LAS VEGAS - It took Jimmie Johnson 270 laps to get to the front Sunday, but that was soon enough.

Johnson took advantage of a late-race caution flag, catching and passing Matt Kenseth in a two-lap overtime sprint to the finish Sunday in the NASCAR Nextel Cup UAWDaimlerChrysler 400.

Johnson's No. 48 Chevrolet surged past Kenseth's No. 17 Ford on the outside after the two sped side-by-side through the third and fourth turns on the 1.5-mile oval for the final time. The winner crossed by finish line 0.115 seconds - about half a car-length - ahead as he led a lap for the only time in the race.

Carl Edwards beat Johnson last spring at Atlanta with the same kind of move and then Johnson beat Kurt Busch with an outside pass last fall at Charlotte.

''I was slowly catching Matt before that last caution,'' Johnson said. ''I think we could have got up there to race with him but, if it stayed green, I believe Matt had it in the bag. Then we got that last yellow.

''I thought long and hard about what I would do if I was protecting the lead. I knew I wanted to be on the outside. I faked kind of to the bottom and he kind of bought it.''

Asked if he thought about trying to block Johnson's move to the outside, Kenseth said, ''I was running in the groove where my car was the fastest. If I had to redo it right now, I don't think there was anything I could have done different.''

Johnson is off to a great start in 2006, winning the Daytona 500 and finishing second two weeks ago in California before taking his 20th career win on Sunday. And he's doing it without crew chief Chad Knaus, banned by NASCAR for the first four races of the season after making unapproved modifications to Johnson's car in Daytona qualifying.