Associated Press

Greg Biffle (16), Jeff Gordon (24) and Mark Martin (5) draft behind Brad Keselowski (09) and Denny Hamlin (11) during the AMP Energy 500 on Sunday.

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Jimmie Johnson moved closer to a record-breaking fourth consecutive NASCAR Sprint Cup title Sunday as a last-lap crash collected his two nearest rivals.

Johnson's sixth-place finish helped him expand his lead on Mark Martin to 184 points with three races left. Jeff Gordon, third in the season standings, is 192 points back. The most points a driver can make up on another in a race is 161 points. Thus, Johnson could finish last at Texas Motor Speedway next weekend and remain the point leader even if Martin won and lead the most laps.

Johnson preserved Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway by spending most of the race riding in the back of the field to avoid any possible problems. Most of the incidents happened late, including the 13-car accident that sent Martin's car rolling upside down and also damaged Gordon's car.

Martin finished 28th and Gordon finished 20th. Both were in the top 10 when the race was stopped with five laps left after Ryan Newman's crash that sent him upside down in turn 3.

"I am feeling much better about things,'' said Johnson, who admitted that he was not sleeping as well earlier this week thinking about this race. "I thought I was going to lose points with about three or four [laps] to go. So to have it turn around and lead with points over the guys, I didn't expect it.''

Back in victory lane

Jamie McMurray's win snapped a couple of streaks.

He ended an 86-race winless streak, dating back to the July Daytona race two years ago. Ford and Roush Fenway Racing broke a 30-race winless drought. Both last won with Matt Kenseth at California in February.

McMurray also employed a similar strategy as Johnson, riding around the back of the field in the early part of the race. He found his way to the front, though, leading a race-high 31 laps.

Sunday marked McMurray's third career Cup victory and his second in four seasons with Roush Fenway Racing. He's a free agent after this season and won't return to Roush.

"My years here have been good,'' McMurray said. "The performance certainly hasn't been what I think either one of us (he and car owner Jack Roush) expected.

"Certainly, I'll miss being a part of this organization, but you never know. You might end up driving for Jack one day again.''

As for where he'll race next season, McMurray was non-committal but said "there aren't a lot of rides available.''

Change worked

NASCAR officials were pleased with the racing in light of a rule change they announced Sunday morning.

NASCAR President Mike Helton announced in the drivers meeting that bumping or pushing a car in the corners would be penalized.

Bump drafting or pushing is how drivers had raced at Talladega but NASCAR sought to limit the aggressive driving. No driver was penalized Sunday.

Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said he liked what he saw Sunday.

"This race is like many of the races that happen at Talladega,'' he said. "A lot of good close competition. Once in a while you get a car that gets over. It's about what Talladega is.

"There were times they were not four-wide when they might have been in the past and maybe not three wide. As the races progressed, many of the drivers got better and better about getting up to the bumper in front of them.''

Roller coaster

Kasey Kahne's runner-up finish continued his unique Chase. He's either finished in the top 10 or outside the top 30 in all seven Chase races this season.

"The car handled good, which I think everybody's cars handle good here, and we just kind of shot through there and had great track position on that [final] restart,'' Kahne said.

Pit stops

Rookie Robert Richardson, making his series debut, finished 18th for Tommy Baldwin Racing. ... Denny Hamlin suffered a blown engine for the second time in the last three races. He finished 38th a week after winning at Martinsville. ... Jeff Burton's fifth-place finish was his first top-10 finish since Pocono in June. This also was his first race with new crew chief Todd Berrier. ... Joey Logano finished third, his fourth consecutive top-15 finish. .... The 58 lead changes were the most this season for a Cup race.