Concord, N.C. ? The 42 drivers chasing Jimmie Johnson heard the plea from the fans and saw it on the T-shirts that begged for “Anybody But Jimmie” to win the Coca-Cola 600.

Kasey Kahne was the only one up for the challenge.

Kahne ended Johnson’s run of three straight Coca-Cola 600 victories by taking the lead with 29 laps to go Sunday night and pulling out to such a huge lead that Johnson never had a chance to catch him.

“That’s all I ever wanted here, was a car that could race with Jimmie at the end,” Kahne said. “You know every time you get to the end of a race at Charlotte, Jimmie Johnson is the guy to beat.

“We finally made it to that point and had a car that could race him and we were able to win.”

For the first time in six races, someone not named Johnson celebrated in Victory Lane at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“The 600 is such a big weekend, such a big race and tonight was ours,” Kahne said. “Jimmie Johnson had been the winner for a long time and we were able to win tonight.”

Driver Kasey Kahne waves to the crowd after he won the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Coca-Cola 600. Kahne won Sunday at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C.

Johnson, winner of last week’s All-Star Challenge and seven of the last 10 races at Lowe’s, finished second. He was well over 2 seconds behind Kahne.

“As I was chasing Kasey at the end, and I couldn’t catch him … looking at the streak and looking at the 600-mile race, to win three of them, I’ve been very fortunate to do that,” Johnson said. “It’s a weird race, a long race, and I’m very proud of the stats that I’ve had – and slightly disappointed that it’s come to an end.”

It was Kahne’s third victory of the season – all in the same Charger – and the first win for a Dodge at this track since Richard Petty in 1977.

Carl Edwards, Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth finished third through fifth for Roush Racing, followed by Jeff Burton, then Greg Biffle and Jamie McMurray in the other two Roush Fords. Denny Hamlin and Reed Sorenson rounded out the top 10, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. finished 11th.

Defending series champion Tony Stewart wrecked early in the race and was taken to the hospital for evaluation.