Johnson edges Edwards at Kansas, takes points lead

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Jimmie Johnson didn't have the luxury of a phone booth at Kansas Speedway, but Superman showed up anyway.

"Did you bring your cape this weekend?" crew chief Chad Knaus asked Johnson, after the No. 48 crew got his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet out of the pits first with a quick four-tire stop on Lap 219 of 267 in Sunday's Camping World RV 400 at the 1.5-mile track.

"It's in here somewhere," answered Johnson, who needed all the powers in his arsenal -- super or not -- to hold off Carl Edwards' banzai run on the final lap of the third race in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

"Where the hell did he come from those last two laps?" Johnson asked Knaus after taking the checkered flag .280 seconds ahead of the No. 99 Ford and wresting the points lead from his Roush Fenway Racing rival.

Greg Biffle won a drag race off Turn 4 on the final lap to edge Jeff Gordon, battling an unspecified illness since Friday, for the third position. Matt Kenseth came home fifth, followed by Kevin Harvick, who got his ninth consecutive top-10, and Jeff Burton, as Chase drivers claimed the top seven places.

Johnson leads Edwards by 10 points with seven races left. Despite two victories and a third in the first three Chase races, Biffle trails the two-time defending Cup champion by 30 points.

Over the final two laps, Edwards narrowed Johnson's 10-car-length lead and dived beneath the No. 48 Chevy entering Turn 3 on the final lap. Edwards' slid up in front of Johnson, banged the wall in the middle of the corner and watched as Johnson regained the lead to the inside (watch video).

"I planned on hitting the wall, but I didn't plan on the wall slowing me down that much," said Edwards, a native of Columbia, Mo., who considers Kansas his home Cup track. "I want to win this race more than anything, but I guess I'll have to wait till next year.

"That's as hard as I can go there at the end. I couldn't sleep a wink [Sunday night] if I didn't try everything I could to win. Now I know it doesn't work the same as in video games." (Continued)