Jimmie Johnson has stormed into the lead in the driver standings ready for when the Chase for the Sprint Cup moves to Lowe’s Motor Speedway for NASCAR Banking 500.

Johnson won the Pepsi 500 beating Jeff Gordon and Juan Montoya at the Auto Club Speedway last race. Mark Martin, who was originally leading the points board, could only finish fourth, with Tony Stewart coming in fifth.

Carl Edwards, David Ragan, Kurt Busch, Clint Bowyer, and Kevin Harvick completed the race’s Top 10 finishers. Ryan Newman came in 15th, Greg Biffle came in 20th, Brian Vickers 29th, Kasey Kahne 34th with Denny Hamlin finishing 37th.

This gives Johnson a 12 point lead on Martin in the Chase player standings, with Montoya in 3rd place with 58 points. Stewart, Gordon, Busch, Biffle, Edwards, Hamlin, Newman, Kahne, and Vickers, in that order, complete the Top 12 players.

Johnson has previously won five Career Cups at Lowe’s, including four straight wins during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. David Reutimann took the checkered flag at the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s last May, while Jeff Burton won the Bank of America 500 at Lowe’s in October 2008.

Gordon has won four Career Lowe’s races, the last time being back in 2007. Kahne on the other hand has won three times at Lowe’s during 2006 and 2008. Stewart won the UAW-GM Quality 500 in 2003 whilst Martin won the Cup at Lowe’s in both 2002 and way back in 1998.

The Sprint Cup Series travels to Martinsville Speedway for the Tums Fast Relief 500 on October 25th after the NASCAR Banking 500. The Sprint Cup Series then moves to Talladega, Texas, Phoenix, and finally Homestead-Miami.