Joe Gibbs Racing’s Matt Kenseth claimed his third victory of the NASCAR Sprint Cup season with a dominant performance at Michigan.

The polesitter was never far from the front of the field, ultimately leading 146 of the race’s 200 laps.

A late caution period provided a threat, but Kenseth got the jump on Kevin Harvick at the restart and went on to win by nearly two seconds.

As the Chase title playoff approaches, the victory takes the Toyota team’s run of form to six wins from the last eight races.

Harvick settled for second, having been fortunate not to lose more time coasting back to the pits when he ran out of fuel at the end of a stint just after the halfway mark.

Martin Truex Jr was third, having come from 22nd on the grid, while Austin Dillon finished fourth, where he qualified.

Dillon had to work harder than that suggests, though, as he started at the rear of the grid due to a pre-race engine change and was delayed by a slow pitstop.

Kyle Busch joined him at the back, in a spare car following a practice incident, and wound up 11th, both drivers leading laps while running out-of-sequence.

Between Dillon and Busch, Carl Edwards was sixth, ahead of Joey Logano, Ryan Newman, Brad Keselowski and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Jimmie Johnson had a race to forget, finishing 39th having started eighth.

A flat right-rear tyre was followed by the six-time champion overshooting his pit bay during the next round of stops, while a late spin compounded the misery.

On the bubble of the Chase cutoff, Clint Bowyer was classified 41st after a mid-race crash and subsequent repairs.

RESULTS – 200 LAPS:

CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS:

Dominant Matt Kenseth takes third win of season