CONCORD, N.C. (AP) - One by one the title contenders dropped out Saturday night, giving Jimmie Johnson a clear shot at widening his lead in the Chase for the championship. Not so fast, thought Jeff Burton, who used three gas-only pit stops to pull off a victory that catapulted him into championship contention. Burton culminated savvy pit strategy on a final stop, going into the pits with the lead and taking fuel only to make sure he was still out front on the restart with 34 laps to go at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Johnson staged a brief battle for the lead, but Burton held steady to snap a 25-race winless streak.
     
The victory, his second of the season, pushed Burton from fourth to second in the standings with five races to go to decide the title. He trails Johnson by 69 points.
     
"We're halfway. A lot of stuff is going to happen," Burton said. "A lot of people want to give somebody the trophy, but it's way too early."
     
Kasey Kahne, who swept the May races at the track, finished second and was followed by Kurt Busch.
     
Kyle Busch, the regular-season points winner, was fourth for his best finish since the Chase began five weeks ago. Jamie McMurray was fifth, and Johnson faded over the final few laps to finish sixth.
     
Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and David Ragan rounded out the top 10.
     
The night was a disaster for several Chase contenders, including Carl Edwards, who entered the race second in the standings. He lost power in his Ford early and finished 33rd to likely lose his shot at his first Sprint Cup title.
     
It ended a drama-filled week for Edwards, who caused a 12-car accident last Sunday in Talladega then scuffled with Kevin Harvick in the garage area at Lowe's.
     
He left fourth in the standings, 168 behind Johnson.
     
"It is obviously bad for our prospects for the championship," team owner Jack Roush said.
     
Dale Earnhardt Jr. didn't fare much better, finishing 36th after his tire exploded a lap before he planned to head to pit road to have them changed. He's 10th in the standings.
     
Matt Kenseth was caught in a mid-race accident and finished 41st to drop to 11th in the standings.

NASCAR CHASE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP TOP 12 IN POINTS AFTER CHARLOTTE:
1. J.Johnson, 5,878.
2. J.Burton, 5,809.
3. G.Biffle, 5,792.
4. C.Edwards, 5,710.
5. C.Bowyer, 5,693.
6. K.Harvick, 5,671.
7. T.Stewart, 5,650.
8. J.Gordon, 5,633.
9. Ky.Busch, 5,552.
10. D.Earnhardt Jr., 5,524.
11. M.Kenseth, 5,518.
12. D.Hamlin, 5,498.
      ---

NASCAR-Sprint Cup-Bank of America 500 Results
Saturday
At Lowe's Motor Speedway
Concord, N.C.
Lap length: 1.5 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
      1. (4) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 334 laps, 127.7 rating, 190 points, $280,208.
      2. (15) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 334, 91.3, 170, $207,766.
      3. (19) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 334, 94.7, 165, $145,750.
      4. (11) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 334, 112.6, 165, $141,875.
      5. (21) Jamie McMurray, Ford, 334, 88.6, 155, $128,775.
      6. (1) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 334, 120.9, 160, $169,036.
      7. (3) Greg Biffle, Ford, 334, 113.4, 151, $101,625.
      8. (8) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 334, 98.7, 147, $141,961.
      9. (14) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 334, 96.2, 138, $120,358.
      10. (13) David Ragan, Ford, 334, 95.1, 139, $94,875.
      11. (7) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 334, 112, 135, $140,536.
      12. (5) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 334, 99.1, 127, $92,725.
      13. (6) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 334, 77.9, 124, $121,061.
      14. (18) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, 334, 84.5, 126, $116,383.
      15. (30) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 334, 65.9, 123, $102,064.
      16. (12) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 334, 80.5, 115, $107,741.
      17. (20) Bobby Labonte, Dodge, 333, 71.3, 112, $109,036.
      18. (17) Brian Vickers, Toyota, 333, 95.7, 114, $79,550.
      19. (33) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 333, 57.6, 106, $89,208.
      20. (22) Elliott Sadler, Dodge, 333, 64.5, 103, $99,345.
      21. (16) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 333, 73.2, 105, $109,350.
      22. (36) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 332, 48.1, 97, $114,025.
      23. (29) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 332, 55.9, 94, $78,600.
      24. (31) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 332, 55.7, 96, $85,458.
      25. (28) David Gilliland, Ford, 332, 46.6, 88, $83,633.
      26. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 331, 56.9, 85, $76,675.
      27. (32) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 331, 37.4, 82, $80,108.
      28. (37) Bill Elliott, Ford, 330, 42.8, 79, $83,595.
      29. (23) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 330, 42.6, 76, $83,025.
      30. (35) Robby Gordon, Dodge, 328, 50.2, 78, $85,347.
      31. (40) Mike Wallace, Dodge, 326, 37, 70, $64,600.
      32. (26) David Reutimann, Toyota, 321, 71.9, 72, $64,375.
      33. (2) Carl Edwards, Ford, 317, 94.9, 64, $112,625.
      34. (24) Juan Pablo Montoya, Dodge, accident, 296, 51.3, 61, $92,033.
      35. (41) Chad McCumbee, Dodge, 296, 29.4, 58, $63,975.
      36. (10) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 289, 80.9, 55, $71,800.
      37. (42) Joe Nemechek, Chevrolet, 278, 27.3, 52, $63,675.
      38. (39) Ken Schrader, Toyota, 255, 34.7, 49, $71,550.
      39. (34) Mike Skinner, Toyota, 254, 40.7, 46, $63,425.
      40. (43) Tony Raines, Chevrolet, accident, 203, 32.6, 43, $63,300.
      41. (9) Matt Kenseth, Ford, accident, 194, 55.7, 45, $110,796.
      42. (25) Travis Kvapil, Ford, accident, 194, 49.7, 37, $90,244.
      43. (38) AJ Allmendinger, Toyota, accident, 52, 36.5, 39, $63,298.
      ---
Race Statistics
      Average Speed of Race Winner: 133.699 mph.
      Time of Race: 3 hours, 44 minutes, 50 seconds.
      Margin of Victory: 0.946 seconds.
      Caution Flags: 10 for 49 laps.
      Lead Changes: 24 among 16 drivers.
      Lap Leaders: J.Johnson 1-32; T.Stewart 33-44; J.Johnson 45; A.Allmendinger 46; J.Johnson 47-77; T.Stewart 78-103; Ky.Busch 104; M.Waltrip 105; M.Kenseth 106; T.Stewart 107-109; Ky.Busch 110-122; R.Newman 123-132; J.Johnson 133-135; B.Vickers 136-199; M.Truex Jr. 200-203; J.Gordon 204-250; G.Biffle 251-255; J.Burton 256; T.Stewart 257; D.Reutimann 258; D.Ragan 259; R.Gordon 260; R.Sorenson 261-266; G.Biffle 267-277; J.Burton 278-334.

      Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): J.Johnson, 4 times for 67 laps; B.Vickers, 1 time for 64 laps; J.Burton, 2 times for 58 laps; J.Gordon, 1 time for 47 laps; T.Stewart, 4 times for 42 laps; G.Biffle, 2 times for 16 laps; Ky.Busch, 2 times for 14 laps; R.Newman, 1 time for 10 laps; R.Sorenson, 1 time for 6 laps; M.Truex Jr., 1 time for 4 laps; D.Ragan, 1 time for 1 lap;
M.Waltrip, 1 time for 1 lap; R.Gordon, 1 time for 1 lap; D.Reutimann, 1 time for 1 lap; M.Kenseth, 1 time for 1 lap; A.Allmendinger, 1 time for 1 lap.