FONTANA, Calif. -- Jimmie Johnson thought a potential race-winning car was going to have to settle for a top-five finish Sunday at Auto Club Speedway.
After a caution for debris was called just as the driver was exiting pit road late in the race, Johnson knew he was in a tough position.
Even with the lead, his fellow competitors would be heading to pit road after him during the caution.
"We knew we were going to be in trouble having one full lap on our tires when everybody else was going to have stickers," No. 48 team crew chief Chad Knaus explained.
Sure enough, Johnson lost the lead on the restart and ultimately fell just outside of the top five, racing for the fifth position as the laps wound down.
"I think we were probably going to settle in about fifth or sixth," Knaus said.
Then, everything changed.
With two laps remaining, a competitor suffered a tire issue. The incident brought out one final caution flag and sent the race to overtime.
Johnson had another shot at the win.
"When that caution came out, our pit crew guys knew what they needed to do," Knaus said.
Johnson entered pit road in fifth. He left in third.
"An amazing pit stop on pit road got me right there in contention," the driver said. "My guys just crushed the pit stop."
Relive Jimmie Johnson's sprint to the finish in overtime to cap off a thrilling race in Fontana, California.
With Knaus' final adjustments made on the car for the final dash to the checkered flag, Johnson was ready.
"I was telling Jimmie just before that restart, 'Buddy, dig in deep. Go find that cape,'" Knaus recalled. "He did."
The No. 48 Lowe's Superman Chevrolet SS fired off the line, following the second-place competitor just ahead in the inside lane. The move left Johnson in second place, and he quickly got to work chasing down the leader.
"I got a great run off of Turn 2 and I thought, ‘Man, I’ve got a shot at this thing,'" Johnson recalled.
He had pulled alongside the first-place car and ultimately cleared it to take the lead by the time the white flag flew.
"There were two moments between the green flag and halfway down the back where I went from optimistic to jumping up and down inside the car and really having fun with my situation," Johnson smiled.
From there, he "felt pretty good about bringing it home with just one more lap to go."
And he did, earning his 77th career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series win in the process, leaving him in sole possession of seventh place in the all-time ranks.
"We saved our best for last for sure," he said.