Lap-by-Lap: Fontana

Lap 250 -- Jimmie Johnson wins the Pepsi 500 at Fontana. Jeff Gordon, Juan Montoya, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart round out the top five.

Jimmie Johnson now leads the standings -- by 12 points -- over Mark Martin.

Lap 249 -- Jimmie Johnson has stretched out his advantage while Jeff Gordon and Juan Montoya are battling coming to the white flag.

Lap 248 -- Restart: This will be a green-white-checkers as Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin, Juan Montoya and David Ragan lead the field to green.

The red-flag period was 21 minutes, 45 seconds.

CAUTION NO. 8 -- Crash! Crash! Crash among cars running just outside the top 10! The race is red-flagged on Lap 245 due to the amount of debris.

All four of Richard Petty Motorsports' cars are involved in the wreck, as well as Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kasey Kahne, Marcos Ambrose among others.

Lap 244 -- Restart: From the outside position, Jeff Gordon brings the field to green. Jimmie Johnson moves into the lead from the inside.

CAUTION NO. 7 -- Kurt Busch scrapes the wall and comes down into Kasey Kahne; Kahne pulls down the track into Greg Biffle.

Lap 239 -- Restart: Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon bring the field to green -- and Gordon takes the lead.

Lap 236 -- Chase contenders Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards make pit stops.

CAUTION NO. 6 -- Debris on the track on Lap 235.

Lap 234 -- Tony Stewart pulls onto pit road. Jimmie Johnson again runs on point.

Lap 230 -- Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Juan Montoya and Mark Martin are the top five.

Lap 226 -- Jimmie Johnson yields the lead to make a green-flag pit stop -- four tires with an air-pressure adjustment and fuel. Juan Montoya and Mark Martin follow suit.

Lap 225 -- Jeff Gordon brings it to pit road for four tires and fuel, beginning green-flag pit stops among the leaders. Dale Earnhardt Jr. also comes to pit road.

Lap 220 -- Denny Hamlin is returning to the garage; the car is deemed too slow.

Lap 215 -- With only 35 laps to go, Jimmie Johnson leads Juan Montoya by more than 3 seconds with the final round of pit stops on the horizon.

Lap 214 -- Denny Hamlin returns to the track in 36th place.

Lap 213 -- Jimmie Johnson has led a race-high 100 laps.

Lap 205 -- Jimmie Johnson's lead is now 2.22 seconds over Juan Montoya.

Lap 200 -- Jimmie Johnson leads Juan Montoya by 0.88 seconds and the advantage over fifth-place Kurt Busch is 4.45 seconds.

Lap 196 -- Jimmie Johnson has powered past Juan Montoya and assumed his position at the front of the field.

Lap 195 -- Restart: Juan Montoya -- riding in the inside lane -- takes the green flag with Jimmie Johnson on the outside.

CAUTION NO. 5 -- Hamlin, restarting again on the outside, is clipped on the left-rear by Juan Montoya as the race resumed. After spinning to the inside and assessing the damage, he has pulled the car to the garage for repairs.

Lap 190 -- Restart: Jimmie Johnson again loses positions on pit road. Denny Hamlin rolls out first with Juan Montoya second. Johnson is third followed by Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick.

Hamlin is punted, spins to the inside, hits the wall at the end of pit road and has significant damage.

CAUTION NO. 4 -- Debris found on the track on Lap 186, and the leaders come to pit road. Tony Stewart remains on the track and moves back to the lead lap.

Lap 185 -- The top five remains static: Jimmie Johnson, Juan Montoya, Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Denny Hamlin. ... With Dale Earnhardt running seventh, you've gotta believe Pepsi is getting its money's worth out of the Hendrick / race sponsorship.

Lap 175 -- Three non-Chase drivers are in the top 10: Kevin Harvick (sixth), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (seventh) and Casey Mears (10th).

Lap 165 -- Jimmie Johnson has a commanding 7.76 seconds lead over Juan Montoya.

Lap 163 -- The front-runners cycle through during green-flag pit stops. And yep, Jimmie Johnson is back on point. ... Tony Stewart is flagged for speeding coming off pit road; the penalty is a drive-through.

Lap 160 -- Green-flag pit stops are ongoing -- and leader Jimmie Johnson whips onto pit road. Four tires -- air pressure adjustments only; no chassis changes -- and fuel for the No. 48.

Lap 155 -- Stop me if you've heard this, but Jimmie Johnson is leading the race. ... If you need to grab another drink or more snacks, feel free to step away before pit stops begin in the next few laps.

Lap 150 -- With only 100 laps remaining, Jimmie Johnson has the field covered by 6.9 seconds. Johnson and Juan Montoya have led 48 and 72 laps, so the final 200 miles will determine who gets the five-point bonus for most laps led.

Lap 145 -- If you checked out for the past 20 laps, you haven't missed much; Jimmie Johnson continues to stretch the lead. Juan Montoya is now in second place and trails by about 7 seconds.

Lap 140 -- Jimmie Johnson's lead over Denny Hamlin is now 5.21 seconds.

Lap 135 -- Non-Chase drivers in the top 10: Dale Earnhardt Jr. (seventh), Kevin Harvick (10th).

Lap 130 -- Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon, Juan Montoya and Mark Martin run in the top five.

Lap 125 -- The race reaches halfway with Jimmie Johnson taking the lead from Denny Hamlin.

Lap 122 -- Restart: Denny Hamlin again opts for the outside position as the green flag flies. Jeff Gordon sticks to the bottom of the track but cannot hold off Hamlin at the stripe and still has not led a lap in the race.

Lap 118 -- Denny Hamlin wins the race off pit road followed by Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

CAUTION NO. 3 -- Debris found on the track on Lap 117. This negates the need for green-flag pit stops, which would have come about Lap 125.

Lap 115 -- Jimmie Johnson muscles past on the inside and drops Juan Montoya to second place.

Lap 112 -- Jimmie Johnson is reeling in Juan Montoya, whose lead has been whittled to 0.45 seconds.

Lap 105 -- All four Hendrick cars are running in the top 10: Jimmie Johnson (second), Jeff Gordon (fourth), Mark Martin (fifth) and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (ninth).

Lap 100 -- Juan Montoya maintains a 2-plus seconds lead over Jimmie Johnson.

Lap 95 -- Jimmie Johnson continues to stalk leader Juan Montoya but the defending race winner trails by 2.45 seconds.

Lap 90 -- Juan Montoya continues to set the pace with Denny Hamlin, Mark Martin, Jimmie Johnson and Martin Truex Jr. rounding out the top five.

Lap 87 -- Restart: Martin Truex Jr. takes the outside for the double-file restart and Juan Montoya powers past him to take the lead.

Lap 81 -- Martin Truex Jr. takes two tires and is the first car off pit road.

CAUTION NO. 2 -- Ryan Newman blows the right-front tire. Leaders come to pit road.

Lap 80 -- The overcast skies have cleared and sunshine is beaming down at Fontana. This will change the track and affect how the cars handle.

Lap 74 -- Juan Montoya retakes the lead, dropping Mark Martin to second.

Lap 69 -- Mark Martin powers around Denny Hamlin for the lead.

Lap 65 -- Restart: Juan Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Jeff Gordon run up front. ... Hamlin outruns Montoya to take the lead with Harvick on his heels.

Lap 60 -- Leaders bring the field to pit road. Juan Montoya wins the race off pit road. Kevin Harvick is second. Ryan Newman takes two tires and gains 17 positions. Jimmie Johnson's crew has trouble with the lug nuts and he loses six positions.

CAUTION NO. 1 -- Jamie McMurray scrapes the wall. The yellow flag allows Kyle Busch to come into the pits and make a driver change. David Gilliland will take over the No. 18.

Lap 55 -- Points leader Mark Martin is again praised for his season accomplishments. If you're new to the sport, he "retired" in 2005. At age 50, he's defying Father Time and sending scribes to the thesaurus to gather more adjectives.

Lap 53 -- Juan Montoya begins putting drivers a lap down and has a 1.03 seconds lead over Jimmie Johnson.

Lap 45 -- Juan Montoya eases past Jimmie Johnson for the lead and Johnson battles back as they run door-to-door.

Lap 43 -- Jimmie Johnson again runs out front.

Lap 41 -- Race leader Juan Montoya pits; Kurt Busch now running out front. Kyle Busch opts not to get out of the car during green-flag stop.

Lap 40 -- Matt Kenseth and Kasey Kahne hit pit road, setting off green-flag stops. Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin also come in for tires and fuel.

Lap 35 -- Juan Montoya and Jimmie Johnson are running 1-2 with third-place Kevin Harvick a distant 3.3 seconds behind.

3:56 p.m. -- Maybe the empty seats at Auto Club Speedway will be filled once the Angels-Red Sox playoff game is finished ...

Lap 25 -- Juan Montoya has assumed the lead, passing Jimmie Johnson.

Lap 20 -- Jimmie Johnson runs 1.139 seconds ahead of second-place Juan Montoya.

Lap 15 -- David Gilliland has parked the No. 71 and is making his way to the No. 18 pit stall in anticipation of a stop during which Kyle Busch will give up the ride.

Lap 11 -- Jimmie Johnson overtakes Denny Hamlin for the lead. ... Will it become follow-the-leader or does the field have something for the No. 48?

Lap 8 -- Chase contenders Denny Hamlin, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle and Juan Montoya are running at the front of the pack.

Lap 5 -- The field is settling in with Denny Hamlin continuing to show the way. Jimmie Johnson, a three-time winner at Fontana, runs second.

Lap 1 -- Three-wide racing through Turn 2; Hamlin holds the lead.

3:35 p.m. ET -- Denny Hamlin, who opts for the outside line, takes the green flag to begin the Pepsi 500 at Fontana.

• If you haven't heard, Transformers will be available on DVD on Tuesday. At least that's according to the 2,638th commercial promo we've seen in the past two-plus hours.

3:23 p.m. ET -- Kelsey Grammer gives the command to start engines.

3:16 p.m. ET -- Jesse McCartney performs the national anthem.

• NASCAR.COM's Mark Aumann reports Kyle Busch is still being affected by flu and after taking the green flag will be replaced by David Gilliland at the first opportunity.

• Joey Logano's father, Tom, was credentialed with a paper pass -- and in a coincidence, the Logano and Greg Biffle pit boxes are next to each other (separated by the garage area access road). (More)

• Denny Hamlin and Greg Biffle will start on the front row -- one day after their late-race crash in the Nationwide Series' Copart 300.

2:30 p.m. ET -- ABC has concluded its presentation of Together: The Hendrick Motorsports Story, a celebration of the company's 25th anniversary. ... Now, we're counting down the minutes until green flag -- scheduled for 3:31 p.m. ET -- at Fontana.

The Pepsi 500 is the fourth race in the Chase. Points leader Mark Martin will start ninth in one of seven Chevrolets in the top 10 -- three for Hendrick (Jimmie Johnson, third; Martin; Jeff Gordon, 10th).