CONCORD, N.C. -- Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards and Jimmie Johnson. Those were the three guys everyone picked to win the Sprint Cup title.

Burton thrust himself into title contention Saturday night, using savvy pit strategy to win at Lowe's Motor Speedway and slice into Johnson's points lead on a night when several contenders lost sight of the title.

"Nobody's giving us a chance except for us, and all those guys have a tremendous amount to lose," Burton said. "We've got nothing to lose and we're just hanging it out there and seeing what happens."

Three poor finishes at the start to the Chase for the championship knocked Busch, the regular-season points winner, out of contention.

Now Edwards is teetering on the edge after a 33rd-place finish Saturday night dropped him to fourth in the standings.

Burton's win, his second of the season, pushed him two spots in the standings to second. He trails Johnson by 69 points with five races to go.

1 4 Jeff Burton 31 Chevrolet 334 Running 190
[+] 2 15 Kasey Kahne 9 Dodge 334 Running 170
[+] 3 19 Kurt Busch 2 Dodge 334 Running 165
[+] 4 11 Kyle Busch 18 Toyota 334 Running 165
[+] 5 21 Jamie McMurray 26 Ford 334 Running 155
[+] 6 1 Jimmie Johnson 48 Chevrolet 334 Running 160
[+] 7 3 Greg Biffle 16 Ford 334 Running 151
[+] 8 8 Jeff Gordon 24 Chevrolet 334 Running 147
[+] 9 14 Mark Martin 8 Chevrolet 334 Running 138
[+] 10 13 David Ragan 6 Ford 334 Running 139
[+] 11 7 Tony Stewart 20 Toyota 334 Running 135
[+] 12 5 Clint Bowyer 07 Chevrolet 334 Running 127
[+] 13 6 Kevin Harvick 29 Chevrolet 334 Running 124
[+] 14 18 Martin Truex Jr. 1 Chevrolet 334 Running 126
[+] 15 30 Reed Sorenson 41 Dodge 334 Running 123
[+] 16 12 Denny Hamlin 11 Toyota 334 Running 115
[+] 17 20 Bobby Labonte 43 Dodge 333 Running 112
[+] 18 17 Brian Vickers 83 Toyota 333 Running 114
[+] 19 33 Scott Riggs 66 Chevrolet 333 Running 106
[+] 20 22 Elliott Sadler 19 Dodge 333 Running 103
[+] 21 16 Ryan Newman 12 Dodge 333 Running 105
[+] 22 37 Sam Hornish Jr. 77 Dodge 332 Running 97
[+] 23 29 Regan Smith 01 Chevrolet 332 Running 94
[+] 24 31 Michael Waltrip 55 Toyota 332 Running 96
[+] 25 28 David Gilliland 38 Ford 332 Running 88
[+] 26 27 Paul Menard 15 Chevrolet 331 Running 85
[+] 27 32 Dave Blaney 22 Toyota 331 Running 82
[+] 28 42 Bill Elliott 21 Ford 330 Running 79
[+] 29 23 Casey Mears 5 Chevrolet 330 Running 76
[+] 30 35 Robby Gordon 7 Dodge 328 Running 78
[+] 31 39 Mike Wallace 10 Dodge 326 Running 70
[+] 32 26 David Reutimann 44 Toyota 321 Running 72
[+] 33 2 Carl Edwards 99 Ford 317 Running 64
[+] 34 24 Juan Pablo Montoya 42 Dodge 296 Crash 61
[+] 35 40 Chad McCumbee 45 Dodge 296 Running 58
[+] 36 10 Dale Earnhardt Jr. 88 Chevrolet 289 Running 55
[+] 37 41 Joe Nemechek 78 Chevrolet 278 Running 52
[+] 38 38 Ken Schrader 96 Toyota 255 Running 49
[+] 39 34 Mike Skinner 84 Toyota 254 Running 46
[+] 40 43 Tony Raines 70 Chevrolet 203 Crash 43
[+] 41 9 Matt Kenseth 17 Ford 194 Crash 45
[+] 42 25 Travis Kvapil 28 Ford 194 Crash 37
[+] 43 36 A.J. Allmendinger 00 Toyota 52 Crash 39