Jimmie Johnson is proving, once again, that the Sprint Cup season is a distance race and that his No.48 Chevrolet is built for the long haul.

Johnson, too, proved yesterday that he's nearly unbeatable at Richmond International Raceway -- day or night. The two-time defending points champion held off a stubborn Tony Stewart to win the weather-delayed Chevy Rock & Roll 400 for the second consecutive year.

Johnson has won three of the past four races at RIR -- including the spring 2007 rain-delayed Crown Royal 400, which was the last day race staged here.

More importantly, Johnson enters the Chase on a roll. He won last weekend at Fontana, Calif., and heads to New Hampshire this weekend 40 points behind front-runner Kyle Busch, who finished the 26-race regular season with an adventurous 15th-place finish.

"Momentum is something we'll be trying to carry [into New Hampshire]," said Johnson, who led twice for 32 laps. "I had a blast all day long."

While Johnson and Stewart battled for the checkered flag, former Chesterfield resident Denny Hamlin raced unchallenged the last 10 laps to earn his third consecutive third-place finish.

"Three thirds in a row after that problem in Michigan [39th with a blown engine], you can't ask for much more for a Chase run," said Hamlin, who starts the postseason sixth and 70 points behind Busch. "It's a way to hopefully start off the Chase on a good foot."

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was bumped off the lead by Busch in the spring race at RIR, gained a measure of redemption by putting Busch into the Turn 2 wall on Lap 213 before cruising to a fourth-place finish ahead of Mark Martin.

"I moved up to get next to him, and race him hard," Earnhardt said. "I got down into [Turn] 1 too hard and got into the quarter panel and spun him out. It was an accident."

Said Busch: "All I know, I wasn't able to spin off the wall."

South Boston native Jeff Burton was sixth, followed by Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, David Reutimann, Kurt Busch and Casey Mears. Clint Bowyer, who entered the 300-mile race on the Chase bubble, secured the 12th and final postseason berth with a 12th-place showing.

Johnson, winning with an average speed of 92.680 mph, slipped back near the middle of the 43-car pack early in the race. But 14 cautions -- one short of the racetrack record -- kept pacesetters Busch, Earnhardt and Harvick from pulling away.

Then, when Earnhardt knocked Busch off the lead, Johnson steadily threaded his way through traffic to reel in the leaders, Earnhardt and Reutimann. Reutimann led a race-high 104 laps before Stewart chased him down on Lap 349.

Johnson led for the first time on Lap 367 when he slid by Martin Truex Jr. Then, on the Lap 375 restart, he jumped to a slim lead with Stewart and Earnhardt in tow.

"Tony and I raced really hard for the lead," Johnson said. "It was nice to be able to race and not worry about the points.

"At the end, that's how you want to race. You want to win a race going against the best in the business."

Stewart appeared to save his best for the final 10 laps when he nosed ahead of Johnson on Lap 390. But two laps later, Johnson charged back ahead to post his fourth victory of the season.

"It was a little bit of a guessing game, going from a night race to a day race," said Stewart, finishing second for the fourth time. "We got down there and couldn't get back. It's one of the best races I've had here at Richmond."

Stewart didn't have a spot in the Chase sewn up heading into the race, but Johnson had. Still, Stewart said he didn't give it a second thought while racing door to door with Johnson down the stretch.

"I had enough trouble driving the car. I didn't have time to mess with a calculator," Stewart said sarcastically.

Stewart pulled up to Johnson's bumper on the front straightaway on Lap 399. But his No.20 Toyota couldn't overtake Johnson.

Johnson, though, didn't lower his defenses.

"I could see [Stewart] on the bottom," Johnson said. "I was waiting for the bump."