Denny Hamlin moved toward the top seed in NASCAR's championship race by using a calculated late pass to win for the first time at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway.

Hamlin flirted with Carl Edwards for the lead late in the race, and set up the move with 39 laps remaining Saturday night at the Irwin Tools Night Race. Hamlin used a slide move to get past Edwards, then held on as Edwards tried to use a cross-over move to get back in front.

It didn't work for Edwards, and Hamlin drove away for his third victory of the season.

"My biggest win, this is such a great feeling," said Hamlin, who praised the setup crew chief Darian Grubb used for the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota.

"It just hauled the mail. This is just a big win, I don't know how else to explain it."

There's two races left before the field is reset for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship, and seeding is done by "regular-season" wins. With three victories, Hamlin is tied with defending champion Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson and Brad Keselowski for most in the series.

The four would be tied for the top seed right now, but all want at least one more win to break the logjam.

"We're not done winning yet. We've still got a few more to go," Hamlin promised.

Johnson finished second and clinched a berth in the Chase, as did Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jeff Gordon was third - giving Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet's second and third - followed by Brian Vickers in a Toyota and Marcos Ambrose in a Ford.

Kyle Busch was a quiet sixth, Clint Bowyer was seventh and Joey Logano, winner of the Nationwide Series race Friday night, was eighth. Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard rounded out the top 10. Edwards ended up 22nd.

The race was the first since track owner Bruton Smith ordered a grinding of the top groove around the track in an effort to narrow the racing surface. His goal was to bring back bumping and banging to Bristol after several consecutive disappointing crowds.

Although the race wasn't a sellout, Hamlin noted "this is the biggest crowd I've seen here in forever."

But it created many unknowns as few were sure how the race would develop.

At Bristol Motor Speedway

Bristol, Tenn.

Lap length: .533 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (8) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 500 laps, 136.2 rating, 47 points.

2. (37) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 500, 103.1, 43.

3. (11) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 500, 113.9, 41.

4. (22) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 500, 98.5, 41.

5. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 500, 102.6, 40.

6. (10) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 500, 103.4, 38.

7. (23) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 500, 101.9, 37.

8. (4) Joey Logano, Toyota, 500, 119.5, 38.

9. (12) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 500, 86.2, 36.

10. (7) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 500, 82.8, 34.

11. (15) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 500, 104.9, 34.

12. (16) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 500, 83.8, 33.

13. (28) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 500, 84.4, 31.

14. (36) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 500, 64.5, 30.

15. (13) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 500, 92, 29.

16. (14) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 500, 70.4, 28.

17. (26) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 500, 67.4, 27.

18. (41) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 500, 60.2, 26.

19. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 500, 83, 26.

20. (18) David Gilliland, Ford, 500, 62.9, 24.

21. (1) Casey Mears, Ford, 499, 64.5, 24.

22. (27) Carl Edwards, Ford, 496, 76.9, 23.

23. (30) Michael McDowell, Ford, 496, 48.9, 21.

24. (33) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 490, 48.3, 20.

25. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 486, 84.1, 20.

26. (25) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, 476, 57.2, 18.

27. (21) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 471, 65.7, 18.

28. (20) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 440, 61.3, 16.

29. (43) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, accident, 434, 46.3, 0.

30. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 434, 87.5, 14.

31. (39) Jason Leffler, Toyota, 417, 38.7, 0.

32. (24) David Ragan, Ford, 409, 40.3, 12.

33. (6) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 360, 86.2, 11.

34. (29) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 343, 43.7, 0.

35. (5) Aric Almirola, Ford, accident, 235, 63.6, 9.

36. (19) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, accident, 189, 47, 8.

37. (31) David Stremme, Toyota, rear gear, 159, 34.5, 7.

38. (32) Josh Wise, Ford, brakes, 150, 32, 6.

39. (40) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, electrical, 130, 31, 0.

40. (38) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, fuel pressure, 56, 30.6, 4.

41. (35) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, brakes, 20, 29.8, 3.

42. (42) Ken Schrader, Ford, accident, 9, 28.9, 2.

43. (34) Mike Bliss, Toyota, power steering, 6, 28.4, 0.

Top 12 in Points: 1. G.Biffle, 849; 2. J.Johnson, 838; 3. D.Earnhardt Jr., 834; 4. M.Kenseth, 823; 5. M.Truex Jr., 797; 6. C.Bowyer, 794; 7. B.Keselowski, 790; 8. D.Hamlin, 774; 9. K.Harvick, 767; 10. T.Stewart, 746; 11. K.Kahne, 730; 12. C.Edwards, 712.

* INDYCAR

Will Power won the pole in Sonoma, Calif., for the third straight year, putting the IndyCar points leader in prime position to go for his third consecutive victory at the track.

Power was timed in 1 minute, 17.2709 seconds around the 2.31-mile, 12-turn layout on the south end of Northern California's wine country Saturday.

Only 28 points separate the top four drivers in the points standings with only three races left in the IndyCar season. Ryan Hunter-Reay trails Power by just five points, but will start in seventh at today's Grand Prix of Sonoma (1 p.m., NBCSP).

IRL-GoPro Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma Lineup

After Saturday qualifying; race today

At Sonoma

Sonoma, Calif.

Lap length: 2.31 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (12) Will Power, Dallara-Chevrolet, 111.116.

2. (2) Ryan Briscoe, Dallara-Chev., 110.881.

3. (7) Sebastien Bourdais, Dallara-Chevrolet, 110.431.

4. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Chevrolet, 109.923.

5. (9) Scott Dixon, Dallara-Honda, 109.778.

6. (10) Dario Franchitti, Dallara-Honda, 109.591.

7. (28) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Dallara-Chevrolet, 109.605.

8. (98) Alex Tagliani, Dallara-Honda, 109.492.

9. (77) Simon Pagenaud, Dallara-Honda, 109.469.

10. (18) Justin Wilson, Dallara-Honda, 109.201.

11. (27) James Hinchcliffe, Dallara-Chevrolet, 108.975.

12. (8) Rubens Barrichello, Dallara-Chevrolet, 108.713.

13. (17) Sebastian Saavedra, Dallara-Chevrolet, 108.833.

14. (26) Marco Andretti, Dallara-Chevrolet, 108.832.

15. (38) Graham Rahal, Dallara-Honda, 108.824.

16. (14) Mike Conway, Dallara-Honda, 108.815.

17. (4) J.R. Hildebrand, Dallara-Chevrolet, 108.556.

18. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Chevrolet, 108.756.

19. (5) E.J. Viso, Dallara-Chevrolet, 108.142.

20. (22) Oriol Servia, Dallara-Chevrolet, 108.729.

21. (6) Katherine Legge, Dallara-Chevrolet, 107.808.

22. (83) Charlie Kimball, Dallara-Honda, 108.648.

23. (67) Josef Newgarden, Dallara-Honda, 107.666.

24. (15) Takuma Sato, Dallara-Honda, 108.297.

25. (78) Simona de Silvestro, Dallara-Lotus, 107.018.

26. (19) James Jakes, Dallara-Honda, 107.979.

27. (20) Ed Carpenter, Dallara-Chevrolet, 107.751.