Jimmie Johnson the new Dover Dominator

DOVER, Del. - For 375 laps, the NASCAR Sprint Cup drivers kept circling Dover International Speedway's 1-mile oval without collisions or rancor. There were no wrecks, no driver mad at another.

Then, following only the fourth caution period of the AAA 400, Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. kept the estimated crowd of 75,000 on their feet. Earnhardt, the track-recordbreaking pole-sitter, stalked teammate Johnson within a few car lengths.

The final caution erased Johnson's 5-second advantage over Earnhardt. For the final laps, however, Earnhardt couldn't overtake Johnson, who won by 0.446 seconds.

Johnson's victory was his record eighth at Dover, snapping his tie with fellow racing greats Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. Johnson, a five-time Cup series champion, extended his career Chase wins to 23, by far the most. Tony Stewart is second in career Chase wins with 11.

Johnson also led the most laps by far in his Chevrolet, 243, including the last 29.

Winning moved Johnson into second place in the Chase, ahead of Kyle Busch. After three Chase races, Johnson trails leader Matt Kenseth by eight points. Busch, fifth yesterday, is 12 points off Kenseth's pace. Kenseth finished seventh after leading 36 laps.

Asked about surpassing Petty and Allison in Dover wins, Johnson, the new "Dover Dominator," smiled and said, "I'm not sure I've done anything Richard Petty hasn't. Truthfully, it was the first thought that went through my mind when I crossed the finish line."

While Johnson didn't falter following the final restart, he admitted the pressure was on him.

"I didn't want to lose control of the race, so the pressure was on," Johnson said after his fifth win of the year, second only to Kenseth's seven. "I ran my guts out and was able to keep him at bay for 10 to 12 laps [after the restart]. At that point, I was able to get back to running a smart race."

Johnson's 65 career Cup race wins rank eighth all-time.

Earnhardt was disappointed but saw positives in his performance in the No. 88 Chevrolet. He is 10th in the Chase, 57 points off the pace.

"We had an awesome car," he said. "Two weeks in a row, we've had fantastic race cars. I feel the last couple weeks we've been able to really show what our team is capable of.

"I felt as we got into traffic Jimmie was starting to struggle a little the last couple laps. My car actually got better the longer I ran."

Earnhardt had one stumble during pit stops when he was leading and missed the commitment cone at the entrance to pit road on lap 117. He had to race another lap before driving onto pit road.

"If I had not given up that track position, we might have won the race," he said. "It would've been hard to get by us, just like it was to get by Jimmie."

Kurt Busch had the worst race among the Chasers. He was never in the top 10, finishing 21st. He's now ninth in the Chase, 55 points behind Matt Kenseth. Busch said a loose wheel on his Chevrolet forced him to make an unscheduled pit stop.

Reigning Cup champion Brad Keselowski, a non-Chaser still pursuing his first win of the year, finished 37th after a rear-end housing on his Ford burned up.

The top 10 finishers were all Chasers, marking the first time that has happened.

* Kyle Busch led 30 laps but settled for fifth place. "We were about a fifth- to seventh-place car much of the day," he said. "It's frustrating to be fifth, but [when] you look at the grand scheme it's three straight top-fives to start the Chase, so not bad."

* Joey Logano's victory in Saturday's Nationwide race was his fourth in a row at Dover, the first time a driver has achieved a four-race winning streak in any NASCAR series.