Jamie McMurray won at Talladega Superspeedway in a clean race until rookie Austin Dillon lost control on the final lap on Sunday, allowing the winner to coast across the line under caution.
McMurray won for the first time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series since 2010, not even having to worry about an expected charge from Dale Earnhardt Jr after Dillon spun coming out of the second turn. The only other driver collected in the crash was Casey Mears, who slammed into Dillon's car and sent it flying into the air before it came back down upright.
A race known for massive crashes was essentially trouble-free apart from a minor wreck early when Australian Marcos Ambrose found himself loose and took out Juan Pablo Montoya in front of the main grandstand.
Earnhardt settled for second, followed by Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Paul Menard and Kyle Busch.
Dillon, who was filling in for injured Tony Stewart in the No.14 car, wound up 26th after going to the final lap in third.
"Every race here, we have a wreck on the last lap," Earnhardt said. "For some reason, though, it was a lot calmer the last few laps. Everybody was pretty good about staying in line."
Jimmie Johnson steered around trouble and finished 13th, emerging from the race with the lead in the Sprint Cup standings. The five-time Cup champion passed Matt Kenseth for the top spot and has a four-point edge with four races remaining.
Kenseth finished 20th. Busch and Kevin Harvick are tied for third, 26 points behind Johnson, with Jeff Gordon - who had hoped Talladega's unpredictable nature might help him make a big push - made up only two points and is 34 off the lead.
McMurray, who isn't part of the Chase, won for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing and took a phone call in victory lane from owner Chip Ganassi, still in California celebrating Scott Dixon's championship in the IndyCar series the previous night.
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