For a while it looked like Kasey Kahne would defend his 2009 Infineon Raceway title. The Enumclaw NASCAR Sprint Cup driver captured the road course pole during qualifying and ran in the Top 10 most of the day. The victory, however, went to Jimmie Johnson, while Kahne finished fourth.

“We were a little bit off at the start, but I just needed to settle in and we made the car a little bit better there,” Kahne said of the No. 9. “I felt pretty good the last 70 laps, so it was a good race. We were able to finish strong with our Budweiser Ford, and, hopefully, it was a good show. I know it was exciting from my seat and probably a lot of the other drivers’ seats.”

The finish moves Kahne up three sports in the drivers standings to 18th, 553 points behind leader Kevin Harvick, but gaining on No. 12 driver Carl Edwards. The top 12 drivers vie for the title in the final 10 races of the season.

Racing continues continues at Loudon, N.H., Sunday.