Jimmie Johnson wins the 2015 FedEx 400 at Dover International Speedway

Jimmie Johnson’s late gamble paid off in his fourth victory of the season, as he took the checkered flag Sunday at Dover International Speedway.

When Kyle Busch and Brian Scott crashed with 23 laps to go, Johnson and Kevin Harvick elected to stay on the one-mile track while those behind them pitted for fresh tires.

When the race resumed, Johnson fended off Harvick then withstood a sequence of restarts, including a green-white-checkered finish, to claim the FedEx 400. Harvick finished second, with Kyle Larson third. Rounding out the top-five were Kasey Kahne and Aric Almirola.

“They never really came,” Johnson said in victory lane of those who stopped for tires. “(Harvick) and I did just fine on old tires and held those guys off.”

The victory was Johnson’s 10th overall at Dover, considered one of NASCAR’s most challenging tracks. With the win, the six-time Cup Series champion joins Richard Petty, David Pearson, Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt Sr. -- all NASCAR Hall of Famers -- as the only drivers to have won 10 or more races at particular track.

“I really don’t think about those things,” Johnson said. “I’m very thankful for the opportunity that I’ve had at Hendrick Motorsports, the amazing people I’ve had to work with.

“Seventy-four race wins (overall), 10 here (at Dover), I mean, you can’t dream that big. I’m just blown away and honored by the success -- what we’ve done with our opportunity.”

Johnson’s 10th Dover victory was considerably more difficult than his nine previous, which he typically dominated. On Sunday, Denny Hamlin, who started on the pole, Truex and Harvick were consistently faster leading 118, 131 and 91 laps, respectively. Johnson led only the final 23 laps.

But Hamlin’s bid for the win came undone when Clint Bowyer tagged the rear of Hamlin’s car and sent him spinning into the inside wall 13 laps from the scheduled finish. Truex, who led the most laps for the third points race in a row, got mired in traffic late and could never challenge Johnson. He finished sixth, extending his winless streak to 69 races.

“We had a good car today, but it was never right,” Truex said. “We were never right yesterday all through practice. We made some changes today and we made some gains on it, but never really got it where we needed it. Clean air was huge. When we were out front, we were okay. It just never turned good all day long. It just eventually caught up to us.”

Jamie McMurray, Paul Menard, Bowyer and Jeff Gordon completed the top-10 finishers.

Seven cautions slowed the FedEx 400 for 40 laps.

Before his accident, Busch had been running third in just his second points event since returning from a broken right leg and left foot sustained in a February crash at Daytona International Speedway. He was uninjured Sunday.

Busch needs a win and to finish 30th or better in the regular season standings to qualify for NASCAR’s playoffs. By finishing 36th at Dover, he fell 162 points behind 30th-ranked Justin Allgaier with 13 races remaining.

“Man, we had a really good run going -- obviously, we ran in the top-five all day long,” Busch said. “This a shame; this isn’t what we need. We weren’t going to win today, but it doesn’t help when you finish 40th.”