HAMPTON, Ga. (NASCAR.com) -- Even after winning Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Carl Edwards looked deflated after he was told that Hendrick Motorsports driver Jimmie Johnson had finished second.

"Are you kidding me?" Edwards asked incredulously after taking the checkered flag more than two and a half seconds ahead of Johnson. "Man, Jimmie's magic."

By finishing second, Johnson -- who fell a lap down at one point after a penalty for speeding on pit road -- extended his NASCAR Sprint Cup points lead to a seemingly insurmountable 183 with just three races remaining. Edwards was left to exclaim that he's got to win all of the remaining events and "hope for the best" if he intends to keep Johnson from winning his third straight championship.

Edwards jumped two spots into second place in the standings with his seventh victory of the season. But no driver has overcome more than a 50-point deficit to win with just three races remaining.

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 the first and second turns, and Edwards held the lead through a caution for debris on lap 312.

Johnson, meanwhile, fell to 11th -- giving 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.

"Having those new tires versus those other guys, that was a great call," Johnson said. "It was a risky call, but that shows you how (crew chief) Chad (Knaus) is, that we're here to race."

Working his way toward the front, Johnson passed Hamlin for second through the third turn on the final lap to cut his points loss to Edwards to a minimum.

It was a remarkable rally for the Hendrick Motorsports driver. On lap 89, Johnson had smoked his tires entering pit road and was nailed with a speeding penalty that dropped him to 30th in the running order.

By the time the field restarted on lap 115, after a caution for debris, Johnson was 20th -- the first car one lap down. When caution flew again on lap 131 for Kasey Kahne's spin off turn 4, Johnson got a free pass to the lead lap as the "Lucky Dog."

Up until a few years ago, drivers who were a lap down would race back to the start/finish line when a caution flag came out in an effort to get back on the lead lap. But NASCAR officials deemed that too dangerous and changed the rule so that the first car a lap down automatically would get the lap back when the yellow flag came out and be called the "Lucky Dog."

That was Johnson on Sunday, who seemed as disbelieving as Edwards was about the final results.

"I'm just as shocked as he is," Johnson said. "I thought we were going to finish ninth or 10th. That last caution came out there, and I give Chad credit for making the call and playing the strategy right. It worked out well for us."

Labels: Carl Edwards, Jeff Gordon Jimmie Johnson, Labels: Hendrick Chevrolet, Lucky Dog, NASCAR Sprint Cup