Stewart wins at Watkins Glen

Jeff Gordon lost the opportunity to pick up ten extra points for the Chase when he lost control of his car under braking for turn one less than a lap before the white flag, and gifted those bonus points to a driver who could well become his biggest threat for the Nextel Cup title.

Tony Stewart had made the same mistake himself on lap 44, in fact handing the lead at that time to Gordon. He probably knew that keeping up the pressure on him in the closing laps would be the only way to get victory from the Hendrick driver, who led 51 of the 90 laps of racing, but missing those crucial last two.

"Jeff lost it the same way I lost it," Stewart said. "I had to keep fighting back. I kept the pressure on Jeff hoping he made a mistake and he did. I just had more time to make up for my spin. I was probably the most shocked person to see that happen. He's won here and won 4 championships; it was tricky in turn one."

Gordon was visibly fuming over his own mistake, which dropped him to ninth place in the end.

"Pretty much the same thing that happened to Tony earlier in the race in the braking zone getting into turn one," said Gordon. "Just stupid. I knew I had to push, Tony was really good. I wanted that win really bad. Points don't mean anything. I pushed and I pushed too far. What happened is the team deserved to win and the driver didn't get it done."

Carl Edwards, like Gordon, ran off the track in the closing stages of the race when he outbraked himself going into the second-to-last turn of the race, losing second place to Denny Hamlin, who made it a perfect day for Joe Gibbs Racing.

"I just figured 'the [heck] with it'," Edwards said after finishing eighth. "I've got one more braking zone before the end of this race and I just went in a little bit deeper that I had and I wheel-hopped it. Lucky I practiced going through there; in practice, you know, I went through that same gravel trap -- a fun day and I just didn't want to finish second."

Hamlin, despite his second place finish and his second place in the standings, is seeing how his teammate will probably jump him in the standings when the Chase starts in four weeks, thanks to the bonus points he already has from his three wins. He thought victory was within reach for him.

"I was just too busy trying to fend off the No. 99 (Edwards) and couldn?t concentrate on my own marks to try and get around the No. 24 (Gordon). I felt like I should have probably just nudged him a little bit there at that one point. That let Tony get by me," Hamlin said.

But despite all the drama that unfolded in the closing laps of the race, the most thrilling episode came on a restart on lap 73 when Juan Pablo Montoya got into Kevin Harvick after being tapped from behind by Martin Truex Jr.

The incident created a chain reaction which saw many cars spinning and having contact with those of Montoya and Harvick. Jeff Burton was one of them, crashing hard into the Colombian's side, ending any hopes of victory for Richard Childress.

After both Montoya and Harvick climbed out of their cars, they were both aggressive with each other and NASCAR officials had to separate them before their exchange turned into wrestling, something the fans were cheering for in the grandstands.

The incident caused the race to be red flagged for 26 minutes, and while the cars were parked waiting for the track to be cleared in turn one, a fan came into the track to ask for Matt Kensenth's autograph on his hat. The Roush Fenway driver sadly denied it to him, claiming he was 'a little busy'.

The biggest loser of the day however wasn't Jeff Gordon, who still has his championship lead and the most wins among the Chase contenders. Dale Earnhardt Jr was running well until being hit by yet another engine failure which put him out of the race and dropped him to 14th on the standings and 100 points adrift from Kurt Busch who runs 12th.

Only four weeks before the Chase starts, the fight looks to be for that 12th place, the last driver to make the cut to fight for the championship. Ryan Newman is in 13th, 94 points behind teammate Busch.

Pos  Driver              Make        Laps
 1.  Tony Stewart        Chevrolet    90
 2.  Denny Hamlin        Chevrolet    90
 3.  Jimmie Johnson      Chevrolet    90
 4.  Ron Fellows         Chevrolet    90
 5.  Robby Gordon        Ford         90
 6.  Martin Truex Jr     Chevrolet    90
 7.  Kyle Busch          Chevrolet    90
 8.  Carl Edwards        Ford         90
 9.  Jeff Gordon         Chevrolet    90
10.  Greg Biffle         Ford         90
11.  Kurt Busch          Dodge        90
12.  Matt Kenseth        Ford         90
13.  Ryan Newman         Dodge        90
14.  Boris Said          Ford         90
15.  Casey Mears         Chevrolet    90
16.  Clint Bowyer        Chevrolet    90
17.  Elliott Sadler      Dodge        90
18.  J.J. Yeley          Chevrolet    90
19.  Paul Menard         Chevrolet    90
20.  Jeff Green          Chevrolet    90
21.  David Stremme       Dodge        90
22.  Patrick Carpentier  Dodge        90
23.  Johnny Sauter       Chevrolet    90
24.  Bobby Labonte       Dodge        90
25.  P.J. Jones          Toyota       90
26.  Kasey Kahne         Dodge        90
27.  Jeremy Mayfield     Toyota       90
28.  Reed Sorenson       Dodge        90
29.  Dale Jarrett        Toyota       90
30.  Terry Labonte       Toyota       90
31.  Kenny Wallace       Chevrolet    90
32.  David Ragan         Ford         90
33.  David Gilliland     Ford         90
34.  Jamie McMurray      Ford         89
35.  Dave Blaney         Toyota       88
36.  Kevin Harvick       Chevrolet    84
37.  Regan Smith         Chevrolet    82
38.  Ricky Rudd          Ford         77
39.  Juan Montoya        Dodge        73
40.  Jeff Burton         Chevrolet    72
41.  Brian Vickers       Toyota       69
42.  Dale Earnhardt Jr   Chevrolet    63
43.  Kyle Petty          Dodge        56