HAMPTON, Ga. -With his car sliding all over the track, Jeff Gordon held off teammate Jimmie Johnson over a thrilling last 10 laps Tuesday to win the rain-delayed NASCAR race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Gordon won for the third time this season and 85th time in his career, breaking a tie with Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third on the career list.
Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105) are the only drivers in Cup history with more victories than Gordon.
"I totally forgot about that," said Gordon, who received a special plaque from NASCAR during the victory ceremony in front of the main grandstand. "Eighty-five, wow! That is un-un-believable. With the kind of day we had, the kind of year we're having, I feel rejuvenated."
He sure earned this win, fending off the defending five-time champion. Johnson put his Chevrolet in front of Gordon's No. 24 car a couple of times but couldn't hold on through the corners. At the end, with both drivers racing as hard as they could on fading tires, their cars came close to getting sideways several times.
Johnson made one last run for the lead on the final lap, but had to back off to keep from putting his car in the wall. Gordon pulled away to win by 0.598 seconds.
"I'm so glad I grew up racing on dirt," Johnson said. "I could have spun out four or five times at the end."
The AdvoCare 500 was only the second Cup race since 1978 to be run on a Tuesday. It was originally scheduled for Sunday night, but rain from the remnants of Tropical Storm Lee forced a two-day postponement.
Gordon, a four-time champion, had already locked up a spot in the Chase for the championship, but this performance stamped him as a prime contender to end Johnson's unprecedented title run.
Then again, Johnson looks pretty strong, too. He moved past Kyle Busch to take the top spot in the season standings, leaving little doubt that he's still the one everyone's chasing.
"The reality is we have a lot to be proud of," said Johnson, who has only one victory this season but always seems to run near the front. "We know we have a very good chance of winning the championship."
Tony Stewart was feeling a lot better about his chances after making up more than 8 seconds on the leaders in the final laps to finish third. He solidified his hold on 10th place-the final spot in the Chase that will be determined on points-heading to next weekend's race at Richmond, the last one before the playoff field is set.
"The points are big going into next week, that's for sure," Stewart said. "I'm proud of the effort everybody gave this week. It may come down to one point. Having the strong finish we had here, maybe that will be the difference in making it or not making it next week."
Six drivers had already clinched a spot in the 12-driver playoff, and three more joined them Tuesday. Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman are locked in on points, and Brad Keselowski wrapped up at least a wild card with his sixth-place finish.
The drivers had to cope with much different conditions than they faced in qualifying 2 1/2 days earlier. Then, it was sunny and humid with temperatures in the lows 90s. When the green flag finally waved for the race, it was windy, overcast and felt downright fall-like at 63 degrees.
Two rain delays also forced the drivers to improvise on the fly, looking for the line that worked best on the high-banked track in the ever-changing conditions.
But Gordon clearly had the best car, leading 146 of the 325 laps. Matt Kenseth was next, leading 64 laps, and Johnson was out front for only 29 laps after struggling early in the day and nearly going a lap down. Stewart was followed across the line by Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards.
Denny Hamlin finished eighth, moved up one spot to 12th in the season standings, and has a firmer grip on the second wild card. The last two spots in the Chase will go to the drivers ranking 11th to 20th in the points with the most wins. Hamlin has one of those precious victories.
Clint Bowyer went the wrong way in the Chase, the victim of a run-in with Juan Pablo Montoya. The No. 33 car clashed with Montoya coming off turn four, sending Bowyer slamming into the wall. He got his battered car back on the track for the final laps, trying to pick up an extra point or two, but finished 36th.
Bowyer, who gave a sarcastic wave to Montoya as he passed the wrecked machine under caution, dropped to 14th in the points-a dozen behind Hamlin- and will need to win at Richmond to make the Chase.
"Everybody knows what they're up against when the 42 (Montoya) comes up," Bowyer said bitterly. "He bullies his way up there and, before you know it, he's in the way and wrecking somebody. It's just a shame. We're racing for a spot in the Chase and he's racing for nothing."
No one claimed the $3 million prize for the Sprint Summer Showdown, which paired five fans with the winners of designated races at Indianapolis, Pocono, Watkins Glen, Michigan and Bristol. Keselowski won a pair of those races and was paired with two fans, and the other eligible drivers were Kyle Busch, Paul Menard and Marcos Ambrose.
Menard was 18th, Ambrose 21st, and Busch faded to 23rd after leading three times for a total of 19 laps early on.
Pole winner Kasey Kahne also had a tough day, smashing into another car on a restart and settling for a 34th-place finish that severely damaged his long-shot Chase hopes.
The threatening skies brought more rain just past the midway point. At first, the cars stayed on the track under yellow while the drying machines were sent out. But the light mist began to come down a little harder, so NASCAR waved the red flag. The cars went to pit road and were covered to wait out the showers.
J.J. Yeley, driving for an underfunded team, decided not to pit when the yellow flag came out, hoping to steal a win if the rain didn't let up. But the showers barely showed up on radar, so he knew there was little chance of not going the distance.
He was right. The delay lasted only 24 minutes.
"I know the rain is going away and we're going to have to pit," Yeley said while the race was halted. "But it's a great experience for this team be at the front."
When the race resumed, Matt Kenseth surged to the lead. But it began drizzling again after only two laps and Kenseth screamed into his radio "I almost wrecked!"-just before NASCAR waved the yellow flag again. The cars continued for 10 laps under caution, the rain stopped and the fleet of drying trucks got the track in shape to go back racing.
Bobby Labonte, who used to be a dominant force at Atlanta on its standard oval configuration, had a miserable day on the 1.54-mile trioval.
He brought out the first caution with a spin coming out of turn four. Other than clumps of wet grass imbedded in his grill, his Toyota was OK. But Labonte wasn't so fortunate when he spun again coming out of turn two. He slammed the wall, ending his day after only 91 laps for a 38th-place finish.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
