AVONDALE, Ariz. – While Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart have gone round-for-round in their race for the Sprint Cup title, Kasey Kahne has quietly turned his performance up a notch outside of the championship spotlight.

Kahne’s performance the last nine weeks has trailed only the two title contenders, and on Sunday, he finally got a win to show for his efforts.

Kahne snapped an 81-race winless streak with his victory at Phoenix International Raceway, where Edwards and Stewart finished second and third to keep the title race tight headed into next weekend’s season finale.

“If I’m in a race car, I want to do the best that I can,” Kahne said, crediting crew chief Kenny Francis for giving him strong Toyotas that have allowed him “to perform with and run with Carl and Tony, who have been probably the two best.”

They’ve been the only two drivers better than Kahne, and one of them will officially unseat five-time defending NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson on Sunday at Homestead.

Edwards will take a three-point lead over Stewart into the 36th and final race of the season, marking the closest championship battle since the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship format made its debut in 2004.

Stewart, winner of four Chase races this season, dominated Sunday at Phoenix and led 160 of the 312 laps. But he had to pit for gas with 18 laps remaining, and was forced to work his way back to the front. He needed a late pass of Jeff Burton to finish third, right behind Edwards.

“I wasn’t going to give him the spot. He earned it and he got it,” Burton said.

It was a critical pass, as it picked up another point for Stewart and kept his deficit at three points.

“We had an awesome day. We came up two spots shy. I don’t know how you could have asked for a better day,” he said.

Edwards, a two-time winner at Homestead, has not faltered with two-time champion Stewart bearing down on him, and he’ll go to Homestead with his first Sprint Cup championship in reach.

“It’s the best points battle I’ve been a part of at this level, so it’s fun for me,” Edwards said. “I still don’t understand why we’re both running so good. It’s pretty neat. Seems like subconsciously we’re both able to dig down and our teams are able to give us what we need and everybody has been performing at a high level.

“It’s been neat that this battle has brought out the best in us.”

Sunday officially marked the end of Johnson’s reign: He finished 14th and was mathematically eliminated from title contention.

“It’s been one hell of a run,” he posted on Twitter shortly after the race.