This marks the first time the race was run in an early November spot, the slot formerly occupied by the Atlanta Motor Speedway event.

The last 15 laps of the race were a duel between McMurray and David Stremme, who had never had a top-five in Sprint Cup competition.

Instead of deciding to wreck and dwindle down the field on Sunday, Johnson said the drivers finally got smart about how to approach the race.

"[4] This continued with Casey Mears leading the line for many laps until the first round of green flag pit stops started.

With five laps to go, Ryan Newman's car flipped on the back straightaway, landing on Kevin Harvick, and also collecting Marcos Ambrose and Elliott Sadler.