The Associated Press

CONCORD, N.C. - Jimmie Johnson walked into the NASCAR officials' trailer to check on the weather. He walked out of it as the winner of the Coca-Cola 600.

Johnson was declared the winner Sunday night after NASCAR halted the race after 276 laps because of rain. It gave him an impressive sweep at Lowe's Motor Speedway - he picked up $1 million by winning The Winston eight days ago.

"I went there to check the radar and as soon as I stepped into the front of the red truck they were shaking my hands and telling me I was the winner," Johnson said. "I was surprised. But regardless of how it turned out, we were going to be a contender."

Johnson took the lead 11 laps earlier with a quick pit stop - perfect timing because heavy rain soaked the track minutes later. The shower was brief, but NASCAR figured it would take at least three hours to dry the track and more rain was expected.

So the sanctioning body shortened the longest race of the year - stopping it after 414 of the 600 miles - a decision Johnson and his crew initially didn't believe as word trickled down pit road.

But as the crowd began to boo the decision, the Hendrick Motorsports team knew it was official and began a hesitant celebration.

"I am dumbfounded," Johnson said. "I expected to be doing doughnuts on the frontstretch to celebrate. But we'll take it this way."

Winston Cup points leader Matt Kenseth finished second, Bobby Labonte was third, followed by Jimmy Spencer, polesitter Ryan Newman, Michael Waltrip and Sterling Marlin.

Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett and Ward Burton rounded out the Top 10.

NASCAR President Mike Helton said the threat of more rain would have dragged the race on long into the night - if it even got restarted.

"We'll close the books on this one and head on to Dover," Helton said. "Hopefully everybody understands. I know Jimmie does."

The rest of the field didn't, especially Kenseth, who led three times for a race-high 75 laps.

"I'm certainly not happy about ending the race at 9:30 at night - the biggest race of the year, especially when it's not even raining," Kenseth said. "Hopefully, it will start raining pretty hard soon."

DOUBLE DUTY: Robby Gordon thought he had cars good enough to win two races Sunday. A broken part and rain ruined his bid.

Gordon was knocked out of the Indianapolis 500 late in the race when the gear box in his car broke as he left pit road and he finished 22nd.

It did allow Gordon to get an early start on his trip to NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600: He was on the plane eating turkey sandwiches when Gil de Ferran took the checkered flag at Indy.

His car was strong in the NASCAR race, but he was in 17th place when it was called because of rain after 276 laps.

Gordon's attempt to run 1,100 miles in one day ended up falling short at just 824.

"We were easily as good as anybody else out there," Gordon said.