MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Jimmie Johnson dominated the NASCAR Sprint Cup STP Gas Booster 500 championship race on Sunday to claim his eighth victory in 23 starts at the half-mile oval circuit.

The win, Jonhson’s second of the season, puts him back on top of the Sprint Cup points standings by six points over current reigning champion Brad Keselowski, who finished the race in sixth place.

Johnson led 346 of the 500 laps at Martinsville. The only other significant spells at the front were by Joe Gibbs Racing duo Matt Kenseth (96 laps) and Kyle Busch (56) but both faded toward the end of the race. Johnson’s Hendrick teammates Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne also had strong outings but the fourth member of the squad, Dale Earnhardt Jr., finished two laps down after a series of misfortunes.

Danica Patrick recovered from an early spin and going two laps down to finish in 12th place, the best result of the rookies.

Race results:

1. Jimmie Johnson Hendrick Motorsports 500 laps 3 hours 38 minutes 58 seconds

2. Clint Bowyer Michael Waltrip Racing + 0.628s

3. Jeff Gordon Hendrick Motorsports + 0.909s

4. Kasey Kahne Hendrick Motorsports + 1.512s

5. Kyle Busch Joe Gibbs Racing + 2.182s

6. Brad Keselowski Penske Racing + 2.189s

7. Jamie McMurray Earnhardt Ganassi Racing + 3.057s

8. Marcos Ambrose Richard Petty Motorsports + 3.541s

9. Greg Biffle Roush Fenway Racing + 3.941s

10. Mark Martin Joe Gibbs Racing + 4.193s

11. Brian Vickers Michael Waltrip Racing + 5.147s

12. Danica Patrick Stewart-Haas Racing + 5.156s

13. Kevin Harvick Richard Childress Racing + 5.197s

14. Matt Kenseth Joe Gibbs Racing + 5.392s

15. Carl Edwards Roush Fenway Racing + 5.643s

16. Casey Mears Germain Racing + 5.819s

17. Tony Stewart Stewart-Haas Racing + 6.150s

18. Jeff Burton Richard Childress Racing + 6.503s

19. Paul Menard Richard Childress Racing + 6.926s

20. Aric Almirola Richard Petty Motorsports + 7.917s

21. Bobby Labonte JTG Daugherty Racing + 8.317s

22. Regan Smith Phoenix Racing + 20.449s

23. Joey Logano Penske Racing + 1 Lap

24. Dale Earnhardt Jr Hendrick Motorsports + 2 Laps

25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr Roush Fenway Racing + 2 Laps

26. Juan Pablo Montoya Earnhardt Ganassi Racing + 3 Laps

27. J.J. Yeley Tommy Baldwin Racing + 3 Laps

28. David Gilliland Front Row Motorsports + 4 Laps

29. Dave Blaney Tommy Baldwin Racing + 5 Laps

30. David Ragan Front Row Motorsports + 7 Laps

31. Ryan Newman Stewart-Haas Racing + 8 Laps

32. Ken Schrader FAS Lane Racing + 8 Laps

33. Landon Cassill Circle Sport + 8 Laps

34. Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports + 9 Laps

35. Josh Wise Front Row Motorsports + 12 Laps

36. David Stremme Swan Racing + 15 Laps Electrical

37. Kurt Busch Furniture Row Racing + 43 Laps Accident

38. David Reutimann BK Racing + 43 Laps

39. Travis Kvapil BK Racing + 64 Laps

40. Martin Truex Jr. Michael Waltrip Racing + 114 Laps

41. Scott Speed Leavine Family Racing + 436 Laps Rear Gear

42. Scott Riggs XXXtreme Motorsport + 453 Laps Brakes

43. Michael McDowell Phil Parsons Racing + 474 Laps Brakes

Sprint Cup Series championship standings

1. (+2) Jimmie Johnson 231 pts (0 pts)

2. (—) Brad Keselowski 225 pts (-6 pts)

3. (-2) Dale Earnhardt Jr. 219 pts (-12 pts)

4. (+2) Kyle Busch 203 pts (-28 pts)

5. (+2) Kasey Kahne 199 pts (-32 pts)

6. (-1) Greg Biffle 199 pts (-32 pts)

7. (-3) Carl Edwards 193 pts (-38 pts)

8. (+6) Clint Bowyer 179 pts (-52 pts)

9. (-1) Paul Menard 179 pts (-52 pts)

10. (+1) Matt Kenseth 172 pts (-59 pts)

11. (-2) Joey Logano 167 pts (-64 pts)

12. (+6) Jeff Gordon 164 pts (-67 pts)

13. (+3) Jamie McMurray 162 pts (-69 pts)

14. (+1) Kevin Harvick 161 pts (-70 pts)

15. (-3) Ricky Stenhouse Jr. # 158 pts (-73 pts)

16. (+1) Aric Almirola 149 pts (-82 pts)

17. (+4) Casey Mears 146 pts (-85 pts)

18. (-8) Denny Hamlin 145 pts (-86 pts)

19. (-6) Kurt Busch 144 pts (-87 pts)

20. (+3) Marcos Ambrose 144 pts (-87 pts)

21. (+4) Mark Martin 136 pts (-95 pts)

22. (—) Tony Stewart 135 pts (-96 pts)

23. (-3) Ryan Newman 134 pts (-97 pts)

24. (—) Jeff Burton 131 pts (-100 pts)

25. (-6) Martin Truex Jr. 126 pts (-105 pts)

26. (+3) Danica Patrick # 119 pts (-112 pts)

27. (-1) Jj Yeley 109 pts (-122 pts)

28. (+3) Bobby Labonte 105 pts (-126 pts)

29. (-1) Dave Blaney 104 pts (-127 pts)

30. (—) Juan Pablo Montoya 101 pts (-130 pts)

31. (-4) A J Allmendinger 92 pts (-139 pts)

32. (+1) David Ragan 88 pts (-143 pts)

33. (-1) David Reutimann 80 pts (-151 pts)

34. (—) David Gilliland 80 pts (-151 pts)

35. (—) David Stremme 71 pts (-160 pts)

36. (—) Travis Kvapil 63 pts (-168 pts)

37. (+1) Landon Cassill 50 pts (-181 pts)

38. (-1) Michael McDowell 41 pts (-190 pts)

39. (—) Terry Labonte 37 pts (-194 pts)

40. (—) Scott Speed 35 pts (-196 pts)

41. (+1) Ken Schrader 29 pts (-202 pts)

42. (-1) Michael Waltrip 23 pts (-208 pts)

43. (+1) Scott Riggs 6 pts (-225 pts)

44. (-1) Timmy Hill 5 pts (-226 pts)