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Jimmie Johnson took the lead when it counted the most and went on to win NASCAR's All-Star race in Charlotte for a record fourth time.
That broke a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt and teammate, Jeff Gordon, who greeted Johnson in Victory Lane with "congratulations Five-time, four-time" referring to Johnson's nickname and new status.
"To beat Jeff and Earnhardt, two guys that I have looked up to my whole life, two massive icons of our sport, this means the world to me," Johnson, who also won the event in 2012, said.
The non-points race consisted of four 20-lap segments followed by a mandatory pit stop for four tires and ten race dash to a one million dollar payout by series sponsor Sprint.
Johnson who had a problem in qualifying took the lead in that last segment shootout and was never closely challenged after that. Joey Logano finished second followed by Kyle Busch who won two of the four preceding segments.
The finale had an unusual set up; unlike typical points races where cautions are unpredictable and drivers pit in no specific order. On Saturday night, at the 1.5 mile Charlotte Motor Speedway, the last pit stop order was performed by average finish in the first four segments.
Even though Johnson failed to capture one of the preceding segments his average finish put him and his crew in position to take the lead spot exiting the pits.
"We were able to keep clicking away at good finishes through the second, third and fourth segment," said Johnson.
"That got us to fourth and then pit road came around and our guys had awesome pit stop. And we were almost off pit road first, but we were on the front row and the front row is what we needed for 10 laps."
Kahne who finished fourth agreed about the need to get out front quickly.
"I was a little tight the run before," he said. "We didn't have time to fix it because we wanted to get out first and knew if we could get clean air we thought we would be alright with our Chevy. Jimmie just stayed right there and I couldn't get rid of him and then he beat me off the corner and into three and kind of on exit and it was over after that."
The final pit stop was the key to a near miss by Kyle Busch and polesitter Kurt Busch (who finished fifth).
Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. were added to the field by virtue of a one-two finish in the Sprint Showdown. A 40-lap race with two 20-lap segments which preceded the main event.
Danica Patrick, who earned an entry via a fan vote for most popular, finished 20th in a 22-car field.
That broke a tie with the late Dale Earnhardt and teammate, Jeff Gordon, who greeted Johnson in Victory Lane with "congratulations Five-time, four-time" referring to Johnson's nickname and new status.
"To beat Jeff and Earnhardt, two guys that I have looked up to my whole life, two massive icons of our sport, this means the world to me," Johnson, who also won the event in 2012, said.
The non-points race consisted of four 20-lap segments followed by a mandatory pit stop for four tires and ten race dash to a one million dollar payout by series sponsor Sprint.
Johnson who had a problem in qualifying took the lead in that last segment shootout and was never closely challenged after that. Joey Logano finished second followed by Kyle Busch who won two of the four preceding segments.
The finale had an unusual set up; unlike typical points races where cautions are unpredictable and drivers pit in no specific order. On Saturday night, at the 1.5 mile Charlotte Motor Speedway, the last pit stop order was performed by average finish in the first four segments.
Even though Johnson failed to capture one of the preceding segments his average finish put him and his crew in position to take the lead spot exiting the pits.
"We were able to keep clicking away at good finishes through the second, third and fourth segment," said Johnson.
"That got us to fourth and then pit road came around and our guys had awesome pit stop. And we were almost off pit road first, but we were on the front row and the front row is what we needed for 10 laps."
Kahne who finished fourth agreed about the need to get out front quickly.
"I was a little tight the run before," he said. "We didn't have time to fix it because we wanted to get out first and knew if we could get clean air we thought we would be alright with our Chevy. Jimmie just stayed right there and I couldn't get rid of him and then he beat me off the corner and into three and kind of on exit and it was over after that."
The final pit stop was the key to a near miss by Kyle Busch and polesitter Kurt Busch (who finished fifth).
Jamie McMurray and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr. were added to the field by virtue of a one-two finish in the Sprint Showdown. A 40-lap race with two 20-lap segments which preceded the main event.
Danica Patrick, who earned an entry via a fan vote for most popular, finished 20th in a 22-car field.