Knaus was suspended for two weeks after last week's victory at Las Vegas, when Johnson's car failed post-race inspection. Knaus has appealed the ruling, but the team entered Atlanta with a lot to prove.

Johnson led a race-high 156 laps, and his runner-up run was his eighth finish of second or better in the last 10 races.

He also opened up an 82-point lead over Biffle in the standings.

"Hopefully the appeal will go through and we can have [Knaus] around those two races," Johnson said. "All in all, a great day and a shot in the arm for the race team."

"I wish we'd won the race obviously and my guys did a great job," Knaus said. "We led the most laps. I am happy with second."

Johnson's pit crew gave him lightning pit stops all day -- he was the only driver to remain in the top 10 for all 325 laps.

Still, it was Edwards who stole the win in the final seconds.

"Carl is by far the best driver they've got at Roush Racing," Knaus said. "I think he's got a lot of talent and he's got himself lined up with a good crew chief [Bob Osborne].

"When you do that, it is going to make results."