KANSAS CITY, Kan. - Jimmie Johnson didn't qualify where he wanted, and his car never quite cooperated during the final practice session at Kansas Speedway. So he spent Saturday evening in the garage area, going over different setups with the rest of his team.

That dedication, that attention to detail, is a big reason he's chasing his sixth straight Cup title.

Johnson and his team must have figured things out. The defending series champion stormed to the front early Sunday, then weathered a series of late cautions before holding off Kasey Kahne in a green-white-checkered finish for his first win since April.

"Jimmie was very dedicated last night with us, trying to figure out the setup of the car," crew chief Chad Knaus said. "We pored over a lot of combinations and we came up with a good one."

Talk about an understatement.

Johnson led 197 laps in one of the most dominant performances the track has ever seen. The victory was the 55th for Johnson, moving him into a tie with Rusty Wallace for the eighth on the career list, and the 199th for team owner Rick Hendrick.

"The competitor in all of us, we've known we've been close," Johnson said.

Johnson stumbled through the first two races in NASCAR's version of a postseason, and was 10th in the standings heading to Dover. A second-place finish last weekend gave him confidence, and his first win since Talladega moved him into third in the Chase behind Carl Edwards and Kevin Harvick.

"I know what my team is capable of," Johnson said, "and we showed today what we're capable of when we're all performing at the top of our game."

Jeff Gordon made things interesting when his engine blew up with three laps remaining.

Johnson chose not to pit before the sprint to the finish, but still managed to drive away from Kahne and Brad Keselowski on worn out tires.

NASCAR Sprint Cup

Hollywood Casino 400

Sunday

At Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kan.

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (19) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 272 laps, 149.2 rating, 48 points, $331,336.

2. (5) Kasey Kahne, Toyota, 272, 100.7, 42, $227,083.

3. (12) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 272, 108.6, 42, $192,433.

4. (4) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 272, 121.3, 41, $186,311.

5. (2) Carl Edwards, Ford, 272, 87.6, 39, $169,441.

6. (14) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 272, 94.2, 38, $160,486.

7. (24) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 272, 101.7, 37, $154,408.

8. (1) Greg Biffle, Ford, 272, 112.7, 37, $130,750.

9. (21) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 272, 76.7, 35, $132,491.

10. (9) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 272, 93.7, 34, $108,375.

11. (3) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 272, 102.5, 34, $144,541.

12. (6) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 272, 87.5, 32, $104,775.

13. (17) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 272, 84.6, 32, $136,750.

14. (18) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 272, 86.4, 30, $102,300.

15. (23) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 272, 109.8, 29, $136,283.

16. (7) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 272, 84.1, 28, $136,925.

17. (41) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 272, 67.2, 0, $111,808.

18. (11) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 272, 68.7, 26, $129,775.

19. (15) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 271, 62, 25, $118,114.

20. (13) David Ragan, Ford, 271, 73.6, 24, $99,375.

21. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 271, 70.5, 23, $97,500.

22. (29) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 271, 69.8, 22, $123,914.

23. (34) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 271, 60.5, 21, $126,658.

24. (16) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 271, 66.2, 20, $113,920.

25. (22) A J Allmendinger, Ford, 270, 54.5, 19, $124,336.

26. (26) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 270, 52.1, 0, $82,850.

27. (36) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 270, 43, 0, $98,208.

28. (42) Mike Bliss, Ford, 270, 41.7, 0, $94,397.

29. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 270, 53.3, 15, $92,550.

30. (33) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 269, 46, 14, $112,045.

31. (38) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 269, 43.3, 13, $84,000.

32. (30) David Gilliland, Ford, 268, 38.4, 12, $83,300.

33. (25) Scott Speed, Ford, 266, 35.1, 0, $81,550.

34. (10) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, engine, 264, 91.9, 11, $117,336.

35. (27) David Reutimann, Toyota, 264, 54.4, 9, $108,083.

36. (8) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 241, 77.1, 8, $87,975.

37. (35) Andy Lally, Ford, overheating, 72, 36.1, 7, $89,250.

38. (39) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, vibration, 37, 32.9, 0, $79,525.

39. (40) Michael McDowell, Toyota, brakes, 30, 34.6, 5, $79,325.

40. (32) David Stremme, Chevrolet, rear gear, 27, 33.5, 4, $79,080.

41. (43) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, clutch, 18, 29.9, 0, $78,805.

42. (37) Casey Mears, Toyota, brakes, 16, 29.8, 2, $78,635.

43. (28) J.J. Yeley, Ford, ignition, 12, 29.5, 1, $78,907.

Top 12 in Points: 1. C.Edwards, 2,161; 2. K.Harvick, 2,160; 3. J.Johnson, 2,157; 4. Bra.Keselowski, 2,150; 5. M.Kenseth, 2,149; 6. Ku.Busch, 2,145; 7. T.Stewart, 2,142; 8. Ky.Busch, 2,141; 9. D.Earnhardt Jr., 2,118; 10. J.Gordon, 2,114; 11. R.Newman, 2,107; 12. D.Hamlin, 2,082.