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Concord, N.C. • Stuck in the longest losing streak of his career, Jimmie Johnson had a chance for a critical win that could salvage this ho-hum season for Hendrick Motorsports.

Hardly a championship contender for most of this season, Johnson grabbed a victory at sun-soaked Charlotte Motor Speedway when nearly half the title contenders had horrible days.

The win Sunday was his third of the season, but snapped a 24-race losing streak dating to March. Johnson is the only Hendrick driver to visit victory lane this season, and this win earned him an automatic berth into the third round of the playoffs.

It's the first time Johnson has made it out of the second round since the elimination format was introduced in 2014. He was knocked out at Talladega in the second round of the inaugural season, and was bounced in the first round last year.

Suddenly, the six-time NASCAR champion is a realistic contender for that elusive record-tying seventh title.

"We can't sit back and celebrate too much on this," Johnson said. "We've got to buckle down and get to work tomorrow and keep advancing our race cars. But this does buy us a couple weeks of freedom."

The race was originally scheduled for Saturday night, but Hurricane Matthew washed out nearly the entire weekend and set up an 800-mile doubleheader of the Sprint Cup and Xfinity Series on Sunday. When the racing finally began on a beautiful North Carolina afternoon, it immediately shaped up as a Hendrick kind of day.

Johnson and Chase Elliott dominated the race, running 1-2 for a long stretch, and a Hendrick victory all but guaranteed based on the speed the Chevrolets showed. Elliott, though, was one of five Chase drivers to finish 30th or worse, and it was Johnson who had to carry the flag.

Fitting, though.

The win came on the 15th anniversary of Johnson's debut in Cup for Hendrick, which was at Charlotte, and was his eighth career win at the track.

"Nobody ever gave up, and you know, we know what a champion Jimmie is," team owner Rick Hendrick said.

Johnson has quietly turned up his performance in the Chase and became an official title contender as the first driver qualified for the next round. He led a race-high 155 laps Sunday, and in four Chase races this season, he's led 363 laps and hasn't finished lower than 12th.

"Be curious to look back, I guess, and see if these are all new cars that they're bringing," said reigning champion Kyle Busch. "Obviously, if it is, then they've found something that they've been waiting out and holding out on us. That's to be expected, though, man. That's what this sport is all about."

Johnson certainly figured it out on a day when six Chase drivers had trouble.

Denny Hamlin and Kevin Harvick both had engine issues. Austin Dillon and Elliott were in accidents. Joey Logano had tire problems, and Martin Truex Jr. had an electrical issue as he left pit road after the final pit stop. —

Sprint Cup results

NASCAR Sprint Cup Bank of America 500

Sunday

At Charlotte Motor Speedway

Concord, N.C.

Lap length • 1.500 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334 laps, 133.6 rating, 45 points.

2. (17) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 334, 91.3, 40.

3. (12) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 334, 93.4, 38.

4. (21) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 334, 99.9, 38.

5. (25) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 334, 106.1, 36.

6. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, 108.7, 36.

7. (20) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 334, 89.7, 34.

8. (23) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 334, 78.3, 33.

9. (5) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 334, 79.2, 32.

10. (16) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 334, 90.3, 31.

11. (13) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 334, 72.0, 30.

12. (8) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 334, 101.4, 29.

13. (7) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 334, 92.1, 28.

14. (22) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 334, 64.8, 27.

15. (33) Aric Almirola, Ford, 334, 59.7, 26.

16. (26) Chris Buescher, Ford, 334, 60.8, 25.

17. (31) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 334, 61.5, 25.

18. (27) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 334, 61.8, 23.

19. (32) Landon Cassill, Ford, 334, 50.7, 22.

20. (15) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Ford, 333, 61.5, 21.

21. (35) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 333, 46.8, 20.

22. (30) Brian Scott, Ford, 333, 52.0, 19.

23. (34) David Ragan, Toyota, 331, 42.9, 18.

24. (37) Michael Annett, Chevrolet, 330, 42.0, 17.

25. (24) Matt DiBenedetto, Toyota, 329, 40.8, 16.

26. (38) Jeffrey Earnhardt, Ford, 328, 33.7, 15.

27. (36) Cole Whitt, Ford, 327, 35.6, 14.

28. (39) Reed Sorenson, Chevrolet, 321, 32.9, 13.

29. (40) Josh Wise, Chevrolet, 320, 32.7, 12.

30. (9) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, engine, 308, 95.8, 12.

31. (18) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 307, 63.6, 10.

32. (19) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, accident, 258, 68.7, 9.

33. (3) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, accident, 258, 116.4, 9.

34. (28) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, accident, 258, 52.2, 7.

35. (14) Greg Biffle, Ford, accident, 257, 56.8, 6.

36. (10) Joey Logano, Ford, 254, 70.2, 6.

37. (6) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, accident, 252, 77.0, 4.

38. (1) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, engine, 155, 77.1, 4.

39. (2) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, accident, 61, 51.9, 0.

40. (29) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, accident, 61, 31.2, 1.

Race Statistics

Average speed of race winner • 134.930 mph.

Time of race • 3 hours, 42 minutes, 47 seconds.

Margin of victory • 1.474 seconds.

Caution flags • 8 for 51 laps.

Lead changes • 17 among 9 drivers.

Wins • Ky.Busch, 4; B.Keselowski, 4; M.Truex, 4; D.Hamlin, 3; K.Harvick, 3; C.Edwards, 2; J.Johnson, 2; M.Kenseth, 2; C.Buescher, 1; Ku.Busch, 1; K.Larson, 1; J.Logano, 1; T.Stewart, 1.

Top 16 in points • J. Johnson, 3,045; M. Kenseth, 3,040; Kyle Busch, 3,036; B. Keselowski, 3,034; Kurt Busch, 3,033; C. Edwards, 3,029; M. Truex Jr, 3,028; D. Hamlin, 3,012; A. Dillon, 3,009; C. Elliott, 3,009; J. Logano, 3,006; K. Harvick, 3,004; K. Larson, 2,109; T. Stewart, 2,106; J. McMurray, 2,084; C. Buescher, 2,070.