Jimmie Johnson wins Pepsi 500

Associated Press

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FAST STOP: Jimmie Johnson's pit crew tends to his car during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series' Pepsi 500 Sunday at Auto Club Speedway in Fonatana, Calif.

FONTANA, Calif. (AP) — Jimmie Johnson overpowered the field Sunday night in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Auto Club Speedway, grabbing his third victory of the season.

The two-time reigning Cup champion was easily the class of the field in the Pepsi 500, leading 227 of the 250 laps on the 2-mile oval.

He won the race at the former California Speedway for the second straight year and again gave notice to points leader Kyle Busch and series runner-up Carl Edwards — the two hottest drivers in the series coming into this race — that he remains a serious contender for a third straight title.

Runner-up Greg Biffle had the next best car throughout the race, but he couldn’t keep up with Johnson’s No. 48 Chevrolet, finishing more than 2 seconds behind the winner.

Everything was cool at the start of the race — or at least considerably cooler than a year ago.

At the 5 p.m. (PDT) start, the temperature was 85 degrees, 22 degrees below the stifling heat at the beginning of the 2007 race.

This time, the temperature was expected to drop into the mid 70s late in the race, to the relief of the drivers who had to endure the scorching heat last year.

“This is one of the toughest tracks that we come to as far as that. The heat is so bad here,” Denny Hamlin said, adding that it makes the speedway one of the toughest on the drivers. “In the summer, the track gets really greasy, the seats get really hot.

“This is probably the No. 2 physically demanding track [behind Pocono] that we go to, especially with this being 500 miles. This is one that you have to stay hydrated for your entire week leading up to it. Even though it goes into the night it’s still very, very hot.”

Jeff Gordon said the heat is just part of the deal for drivers, who get their hot-weather routine down to a science.

“Not quite as hot as it was last year,” he said heading into the race. “It’s just something that you have to get used to. It’s just a part of the conditioning.

“I think probably the most important type of conditioning that we do is getting used to the heat, how we hydrate ourselves, how we cool the drivers inside the car.”