The two-time reigning Cup champion was easily the class of the field in the Pepsi 500, leading 227 of the 250 laps on the 2-mile oval. He won the race at the former California Speedway for the second straight year and again gave notice to points leader Kyle Busch and series runner-up Carl Edwards - the two hottest drivers in the series coming into this race - that he remains a serious contender for a third straight title.
Runner-up Greg Biffle had the next best car throughout the race, but he couldn’t keep up with Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet, finishing more than 2 seconds behind.
In February, Johnson led the most laps here but lost the race when Edwards passed him with 23 laps to go. This time, nobody could touch Johnson, whose car was a rocketship from the start.
Time after time he built leads of between 5 and 12 seconds, only to see them erased by yellow flags. But it didn’t faze Johnson, who just rebuilt the margin after the next restart.
