Jeff Gordon dominated for most of the race at Las Vegas but it was Jimmie Johnson who came out on top in the end again to claim his second win in three Sprint Cup Series races this year.
Gordon looked on course for victory before the final caution of the race came out with 37 laps to go. His crew chief Steve Letarte called for a two-tire stop, while his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Johnson went for four.
Clint Bowyer stayed out to lead the field to the green flag, but Gordon immediately moved up front again with Johnson closing after overtaking both Bowyer and his Richard Childress Racing teammate Kevin Harvick, who had taken on two new tires like the leader.
While Gordon tried to use clean air up front to give him the edge, Johnson made the most of his grip advantage to eventually overtake his teammate with 16 laps remaining. Gordon was unable to keep up with the reigning champion after that, later losing second place to points leader Kevin Harvick.
"It came down to pit stops," said Johnson. "I thought the race was going to come down to pit stops and who got a good restart. Kind of turned out that way, although the four tires I think helped us more than anything. I got a good start and got around Bowyer at One and Two. Was behind Jeff, chasing him. I'd been chasing him all day.
"Wasn't sure I'd get by him. Just kept putting a lot of pressure on him, hoping he'd make a mistake, hoping I could get him to overdrive his car and make it tight or do something wrong. Finally I was able to get inside of him and committed to trying the slide job on him in Three and Four, and was able to get by."
Gordon lamented losing a win that looked within reach, but still supported his crew chief's decision to take on two new tires at their final stop, a move that probably cost him victory.
"We came here to win and I felt like every decision that we made today on the track and in the pits was to try to win the race," said Gordon. "When you are leading sometimes that tough call can go against you. We were thinking more guys were going to take two tires. We aren't going to beat ourselves up over this one; we had an awesome, awesome car."
Harvick came back from a poor qualifying run after hitting the wall in the first practice to take back-to-back second places and remain at the top of the standings.
"Once we got track position, our car was really fast," said Harvick. "Those guys got away from us a little bit on the restart there. Kinda like they did last week. We just needed a complete run. All in all, to come from where we started and I got us behind on Friday, got us back in the field on qualifying and we were able to rebound from that."
Mark Martin moved up to fourth place in the closing laps to make it three Hendrick Motorsports cars in the top-five, also moving up to third in the points, while Roush Fenway's Matt Kenseth, who led the race for a while, rounded out the top five after being able to get back on the right pit sequence on the final stop. He had been forced to make an unscheduled stop earlier due to a suspected loose wheel.
Polesitter Kurt Busch (Penske Dodge) was unable to translate his qualifying speed into the race after getting caught up in an incident between Earnhardt Ganassi teammates Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray. The pair were fighting for ninth spot when McMurray hit Montoya's car in the left-rear corner entering Turn Three on lap 93, sending both against the barrier and out of contention for victory.
Last year's winner Kyle Busch missed out on a top-five finish due to a speeding penalty on his final stop, while his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Joey Logano rounded out another good weekend with a sixth-place finish.
Pos Driver Car Laps
1. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 267
2. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 267
3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 267
4. Mark Martin Chevrolet 267
5. Matt Kenseth Ford 267
6. Joey Logano Toyota 267
7. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 267
8. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 267
9. Kasey Kahne Ford 267
10. Greg Biffle Ford 267
11. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 267
12. Carl Edwards Ford 267
13. David Reutimann Toyota 267
14. Marcos Ambrose Toyota 267
15. Kyle Busch Toyota 267
16. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Chevrolet 267
17. Paul Menard Ford 267
18. Ryan Newman Chevrolet 267
19. Denny Hamlin Toyota 267
20. Martin Truex Jr. Toyota 267
21. Regan Smith Chevrolet 267
22. Scott Speed Toyota 266
23. David Ragan Ford 266
24. Travis Kvapil Ford 265
25. A.J. Allmendinger Ford 265
26. Brad Keselowski Dodge 265
27. Elliott Sadler Ford 265
28. Sam Hornish Jr. Dodge 264
29. Dave Blaney Toyota 264
30. David Gilliland Ford 263
31. Brian Vickers Toyota 262
32. Robby Gordon Toyota 262
33. Max Papis Toyota 262
34. Jamie McMurray Chevrolet 260
35. Kurt Busch Dodge 259
36. Kevin Conway Ford 256
37. Juan Montoya Chevrolet 247
38. Bobby Labonte Chevrolet 216
39. Mike Bliss Chevrolet 135
40. Boris Said Ford 134
41. Joe Nemechek Toyota 65
42. Michael McDowell Toyota 40
43. Aric Almirola Chevrolet 23