Carl Edwards dove to the inside of Jimmie Johnson going into Turn 3 on the final lap.

The crowd at Kansas Speedway responded as the Columbia, Mo., native took the lead from Johnson. But it didn’t last long.

Edwards’ risky move — called a slide job — in the final turn of the Camping World RV 400 landed him against the wall. Johnson went around him for the win in the third of 10 races in Sprint Cup’s Chase for the Championship.

The end of a furious, 10-lap charge allowed Edwards to make up more than 8/10 of a second in the final two laps and create an exciting finish.

“I thought I was sitting in great shape with two to go, a nice comfortable lead,” said Johnson, who earned his fifth win of the season and moved past Edwards into first in the Chase standings.

“Next thing you know that 99’s all over me. I had a battle on my hands.”

Edwards wound up second, bouncing off the wall and diving low to try and catch Johnson. Edwards came up short in front of what he calls a home crowd, a tough finish that left him without a win and second in the point standings.

Needing to find a way around Johnson, Edwards tried to cut the corner and slide back in front of Johnson. Edwards said he planned to hit the wall, but not on the impact slowing him down as much as it did.

“That last lap, I just figured to hell with it,” Edwards said. “I don’t want to finish second here; I want to win this race more than anything in the world.

“I’ve always kind of wanted to try and do that. Now, I know it doesn’t quite work the same as video games.”

Edwards led twice for 31 laps, all during the second half of the race.

But Johnson — the polesitter — reclaimed the lead on lap 220, beating Edwards out of the pits during a caution period caused by Travis Kvapil’s wreck in Turn 2.

Edwards had passed Johnson for the lead on the previous two green-flag runs, but the final 47 laps were different. Johnson maintained the lead throughout, and he thought the win was his when he entered Turn 3 on the final lap.

But Edwards wasn’t finished, and his desperation move caught Johnson off guard.

“I knew instantly there was no damn way he was making the turn,” Johnson said. “I was so in awe of how far he drove it in (to the turn). I watched him pound the wall and jump back in the gas.

“And I thought, 'Man, he’s serious about this win. I better get back in the gas myself.’”

Edwards has seen the slide move work before but also seen it fail. He said Sunday wasn’t the exact way to pull the move off.

“I’m sure for a second Jimmy thought, 'Oh my God, he’s gonna win this thing,’” Edwards said. “Then he went, 'Nope physics win again.’ But, you know, that’s the way it goes.”

The top seven finishers were all Chase contenders.

Greg Biffle placed third, passing Jeff Gordon in the final turn to gain an extra five points. Gordon was fourth followed by Matt Kenseth, Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton.

Biffle saw his two-race winning streak snapped and remained in the third place, 30 points behind Johnson.

“I thought I was losing ground when I was winning because I never gained anything,” Biffle said. “I won twice; I was still third. Finish third, I’m still third.”

Johnson, Edwards and Biffle head to unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway next week as the clear frontrunners. But Burton, Harvick, Gordon, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Matt Kensuth all lurk within 200 points.

But before the attention turns to the 2.5-mile track in Alabama, Edwards still will have his home race on his mind. But he won’t have any regrets.

“It’s gonna be hard enough to go to sleep tonight,” Edwards said, “but there’s no way I’d sleep a wink if I didn’t try something.”