NASCAR At Kansas Speedway Race Results: Jimmie Johnson Wins Fourth Chase Race In Dominant Fashion

Two races into the 2011 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup and Jimmie Johnson was all but written off as a championship contender. Sitting 10th in the standings, Johnson was the lowest he had ever been in the Chase.

Two weeks later, the five-time defending champion is back in the thick of things after dominating Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400.

Leading 197 of the 273 laps, Johnson proved his doubters wrong, even surviving a Green-White-Checkered restart with Kasey Kahne charging hard.

“Very, very impressive performance today,” crew chief Chad Knaus said after the checkered flag.

Scoring only his second win of the season, Johnson moved to third in the Chase standings, just four points within the championship lead.

“We did our job today and hope we can do it six more times,” Johnson said in Victory Lane. “We’ve got a very strong group of guys, and have been knocking on the door all year long. We got beat in some cases and beat ourselves in others. Today we went out there and did a great job and got this Lowes Chevrolet to Victory Lane.”

Carl Edwards was able to recover from a disappointing performance throughout the day to rally to a fifth-place finish and maintain the points lead with six Chase races to go.

Jeff Gordon’s title hopes took a major hit in Kansas when his engine let go in the closing laps of Sunday’s race. Going behind the wall, Gordon finished the day in 34th.

Here’s how they finished: