in the Coca-Cola 600 and Brickyard 400, where he finished third in both races. Johnson finished seventh and sixth at Bristol and Michigan the following two weeks but finished 33rd at Darlington after he spun out of turn 4. Johnson then finished 11th at Richmond. He qualified eighth for the Chase. Johnson began the Chase for the Championship by leading a race-high 118 laps at Chicagoland, but received a speeding penalty during a green flag pit stop late in the race, ultimately finished 12th. Johnson finished eighth the following week at Loudon. At Dover, Johnson led 90 laps but once again received a pit road penalty with 105 laps to go, costing him a win. He charged through the field and finished seventh (1st car a lap down) and moved to the "Round of 12" of the Chase. At Charlotte, Johnson led a race-high 155 laps and won the Bank of America 500, claiming his eighth win at the track and the third win of the season, also snapping his 24-race winless streak. This marked Johnson's first appearance in the "Round of 8" under the current Chase system. He then finished 4th at Kansas and 23rd at Talladega. At Martinsville, Denny Hamlin aggressively made contact with Johnson on lap 198 and had a tire rub to cause a caution but was able to stay on the lead lap. Later during a caution on lap 362, he lost fuel pressure but was able to get the car refired and stayed on the lead lap again. After the restart, he took the lead from Hamlin and led the final 92 laps to win the Goody's Fast Relief 500. This locked him into the Championship 4 for the final race at Homestead. Johnson finished 11th in the rain-shortened race at Texas, and 38th at Phoenix after being penalized a lap for passing the pace car coming down to pit road and involved in a wreck on a restart. Johnson claimed his seventh championship by winning at Homestead on November 20. After losing his starting spot due to a pre-race inspection fault, Johnson started at the rear of the field. He progressed through the field, cracking the Top 10 quickly, but remained stagnant around fifth-place for a majority of the race. On a restart with 10 laps to go, Carl Edwards came across the nose of Joey Logano, hit the inside wall, and triggered