There was an incident where Johnson dropped to 39th place, and then patiently weaved his way up throughout heavy traffic after a tricky restart late in the race to claim a breakthrough victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Johnson, current leader in the Nextel Cup standings, was placed outside the top 15 in each of his last three starts, but due to an exceptional run Sunday, Johnson now owns a 107-point lead over Matt Kenseth.