DOVER, Del. - -The high banks of Dover International Speedway did on Sunday what the free market has been unable to: turn General Motors into a world-beater.
Over the waning laps of the Autism Speaks 400, two of NASCAR's best drivers staged a thrilling battle of wits and horsepower in their high-octane Chevrolets, reducing the rest of the field of Fords, Dodges and Toyotas to distant afterthoughts.
It was dazzling stuff, with Jimmie Johnson, who clearly had the superior car and engine, frantically making up ground after a botched pit stop dropped him from first to eighth with 35 laps remaining.
Round and round Johnson went, picking off rivals like a vulture until he met his most formidable foil in Tony Stewart. With worn left-side tires and an engine that wasn't quite as strong, Stewart darted high and low in an effort to keep Johnson in his rearview mirror.
But Johnson was too good. And with three laps to go, he pulled alongside Stewart on the backstretch and blasted past. Once his car's snout was out front, Johnson roared on for his 42nd career victory and his most satisfying in memory.
Stewart came home second, 0.861 of a second behind. That showing, combined with Jeff Gordon's 26th-place finish in a backup car that wasn't as stout as the one he wrecked during qualifying, vaulted Stewart to the lead in NASCAR's Sprint Cup standings.
While Stewart has won two NASCAR titles with Joe Gibbs Racing (in 2002 and 2005), he is his own boss now, as co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. And as of Sunday, he's NASCAR's first owner-driver to sit atop the standings since the late Alan Kulwicki in 1992.
Greg Biffle and Matt Kenseth finished third and fourth, respectively, in Roush-Fenway Fords. Kurt Busch was fifth in a Dodge.
And NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished a respectable 12th in his first race since his cousin and longtime crew chief, Tony Eury Jr., was replaced by car owner Rick Hendrick.
Much like Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR was overdue for a great race after a Memorial Day weekend deluge turned its 600-miler into a two-day dud.
And Sunday's 400-miler at Dover delivered - particularly after the late-race shuffling that followed the ninth caution of the day.
Until then, it was a Jimmie Johnson show.
The three-time and defending NASCAR champion was fully in charge after taking the lead on Lap 49, ceding the front spot for just a few laps at a time.
