Johnson eases to third victory of the season

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Double reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson recorded a third win of the season with an easy victory in the Pepsi 500 at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California on Sunday.

Johnson led for 227 of the 250 laps on the two-mile oval track, taking the race for the second straight year with a dominating performance.

Greg Biffle finished second, more than two seconds adrift of Johnson, with Denny Hamlin in third place as Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five finishers.

Points leader Kyle Busch came home in seventh and series runner-up Carl Edwards was sixth, but neither could challenge Johnson, who appears well positioned to make a run for a third straight points championship.

Johnson held leads of between five and 12 seconds at various stages of the race but they were wiped out by yellow flags following accidents.

However, with a far superior car to his rivals, Johnson was able to rebuild substantial leads quickly after the restarts.

"The car was really good, especially the first 15 or 20 laps," Johnson told reporters. "When you have a car like that, it doesn't really matter where you are on the track."

Johnson pulled away from the field over the last 28 laps to pick up his 36th career victory, which was enough to secure a spot in the 12-man chase for the championship that begins after next Saturday's race at Richmond.

Busch and Edwards had already clinched spots in the chase, and they and Johnson were also joined by Dale Earnhardt Jr, who finished 11th, and Jeff Burton, who finished 17th.

(Writing by Roger Lajoie in Toronto; Editing by John O'Brien)