Johnson: Held nerve

Jimmie Johnson profited from a mistake by rival Carl Edwards to claim his first victory of the 2008 Chase for the Sprint Cup in the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway.

The 2007 NASCAR champion was passed by Edwards on the final lap but he could not hold his car properly, ending up in the wall as Johnson slipped back up the inside for a dramatic win.

"I planned on hitting the wall, but I didn't plan on the wall slowing me down that much," Edwards told the US media after the race. "In video games, you can just run into the wall and run it wide open. That's what I did, but it didn't quite work out the same as the video game.

"To be honest, I was cruising down the backstretch [on the last lap], had a decent lead and I knew he would go to the bottom," Johnson added.

"My concern was just making sure I was at his quarterpanel coming off of turn two. So I was thinking through what I needed to do and, next thing you know, that car goes flying by.

"I knew inside there was no damn way he was making the turn and just stayed on the brake and tried to get it redirected and turned down.

"Then I was so in awe of how far he drove it in, I watched him pound the wall and get back in the gas and thought, 'Man, he's serious about this win. I'd better get back in the gas myself."

The win propelled Johnson into a 10-point lead atop of the Sprint Cup standings ahead of Edwards, who dropped to second. Greg Biffle, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick follow Johnson and Edwards in the standings after stopping off third, seventh and sixth respectively.

Jeff Gordon, Clint Bowyer and Dale Earnhardt Jr are sixth, seventh and eighth, followed by Matt Kenseth - who was lucky to escape with his car after a crash midway through the race.

All three Joe Gibbs Racing cars are still at the bottom of the Chase standings. Denny Hamlin sits 10th, Tony Stewart 11th, and Kyle Busch 12th.

Busch had an engine problem early on that meant he could only finish in 28th.