Kasey Kahne finally conquered Lowe’s Motor Speedway, and he did so by ending the reign of the track’s primary conqueror Carl Edwards with 29 laps to go and pulled away to a 2.115-second victory in the Coca-Cola 600 over runner-up Jimmie Johnson, whose winning streak at the track that bears his sponsor’s name ended at four.

Kahne had led in each of his previous four starts on the 1.5-mile oval but never finished higher than 12th despite leading 207 laps once.

“We put a little more tape on nose, and that brought it back to life,” said Kahne, who led a race-high 158 laps. “The car was great all night, and it really got going at the end.”

The 26-year-old jumped two spots in the points standings to sixth with his third victory of the season and the fourth of his career, ending a three-race slide in which he hadn’t cracked the top 20.

Johnson maintained a firm grip on the points lead with his seventh top-five this year.

“We were close,” said Johnson, who had set a record in winning NASCAR’s longest race the past three years. “We had a great car tonight. We had the fastest car at times. We didn’t have enough speed at the end. I hate to see the streak come to an end, but we’re still very fortunate to win three of them.”

Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet was a clear favorite entering the race fresh off a victory in last week’s Nextel All-Star Challenge at Lowe’s. But he wasn’t as dominant as in past years, leading only once for 24 laps during the 4½-hour race.

USA Today

Cup-Coca-Cola 600

Sunday’s results

In Concord, N.C.

Lap length: 1.5 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (9) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 400, $428,114.

2. (3) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 400, $288,236.

3. (22) Carl Edwards, Ford, 400, $201,050.

4. (21) Mark Martin, Ford, 400, $166,100.

5. (6) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 400, $180,366.

6. (11) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 400, $154,520.

7. (7) Greg Biffle, Ford, 400, $134,650.

8. (33) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 400, $158,825.

9. (8) Denny Hamlin, Chevrolet, 400, $111,000.

10. (23) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 400, $119,275.

11. (34) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 400, $140,071.

12. (10) Jeff Green, Chevrolet, 400, $131,033.

13. (1) Scott Riggs, Dodge, 400, $147,075.

14. (36) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 400, $95,525.

15. (2) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 400, $134,116.

16. (41) Robby Gordon, Chevrolet, 400, $98,075.

17. (5) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 400, $134,646.

18. (19) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 399, $121,245.

19. (15) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 399, $101,725.

20. (4) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 399, $132,575.

21. (27) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 399, $115,833.

22. (31) Travis Kvapil, Chevrolet, 399, $104,908.

23. (30) Casey Mears, Dodge, 398, $124,933.

24. (14) Johnny Sauter, Chevrolet, 398, $85,750.

25. (39) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 397, $108,308.

26. (40) Ken Schrader, Ford, 397, $114,664.

27. (38) Scott Wimmer, Chevrolet, 397, $86,825.

28. (16) Sterling Marlin, Chevrolet, 396, $95,847.

29. (35) Kenny Wallace, Chevrolet, 396, $83,175.

30. (26) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 396, $113,958.

31. (25) David Stremme, Dodge, 396, $90,900.

32. (29) Dave Blaney, Dodge, 395, $82,775.

33. (24) Terry Labonte, Chevrolet, 393, $83,600.

34. (12) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 373, $119,461.

35. (18) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 369, $127,808.

36. (13) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 360, accident, $133,111.

37. (17) Brian Vickers, Chevrolet, 331, $90,050.

38. (28) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 313, accident, $99,935.

39. (20) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 290, $122,858.

40. (42) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, 264, engine failure, $81,715.

41. (43) Michael Waltrip, Dodge, 116, brakes, $81,605.

42. (32) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 32, accident, $135,456.

43. (37) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 0, accident, $113,817.