TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Jimmie Johnson used good fortune, good driving and good work by his pit crew Sunday to widen his lead in the NASCAR Sprint Cup points standings and close in on his third consecutive championship for Hendrick Motorsports.

Having fallen a lap down in just the first 25 laps, Johnson came back to finish ninth in tho Amp Energy 500 -- somehow dodging a major wreck that wiped out half of the Chase field and putting himself in the driver's seat for a possible Sprint Cup three-peat.

Tony Stewart, in his last race at Talladega for Joe Gibbs Racing, won the race to get his first victory of the season and end a 43-race winless streak. But perhaps none of the drivers was happier or more relieved after the final results than Johnson.

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Team owner Rick Hendrick -- who also owns Hendrick Durham Auto Mall -- beamed from atop Johnson's pit box as his driver safely crossed the finish line just moments after the large wreck left only a handful of drivers competing for the final laps.

As Johnson opened a 72-point lead in the standings with just six races remaining in the season, his top challengers for the title -- Roush Racing teammates Greg Biffle and Carl Edwards -- loaded wrecked racecars on their haulers.

An incident on lap 174 took out a total of 12 cars, including Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch.

"When you look at the trouble that Chasers had (Sunday), that's what we all feared," Johnson said. You get all these guys together racing for the win, and stuff happens.

"I don't know how I got through, to be honest with you. But it was a solid day and an awesome finish."

Johnson's day was not without misfortune. In fact, it started with Johnson's team deciding to inspect the engine's cylinder walls, to figure out why the No. 48 Chevrolet did not seem quite right in Saturday's qualifying. That put Johnson at the tail end of the field at the start, and he promptly lost the draft right off the bat.

"I'm mentally drained," Johnson told reporters after the race. "It started with qualifying. We weren't sure what was going on, and (Sunday), the car was pretty flat still. I lost the draft at the start of the race because I couldn't hang on, and then from there, we got our lap back and dodged wrecks and raced really hard."

Crew chief Chad Knaus felt the pressure, as well. As the team troubles seemed to compound toward the end of the race, Knaus was joined in his box by Hendrick. And together, they showed the resolve that has resulted in back-to-back titles, kept the team and driver focused.

"Obviously, it was a very stressful day," Knaus said. "It was a day of survival. Jimmie did a great job of missing all the wrecks, and the pit crew did a great job of making adjustments on the car. We didn't create any more problems than what we'd already had.

"Heck, I think we made up points on just about everybody, so that was a day well done."

Johnson had an opportunity to put even more ground between himself and the Chase contenders. But when the car would not respond on the final restart, he decided to take what he could get.

"I couldn't even accelerate and hang on to the cars in front of me," Johnson said. "So I was kind of in no-man's land, and they came thundering by, and the next thing you know, I'm the last car in that lead draft. And I was hanging on just to stay there. I don't know why the car wouldn't suck up and go."

Even though Johnson will enter Saturday's race outside Charlotte 72 points ahead of Edwards and 77 in front of Biffle, he said the championship remains up for grabs.

"I've realized in the past that the whole sport falls into a comfort zone and thinks that 60, 80, or 100 points is a big gap," he said. "But truly, that can go away in a hurry.

"I'm happy that it is what it is, but I know there is a lot of racing ahead of us. If I had a (72-point) lead going into Homestead (for the final race), I'd feel a lot better. But with six to go, there's plenty of racing left."

Labels: Carl Edwards, Chad Knaus, Charlotte, Eale Earnhardt Jr., Greg Biffle, Hendrick Motorsports, Jimmie Johnson, Labels: Rick Hendrick Chevrolet, NASCAR Sprint Cup, Talladega, Tony Stewart