TALLADEGA, Ala. --- Even by Talladega Superspeedway standards, Sunday's AMP Energy 500 was over the top.

Tony Stewart was the second person to cross the finish line and he won. Nine of the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Championship crashed. And NASCAR came away with one of the most- competitive races in its 60-year history with 28 different leaders.

Rookie Regan Smith passed Stewart in the final 300 yards for an apparent win, but he drove below the yellow out-of-bounds line to get there. That sent Stewart to Victory Lane for the first time this year and helped Jimmie Johnson build a little cushion in the playoff standings.

Stewart had been second six times at the 2.66-mile racetrack. He crashed in practice Friday, but his Joe Gibbs Racing team repaired the car in time for the race. Stewart did the rest by avoiding a pair of massive pileups. He shot to the lead on the 174th lap, just a couple seconds before Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle started a 10-car crash that involved three other drivers in the playoffs.

Stewart led the final 17 laps, including two in overtime.

"It's one thing to get back to Victory Lane, but to do it at Talladega, wow," Stewart said.

Smith said he was forced out of bounds when Stewart swerved left to block his advance.

"I knew I was going to get one shot at him," Smith said. "I always thought the rule was if you get forced down there, then you are the winner of the race and anything on the last lap goes."

Apparently not. Smith eventually was credited with an 18th-place finish.

It got so wild, points leader Jimmie Johnson fell one lap behind trying to stay well behind the three- and four-wide racing. By staying out of trouble, he finished ninth to extend his lead over Edwards to 72 points.

Racing at Talladega means flirting with disaster, and Sunday's race was no exception. A combination of exploding tires and a multi-car wreck turned the final 200 miles into a battle of survival. David Reutimann blew out an engine, triggering a nine-car accident that sent Jeff Gordon's car into the outside wall.

"Everything was going the way we wanted to go," said Gordon, who finished 38th. "That's part of racing at Talladega."

Paul Menard was credited with a second-place finish, followed by David Ragan, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer in the top five.

Reach Don Coble at don.coble@morris.com.