Before his win on the 1 mile flat track that is Phoenix International Raceway Dale Earnhardt Jr had made a name as a restrictor plate ace with 24 of his 8 wins coming on the high banks of Daytona and Talladega.

With a victory at Phoenix he silenced his critics by winning on a flat, downforce track.

Dale Jr led 87 of the races 312 laps, including the final 50after passing Jimmie Johnson the lead on lap 262. Johnson would finish 2nd, 0.735 seconds behind Dale Earnhardt Jr.

"I was just sitting there and waited behind Jimmie," Earnhardt Jr said. "I patiently waited and waited and he got easier and easier to catch. I didn't want to burn myself up trying to keep up with him. And it finally came to me.

Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Michael Waltrip finished out the top 5.

Rusty Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte were all involved in a big crash on lap 228 when Wallace's No. 2 Dodge Charger nudged the rear of Tony Stewarts No. 20 Chevrolet.

Stewart and Wallace were able to continue, but the cars of both Harvick and Labonte were retired from the event with heavy damage.

Dale Jr was able to maintain a comfortable lead until a spin by the No. 19 Dodge of Mike Wallace brought out the race's final caution.

A single-file restart with 9 laps to go gave Jimmie Johnson his best chance to pass Earnhardt Jr, but Junior would have none of that. He held the lead to the finish with Johnson on his bumper.

This was Earnhardt's 2nd victory of the season, with his only other victory coming at the spring Talladega race.

At 312 laps on a 1.00 mile track the race distance was 312 miles.

NASCAR Timing & Scoring showed an official tile of race at 3 hours, 19 minutes, 11 seconds, for an average speed of 93.984 MPH.

The race was slowed from Ryan Newman's pole qualifying speed of 133.675 MPH by 10 cautions for a total of 66 laps.

Dale Earnhardt Jr received $203,017 in prize money for the win.