Reigning champion Brad Keselowski finally scored his first win of the 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup season in a Charlotte Motor Speedway race transformed by a late caution.

Jimmie Johnson had been on course for a dominant win in what had turned into a processional event until a debris yellow with 27 of 334 laps remaining.

The five-time champion’s Hendrick team-mates Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon, both of whom had led stints earlier in, only took two tyres at the subsequent pitstops and jumped to the front.

Johnson restarted third, but a big slide as he attacked at the restart dropped him to seventh.

That allowed Johnson’s title rival Matt Kenseth and Keselowski to move into victory contention after making gradual progress up the order through the night following poor early stints.

As Gordon swiftly fell back, Keselowski passed Kenseth and began to attack Kahne.

At first the Hendrick driver was able to sweep back in front using a wider line every time Keselowski’s Penske Ford got alongside.

The battle was finally resolved with eight laps to go, and Keselowski was able to pull clearly ahead and go on to win by a second.

Kahne held off Kenseth and Johnson for second, meaning Kenseth keeps a four-point championship lead.

Kyle Busch was fifth, followed by front-row starter Kevin Harvick and Gordon.

Results - 334 laps:

Pos  Driver              Team/Car                         Time/Gap
 1.  Brad Keselowski     Penske Ford                  3h09m53.000s
 2.  Kasey Kahne         Hendrick Chevrolet                +1.023s
 3.  Matt Kenseth        Joe Gibbs Toyota                  +1.074s
 4.  Jimmie Johnson      Hendrick Chevrolet                +1.409s
 5.  Kyle Busch          Joe Gibbs Toyota                  +3.069s
 6.  Kevin Harvick       Childress Chevrolet               +5.589s
 7.  Jeff Gordon         Hendrick Chevrolet                +6.427s
 8.  Ryan Newman         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet            +7.631s
 9.  Denny Hamlin        Joe Gibbs Toyota                  +7.871s
10.  Carl Edwards        Roush Fenway Ford                +12.637s
11.  Clint Bowyer        Waltrip Toyota                   +19.411s
12.  Juan Pablo Montoya  Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet      +26.291s
13.  Ricky Stenhouse Jr  Roush Fenway Ford                +30.284s
14.  Kurt Busch          Furniture Row Chevrolet            +1 lap
15.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Hendrick Chevrolet                 +1 lap
16.  Greg Biffle         Roush Fenway Ford                  +1 lap
17.  Marcos Ambrose      Petty Ford                         +1 lap
18.  Joey Logano         Penske Ford                       +2 laps
19.  Jamie McMurray      Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet       +2 laps
20.  Danica Patrick      Stewart-Haas Chevrolet            +2 laps
21.  Jeff Burton         Childress Chevrolet               +2 laps
22.  Martin Truex Jr     Waltrip Toyota                    +3 laps
23.  Aric Almirola       Petty Ford                        +3 laps
24.  Paul Menard         Childress Chevrolet               +3 laps
25.  Brian Vickers       Waltrip Toyota                    +4 laps
26.  David Reutimann     BK Toyota                         +4 laps
27.  Brian Scott         Childress Chevrolet               +4 laps
28.  Bobby Labonte       JTG Daugherty Toyota              +5 laps
29.  David Gilliland     Front Row Ford                    +6 laps
30.  David Ragan         Front Row Ford                    +6 laps
31.  Casey Mears         Germain Ford                      +6 laps
32.  Dave Blaney         Baldwin Chevrolet                 +7 laps
33.  Landon Cassill      Circle Sport Chevrolet            +7 laps
34.  Cole Whitt          Swan Toyota                       +7 laps
35.  Travis Kvapil       BK Toyota                         +8 laps
36.  Timmy Hill          FAS Lane Ford                    +10 laps

Retirements:

     Kyle Larson         Phoenix Chevrolet                247 laps
     Blake Koch          Leavine Ford                     216 laps
     Joe Nemechek        NEMCO Toyota                     149 laps
     Michael McDowell    Parsons Ford                      83 laps
     Josh Wise           Front Row Ford                    81 laps
     Mark Martin         Stewart-Haas Chevrolet            80 laps
     JJ Yeley            Baldwin Chevrolet                 23 laps