FORT WORTH, Texas -- Jimmie Johnson's second-place finish in Sunday's Samsung 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway was one position short of ideal, but it marked a vast improvement in the efforts of the No. 48 Lowe's team at an intermediate speedway.

Johnson chased race winner Carl Edwards for the final 106 laps but couldn't find enough speed to overtake him. Johnson's final opportunity came on a green-white-checkered-flag restart that took the race five laps beyond its scheduled 334 laps, but Edwards put some distance between his car and the Lowe's Chevy through the first two corners and crossed the stripe .399 seconds ahead of Johnson.

Kyle Busch was third, followed by Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin, last week's race winner at Martinsville. Newman's car, however, failed the height stick test (right rear too high) after the race; accordingly, his No. 12 Dodge team might face NASCAR penalties later this week.

The runner-up finish, equaling the second place he achieved at California, boosted Johnson from 10th to sixth in the championship standings, 144 behind leader Jeff Burton, who was sixth on Sunday.

With considerable optimism in the Lowe's camp, Johnson started fifth in Sunday's race.

"We're ready for a good day today," crew chief Chad Knaus said after the command to start engines. "Let's get out there and have some fun. It's 500 miles, a long race. I think we've got a car that's good enough. We've definitely got a driver that's good enough to stay up front the whole day and come home with a solid top-10."

"Just a heads-up, buddy," Knaus added to Johnson. "You do have an in-car camera this week, with DirecTV. You are on stickers (new tires). It's a beautiful day to race."

"Thanks, all you guys, for all your hard work this season, especially the last couple weeks," Johnson replied. "Let's go out there and take advantage of all the hard work."

"All right, coming to green here," radioed spotter Stevie Reeves. "Let's have fun today. Have a good one."

The Lowe's Chevy was running fourth on lap 5 when Reeves indicated to Johnson that other drivers already were venturing off the bottom of the track. "There's guys running the middle groove already, so it should be cleaned off," Reeves said.

"OK, Jimmie, the 9 car (Kasey Kahne) is the fastest out there by a half-second," Knaus said on lap 12. "He's running the high groove."

On lap 16, Johnson passed polesitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. for third position and described the handling of the Lowe's Chevy to Knaus: "Tight off. We're tight through the center."

On lap 25, he added, "Soft in (turn) 2, loose into 3, tight in the center of both turns."

That prompted adjustments during a pit stop under the first caution of the race, for Michael Waltrip's spin in turn 4 on lap 29.

"Good stop," Knaus congratulated the crew after Johnson left pit road. "You guys did a good job.

"I'll do a better job getting into the pit next time," added Johnson.

"At the end of that run, we were about one and a quarter second slower than we were at the beginning of the run," Knaus told Johnson before a restart on lap 34. "Tire falloff was pretty big."

"I could feel the pace get really slow," Johnson agreed.

The adjustments made during the pit stop were to the driver's liking. "Best car I've had in a long, long time, brother," Johnson said.

As if in confirmation, Knaus called out the lap time: "30.93 (seconds), same as the leader."

On lap 47, Reeves gave Johnson more information about other drivers' racing lines. "There's guys running all the way up to the wall," Reeves said. "It's clean all the way there, if you need it."

A lap later, Johnson overtook Earnhardt for the top spot. "Great job, bud," said Knaus. "The 48 leads lap 48."

On lap 56, the driver of the Lowe's Chevy weighed in again. "At the end of the run it's ending up where it was -- I need a little more of that same stuff," he said, referring to the earlier adjustments.

On lap 60 he added, "Loose in, tight in the center, loose off. Loosest off (turn) 2."

"Ten-four, bud, we're going to get you fixed up here on the next pit stop," Knaus replied.

Johnson brought the Lowe's Chevy to the pits for a green-flag stop on lap 83 and retained the lead after the field had cycled through on lap 88.

"It's rolling the bottom pretty good," Johnson said on lap 90. "We'll just have to see how it goes."

"Next time, we'll drop the panhard bar a little for you," Knaus responded. "We'll keep working on it for you, bud.

"Ten-four, good stuff," Johnson said.

"Turning real well," Johnson added on lap 93. "Seems like too much right front camber when I'm back on the gas coming off."

"Keep digging, bud," Knaus urged on lap 103, noting that Johnson could help his pit crew by putting Travis Kvapil a lap down. "Try to get that 28 car (Kvapil) up there. That would give us an open box in front of us."

But Jeff Gordon spun and hit the wall in turn 4 on lap 109 to bring out the second caution before Johnson could get around the 28. Sure enough, Kvapil hindered the Lowe's Chevy's exit from the pits.

"Dig, dig, dig, go, go, go," Knaus urged as Johnson left the stall. "The 28's going to mess us up all day."

On lap 114, Johnson restarted second behind Matt Kenseth, who had won the race off pit road.

"If I stay on the brake, I can keep the car from getting loose into (turn) 3," Johnson told Knaus on lap 132. "The pace is so slow."

"If you can jump out front and get about a five-second lead, we can make an adjustment to the shocks that should help you," Knaus responded two laps later.

On lap 132, NASCAR called the third caution because of debris on the track. Johnson again restarted behind Kenseth on lap 137.

"All he has to do is block me!" Johnson railed on lap 154, frustrated in his attempts to pass Kenseth's No. 17 Ford.

"He's just playing you there," Knaus soothed. "Nice and smooth."

On lap 161, as the Lowe's Chevy approached heavy race traffic, Reeves warned Johnson, "The first car you're going to catch up there is the 7 (Robby Gordon). "He's hit the wall in turn 3 about 10 times."

"The car's been a lot better this run," Johnson reported on lap 167. "Still a little snug in the center at the end of the run."

J.J. Yeley's hard contact with the inside wall on the backstretch brought out the fourth caution of the race on lap 176. With Kvapil pitting in front of him again, Johnson lost four positions on the ensuing stop.

By lap 211, the Lowe's Chevy was running in third position, and on lap 220, Johnson passed Kyle Busch for second and began his pursuit of Edwards.

"What have you got there, bud?" Knaus asked on lap 228 during a green-flag run that would last until lap 294.

"Tight in the center, and a little soft, too, but we've really helped the car since the beginning," the driver replied.

Johnson surrendered second to Busch during a round of green-flag stops that had cycled through by lap 237.

"You're five and half seconds back now," Knaus said.

"It's starting off looser," Johnson said after the stop.

"You've gained more than a second in two laps," Knaus said on lap 240. "Keep it up, buddy."

That's when Edwards began to assert his dominance, opening a gap of more than six seconds over the Lowe's Chevy, which was running third. "Try to keep that 99 (Edwards) in sight," Knaus urged. "He's six seconds ahead of you."

On lap 257, Johnson passed Busch for second position.

"How's the car through the center now?" Knaus asked on lap 260.

"Free," Johnson replied. "If I slow down in traffic, it's good, but if I carry any speed into the corner, it's free."

On lap 273, Knaus promised additional adjustments after Johnson reported: "Now that I've slowed down, the side bite (downforce) works for me, but I need forward bite."

On lap 275, contemplating the next pit stop, Knaus told Johnson, "I was going to pit early to try to gain a little track position, but I just don't think it's worth it."

"Yeah, big picture," Johnson agreed. "

He's faster than we are," added Knaus, "and he's (Edwards) eight second ahead, so it's not worth it. We'll just pit when he does."

After green-flag stops, Johnson still trailed by more than seven seconds, but NASCAR called a debris caution on lap 294.

"It was a little off starting out, but by the second or third lap it was good," Johnson said of the previous run.

"Only 10 cars on the lead lap," Knaus replied. "I'm going to bet everybody takes four (tires), so we'll do the same."

Before a restart on lap 300, Knaus said enthusiastically, "We're going to have about 35 to go when we take the green flag here. This one is YOURS, my friend."

But Johnson still couldn't catch Edwards after the restart, falling nearly two seconds behind before Martin Truex Jr.'s blown engine oiled the track on lap 330.

"I think we stay out here, don't you?" Knaus asked, preferring track position to fresh tires. The strategy proved correct as the first five cars in the running order remained on the track while those behind them came to the pits.

With only two laps left when the field restarted on lap 338, Johnson couldn't track down Edwards at the end.

"Good job today, guys," Reeves said. "Good job, Jimmie."

"Good job, everybody," Johnson added. "Thanks for the hard work."

"Good job, guys," rejoined Knaus. "Sorry we didn't have enough for you, Jimmie."

"Huge gains, huge gains," Johnson replied.

Owner Rick Hendrick came on the radio channel to affirm Johnson's last statement. "JJ, that looked like the 48 of old, man," he said.