Johnson 3-peats at Charlotte

CONCORD, N.C. – His first two wins were immensely popular. This one earned Jimmie Johnson a shower of boos and beer cans.

Johnson became the first driver to win three straight Coca-Cola 600s on Sunday night when he slid past Bobby Labonte in the final turn of the wreck-filled race.

But Johnson quickly found out it wasn’t a popular victory when fans threw beer cans at his car during his cool-down lap and booed him when he began his celebration. So likable in his first three seasons, Johnson has slipped the past month after rival drivers accused him of aggressive driving that caused several accidents.

“I saw a few of them throwing beer cans at me,” he said. “I don’t think they liked (the win), but that’s all right. It’s been a rough month for us. Tonight was a tough race for us. We didn’t have the best car until the end, when it mattered.”

A NASCAR-record 22 cautions slowed the longest race on the schedule, and almost ruined Johnson’s shot at the win. He and Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jeff Gordon and Brian Vickers were seemingly the only cars in contention for the victory.

But they all made pit stops under the green flag, and were caught a lap down when a caution came out with 44 laps to go. It opened the race up to a pack of contenders and seemed to eliminate the Hendrick cars.

But Johnson had worked his way back to fourth when the race restarted with five laps to go after the final caution.

Labonte, the leader, did his best to hold off Johnson, who needed just three laps around Lowe’s Motor Speedway to pull onto his bumper. Johnson got there on the final lap and edged ahead coming out of the final turn to grab his second victory of the season. He became the first driver to win three straight Coca-Cola 600s.

“Three 600s, that’s just amazing,” said Johnson, the Nextel Cup Series points leader. “It will sink in as the days wear on. Today, regardless of the record book, regardless of what was going on, we just wanted to have a solid race.

“We did that, and went into the record books at the same time.”

Labonte, off to a horrid start this season, kicked his car in disgust as he climbed out of it.

“I just did it my way, and I lost,” said Labonte, who was trying to end a 47-race winless streak on the 10-year anniversary of his first career victory.

Carl Edwards finished third, followed by Jeremy Mayfield and pole-sitter Ryan Newman. Greg Biffle was sixth, Martin Truex Jr. seventh and Dale Jarrett, Ken Schrader and Rusty Wallace rounded out the top 10.

The race was more like a demolition derby, and the numerous wrecks ranged from isolated spins to the downright bizarre.

Joe Nemechek crashed into the wall while leading with 10 laps to go; Dale Earnhardt Jr. wrecked teammate Michael Waltrip; Casey Mears wrecked teammate Sterling Marlin; and Vickers ruined his shot at his first career victory when he caused an accident that collected Gordon.

“In all my years of racing, I have never seen anything like this,” car owner Rick Hendrick said. “It was just a crazy race.”

Vickers’ accident with 21 laps to go wasn’t even the worst of it for Gordon – sealer used to fill a crack in the track surface broke loose early in the race and punched a huge hole in his car’s grill.

He patched it up and was back in contention for the victory until Vickers’ accident.

Racing resumed with 14 laps to go and Nemechek was in control – his crew chief was singing his praise in a live television interview – when Nemechek spun into the wall.

NASCAR stopped the race to clean the track and racing resumed 10 minutes later with Labonte in the lead with five laps to go. Edwards, who tangled with Jarrett late in the race, was in second.

Johnson believed he was in third, but NASCAR pushed him back to fourth behind Newman after a heated debate with Johnson’s crew chief.

But they had little doubt that Johnson – who has won the past four points races at LMS – could work his way into the lead.

“I knew if I could get to Bobby’s quarterpanel, I could beat him,” Johnson said. “I got underneath Bobby on the white flag, and I made a mistake – I got sideways. But I knew if I got to his outside, I’d beat him to the line.”

Labonte, who started last in the 43-car field, was somewhat satisfied with finishing second because his car had been so bad early in the race.

“It really wasn’t a great car, it just was a car that contended at the end for the win,” Labonte said. “I just wish there was one less lap.”