Edwards wins, but Johnson rallies to widen points lead

HAMPTON, Ga. -- Even in victory, Carl Edwards looked deflated when he was told that Chase for the Sprint Cup leader Jimmie Johnson had finished second in Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

"Are you kidding me?" Edwards asked incredulously after taking the checkered flag 2.684 seconds ahead of Teflon Johnson, who recovered from an early pit-road speeding penalty to snag second place, thanks to a brilliant call for tires by Chad Knaus during the 10th and final caution of the race.

"Man, Jimmie's magic," added Edwards, who jumped two spots into second in the championship standings and trails Johnson by 183 points with three races left in the Chase. "We've got to win those next three and hope for the best."

Edwards took the lead from third-place finisher Denny Hamlin moments after a restart on Lap 310 of 325 on the 1.54-mile track. Hamlin spun his tires coming to the start/finish line allowing Edwards to pass to the outside through Turns 1 and 2 (watch video).

"Man, the second-to-last restart, Denny spun his tires and I spun mine a little bit and then he spun them again and I pushed his bumper and then he spun them again and he went to the inside," said Edwards, who won his seventh race of the year and the 14th of his career. "I thought inside, 'Man, here's my chance to get to the outside.'

"I really didn't think he was going to spin them that second time. I thought I was going to bump him and he was going to keep on going and I figured I'd follow him for a while, but it just worked out great."

Edwards held the lead through a caution for debris in Turn 2 on Lap 312, but Johnson gave up three positions when Knaus called him to pit road for new tires on Lap 314. Johnson restarted 11th on Lap 318, but by the end of that circuit, he had passed four cars. (Continued)