Wild finishes have become something of a staple in this year's Chase for the Nextel Cup and the conclusion to Sunday's Pep Boys Auto 500 in Atlanta proved to be no different as a somewhat surprised Jimmie Johnson inherited the win.
With two wins already at the super-quick 1.54-mile Atlanta Motor Speedway, including one this past March, Johnson was by no means a surprise winner in the seventh race of this year's Chase for the Nextel Cup although Sunday's trip to victory lane was certainly unexpected.
For 318 of the races eventual 327 laps Johnson was merely among a large group of cars that didn't quite have the pace to match Martin Truex Jr, Kurt Busch, his younger brother Kyle and Matt Kenseth before the race was thrown on its head in the final nine laps.
Until brilliantly clear autumnal Georgia skies it was none other than current points leader Jeff Gordon who gave the famous command to start engines on this, the 15th anniversary of his Cup Series debut while ‘The King' Richard Petty waved the green flag, 15 years on from his final Cup start.
On the track itself polesitter Greg Biffle was quickly swamped by second place starter Kurt Busch who began establishing a lead that would last for much of the first 100 laps. During that time only Martin Truex Jr had a brief answer for the #2 Penske Racing Dodge and it took a slow pitstop from Busch on lap 103 before Truex Jr could take a clear hold of the lead in the #1 DEI Chevrolet.
Truex Jr led the majority of the middle third of the race with only Kyle Busch and his recovering brother Kurt able to offer fleeting resistance. However the elder Busch was blighted by a further slow stop on lap 236 and with Truex Jr's crew also losing precious seconds on pit road it was Kasey Kahne who led Kyle Busch to the lap 240 restart.
![Jimmie Johnson - Kobalt/Lowe's Chevrolet [pic credit: GM media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/300233.jpg)
