by Lee Spencer

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In a battle of title rivals, Carl Edwards caught Jimmie Johnson on the last lap of the Camping World 400 at Kansas Speedway but carried the No. 99 Office Depot Ford just a little too high on the track, lost momentum by smacking the wall and watched the No. 48 Chevrolet sail to the victory.

"Where did he come from," Johnson asked in amazement of Edwards. "Those last two laps he figured out something and got a bunch of grip and all of the sudden he was there.

"I saw the slide job coming, dodged it and got one."

On top of inheriting the top starting spot for Sunday's race after Juan Pablo Montoya was disqualified because of an illegal shock Friday, Johnson also was allowed to have his choice of pit stalls — an advantage that served him well on race day.

No time was it more evident than during the last round of pit stops when, coupled with a flawless stop, Johnson was able to slip past Edwards to grab the lead on Lap 220.

"The 99 was probably better on long runs at the end of the race," Johnson said. "I did a great job of closing the gap. But the pit stop of those guys really made the difference."

Although Johnson had built up over a second advantage in the closing laps, Edwards was able to charge back entering the last laps of the event. Entering the final turn Sunday, Edwards "figured the hell with it," went to the high line and set up one final bonsai move off the corner to pull ahead of Johnson. Unfortunately, while the move worked, Edwards also scrubbed the wall and lost the position gained shortly thereafter.

"I planned on hitting the wall, but I didn't plan on the wall slowing me down that much," Edwards said. "You know how in video games you can hit the wall and then hold it wide open? That's what I did, but it didn't work out quite the same as the video game.

"I just really, really wanted to win this race. I feel bad for the guys back at the shop for tearing up their racecar intentionally. I wasn't going to get by him on the top. And I didn't want to go under and slide job and hit him. I just did what I could do. I wanted to win this race more than any race on the schedule. I guess I'll have to wait until next year."

Despite qualifying 34th, Edwards climbed to 15th by Lap 46. However, the Columbia, Mo., native's progress was blocked in the pits by Brian Vickers two laps later, losing valuable time before colliding with Dave Blaney on the next stop. Regardless of the obstacles in the pits, his crew made a valiant effort to make up for it. But it was all Edwards for the final 38 laps.

Johnson was taken aback by Edwards' "conviction." But in the end, Edwards lost the race and relinquished the point lead to Johnson by 10 points.

"I could see in his eyes that he really wanted the win," Johnson said. "You can have rivalries and still respect each other. I hope and do believe you will see that throughout the Chase.

"With the guys that are racing for the championship, I believe you will see hard-nosed racing and a lot of respect for each other."

Greg Biffle passed Jeff Gordon on the final turn for third place and maintained third in the point standings, 30 points behind Johnson. Matt Kenseth, who led 49 laps before Casey Mears nudged him on Lap 123, rounded out the top five at Kansas.

In the Chase standings, Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick held steady in fourth (-121 points behind the leader) and fifth (-136 points), respectively. However, anything can happen next weekend at Talladega — a track which has often been described as the Chase's crapshoot. Johnson won the spring race in 2006 but finished 13th there earlier this season. Biffle's career-high Talladega showing is 13th. And Edwards, who finished 40th on the 2.66-mile restrictor-plate track in April but has also enjoyed three top 10's, said he would gladly accept a 10th-place finish for next Sunday's race not to have to run it.

"I'll probably be glued to Jimmie no matter where he's at," Edwards said. "If him and Greg and I can stay together, make sure we either all avoid or either all get in the same wrecks, we'll probably be alright. If I'm running fifth and Jimmie falls back to 40th to ride around and watch some action, I will probably be following him back there.

"If I've got a shot to win the thing, it could be awesome. But that place, there's a lot you can control, and you have to respect that."

The cure for what ails you

Jeff Gordon quickly discovered that a great handling racecar can alleviate the worst of sore throats.

Gordon was under the weather all weekend but qualified the No. 24 Chevrolet 13th and quickly moved up into the top 10. He ran third on the final green flag run before hitting traffic, which allowed Greg Biffle to pass him on the last lap.

Gordon's fourth-place finish was his best effort since he scored a third at Infineon in June.

"I guess I need to be sick more often," Gordon said. "That was a good run and a good car. I know if I had been healthy, I would have gotten more out of it. That was a tough day. I'm real proud of this DuPont Chevrolet team. They were awesome in the pits, and they were calm and made good adjustments. It was a good car.

"I gave that position up to Biffle there in the end. I came up on the No. 96 (Joey Logano), and he went high the lap before that, so I thought I should go to the middle, and then he went to the middle and Biffle got a good run inside of me. So it was a great race. We're real proud of that effort. We'll take it."

Gordon's 10th top-five finish of the season vaulted the No. 24 two positions in the standings to sixth. He still trails his teammate Jimmie Johnson by 143 points with seven races remaining in the Chase.

"Right now, we just want to be competitive and today was a competitive day. We didn't have enough for those leaders, but we had a really solid and strong effort. We were racing all the guys we're racing in the Chase anyway, so it's just all about solid performances and trying to get that win."

A fond farewell

AJ Allmendinger ended his seat time in the No. 84 Red Bull Toyota with a career-high ninth-place finish in his debut at Kansas Speedway.

"With 24 laps to go my arms felt like Jell-O," Allmendinger said. "Hats off to my Red Bull guys, it's easier to drive when you have a good car."

Allmendinger started 14th and moved to sixth before a miscue in the pits on Lap 76 when a tire carrier lost control of a tire. Allmendinger restarted outside of the top 20 but battled back into the top 10 over the next 75 laps.

"That made it tough to get back to the front," said Allmendinger, who had the top finishing Toyota. "We had a great car. The racing is so tough out there. Everybody is fighting so hard. You still have to be aggressive. But you have to leave it one notch below over the top, and it's a tough race.

"I'm definitely going to sleep well tonight."

Allmendinger and Team Red Bull announced last week that the pair were parting ways at the end of the season, but there has been intense speculation that Allmendinger will likely be replaced by Mike Skinner beginning this weekend at Talladega. Former Formula One racer Scott Speed is expected to assume the No. 84 ride at Martinsville and full time next season.

Allmendinger's name is still on the short list for the No. 41 Ganassi Racing Dodge. Sources have said that current driver Reed Sorenson could be out after Talladega, but team owner Chip Ganassi has not been at the track since New Hampshire. Ultimately, it's Ganassi's decision.