Jimmie Johnson used a great restart to distance himself and the No. 48 Chevrolet from the field with two laps remaining on Sunday afternoon at Atlanta, but when Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun out to bring out the race's final caution flag, the event was effectively over and Johnson had his eighth win of the season. More importantly, Johnson is now within nine points of NEXTEL Cup points leader Jeff Gordon in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup standings.

Johnson's win gave him his third season sweep at a single track this year. Johnson also has two race wins each at Richmond and Martinsville this season.

Carl Edwards finished second and Reed Sorenson finished third. The next five spots were filled by Chase contenders Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Clint Bowyer, Jeff Gordon, and Kurt Busch. Kasey Kahne was ninth and Brian Vickers was tenth.

The remaining Chase contenders finished in the following positions: Kevin Harvick, 15th; Kyle Busch, 17th; Denny Hamlin, 24th; Tony Stewart, 30th; Martin Truex Jr., 31st.

Here are the standings of the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup with three races remaining in the 2007 season, one of which will be the November 11 Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil at Phoenix International Raceway:

Point Standings (through 33 of 36 races)

The next action in the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup will take place at Texas on Sunday, November 4. The race telecast begins at 1 p.m. (Mountain Standard Time/Phoenix time) on ABC.

With just two weeks remaining until the green flag, get your NASCAR tickets for the Checker Auto Parts 500 Presented by Pennzoil at PIR today! Call 1-866-408-RACE (7223) or visit www.racetickets.com!