Jimmie Johnson was set to lose the points lead, but instead he left Chicagoland with a bigger margin over Matt Kenseth. Credit: Autostock

Surprisingly, Johnson keeps lead in standings

Others shuffle top 10 with up-and-down runs at Chicagoland

JOLIET, Ill. -- Jimmie Johnson was prepared to lose the Nextel Cup points lead for the first time since late April with four laps left in Sunday's race at Chicagoland Speedway.

While Jimmie Johnson's points day turned out good, drivers like Kasey Kahne dropped in the big picture. Credit: Autostock

USG Sheetrock 400 Official Results Pos. Driver Make 1. Jeff Gordon Chevy 2. Jeff Burton Chevy 3. Kyle Busch Chevy 4. Kevin Harvick Chevy 5. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevy 6. Jimmie Johnson Chevy 7. Reed Sorenson Dodge 8. Kurt Busch Dodge 9. Clint Bowyer Chevy 10. J.J. Yeley Chevy • Complete results, click here • Official standings, click here Victory LaneJeff Gordon celebrates his first Chicagoland victory Top finishersJeff Burton, Dale Jr. and Kevin Harvick at Chicagoland Final lapsJeff Gordon rolls to the checkers in the USG Sheetrock 400 Sign up for TrackPass now BUY THE NEXTEL i836

Then all heck broke loose.

Matt Kenseth, who was leading the race and poised to take the points lead, was spun out by eventual race winner Jeff Gordon and fell back to eighth.

Kenseth ran out of gas before the green-white-checkered finish to fall further back. He then was involved in a last-lap accident with David Stremme and wound up 21st.

That left Johnson, who finished sixth, with a 48-point lead over Kenseth instead of being 35 to 40 points behind the 2003 Cup champion.

"So what looked like a day when maybe we were going to lose the points lead turned into a day when we stretched it out," Johnson said. "We're all in championship mode.

"I hate to see that happen to Matt. Fortunately, it's not in the Chase. I don't even know what happened. It's just part of racing."

Kenseth wasn't the only driver that lost ground late.

Tony Stewart, who was running fourth, ran out of gas because the race was extended past 400 miles and fell two spots in the points to seventh after a 32nd-place finish.

Kasey Kahne, who struggled most of the day, dropped a spot to fifth after finishing 23rd.

There also were some gains. Dale Earnhardt Jr. strengthened his position in third with a solid fifth-place finish. Jeff Burton finished second to move up three spots to fourth.

Gordon moved up two spots to 10th.

Kurt Busch stayed at 13th, but closed the points gap on the top 10 with his fifth consecutive top-10 finish. He never had more than three top-10s in a row last season.

"We just didn't have enough to challenge for the win," said Busch, the 2004 Cup champion. "We could pass cars, but track position was more important.

"We used some good pit strategy to get us in the top 10 and once we got there we managed to stay. ... We're just hoping to keep the momentum going."

Like Busch, Johnson had a car that could pass but never get in position for the lead.

"We had a car that was capable of running in the top 10 all day long, the top five if it worked out right," he said. "We finished kind of where we deserved to finish.

"We're still working hard to make things better. I'm happy to see the 24 [Gordon] run as strong as he did."

He's even happier that Gordon's late move helped keep him in the points lead.

"If bad days are [like Sunday when] we can finish in the top 10," he said, "we're doing what we need to do."