Earnhardt passed Jimmie Johnson for the lead with 51 laps remaining in the Checker Auto Parts 500 and stayed out front through a series of restarts in a race marred by a record-tying 10 caution flags.

The final restart came nine laps from the end of the 312-lap race on the 1-mile oval and Earnhardt easily pulled away from Johnson, beating the second-place car to the finish by 0.735 seconds -- about five car-lengths -- in the battle of Chevrolets.

Matt Kenseth, the series points leader, finished sixth but saw his lead over second-place Earnhardt cut from 258 to 228 points. Kenseth can wrap up his first title by finishing in the top 30 in the final two races.

"This was fun. We've been pretty good all year and we've improved in a lot of places," Earnhardt said. "We've got a lot of guys who have been with us and some new guys and, if we keep everybody next year, we're going to win a championship. If we don't win it this year, we're going to win it next year." More