Johnson Pulls Away to Beat Harvick

Jimmie Johnson pulled away in overtime to beat Kevin Harvick on Sunday for the Southern California native's record sixth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory at Fontana.

Johnson was third on the late restart, but he surged past leader Denny Hamlin while giving a little bump to Harvick. He side-drafted Harvick and easily got away for his 77th career victory, which put him ahead of Dale Earnhardt Sr. for seventh place in NASCAR history.

"We saved the best for last, for sure," Johnson said.

Johnson finished with his fastest lap of the race to claim his second win of the young season, adding Fontana to Atlanta. The six-time series champion has won three of his past eight races after a 20-race winless skid in his Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

Harvick was in position to win for the second consecutive week before second-place Kyle Busch blew a tire with two laps to go, which forced the race into overtime. Hamlin got off pit road first for his first lead of the race, but Johnson's fresh tires gave him the speed to get ahead.