Gordon edges Johnson at Talladega

Gordon had spent most of the race just making laps at the back of the pack and only become a factor in the closing stages. He worked his way up drafting with his Hendrick teammates and then moved to the outside of Johnson with two corners left to the chequered flag.

Johnson tried to block Gordon's attack but in the end he had to concede not only victory, but also the lead in the points race to his teammate. Dave Blaney tried to give a push to Johnson in the last few inches of the race but at the same time Tony Stewart had given Gordon that crucial bump to stay ahead until the finish line.

Gordon overcame a drive-through penalty following a pit road incident with a wheel gun during a pit stop on lap 139. Yellow flags also helped his cause en route, to scoring back-to-back victories at Talladega.

It was also Gordon's sixth career win at the 2.66-mile oval and he now holds the all-time record for restrictor-plate wins with 12, beating Dale Earnhardt's mark.

"It was the hardest race I ever had to do being on that type of mindset," said Gordon, who was reluctant at first to employ his team's plan of running conservatively at the back of the field for the first three-quarters of the race before attacking in the last 40 laps.

"Basically our qualifying determined what our strategy was going to be. I knew there was going to be a bunch of bumping and banging with this new rules package. I didn't know what to expect. We've got the championship on the line. I've watched guys do it from the back."

The four-time champion led only the last lap of the race by playing his cards in the right way when it mattered, judging well where to go when everyone jumped out of line to try to go for victory.

"When we got three-wide, I thought it was my opportunity," Gordon added. "I got pushed by the No. 22 (Blaney) and I went with the momentum. Luckily when I got high and Jimmie tried to block me, the No. 20 (Stewart) was there and had nowhere to go. He drilled me and he's the one that pushed me to the front."

Johnson led the Hendrick Motorsports attack in the closing laps when he broke the single line of cars following a caution period. However, for the second year in a row he lost the race in the last lap to one of his teammates, having spun out a year ago after being tapped from behind by Brian Vickers.

"Evidently the No. 20 (Stewart) had a big run," said Johnson. "Jeff moved up in front of it and it was a strong enough run to push him by me and I couldn't even side-draft him and slow him down. When you get that close to winning it's tough."

Blaney proved his front-row starting position was no fluke by finishing the race in third and scoring Toyota's best result to date in the Nextel Cup. He led the first lap of the race scoring an extra five points, which help him put his team again in the top 35 in the owner points.

"Our first goal was to get back in the top 35 in points, so I had to take care of the car all day," Blaney said. "I didn't want to do anything to put it in harm's way. I was way more cautious than I probably wanted to be. I just got with the right group of cars there at the end."

Denny Hamlin recovered from being involved in a multi-car pile up on lap 146 to finish fourth, while Ryan Newman tried to work with his Penske teammate Kurt Busch in the end to win the race but could only manage fifth and seventh respectively, ahead of Tony Stewart who was eighth.

Of the other Chase contenders Clint Bowyer was eleventh, the only Richard Childress Racing driver that managed to complete the race without hitting any kind of engine issues. Early in the race Jeff Burton's motor blew up and later Kevin Harvick had to run on seven cylinders and finished 20th.

Carl Edwards was 14th and the best of the Roush Fenway drivers, while Matt Kenseth was 26th, surviving a blistered right front tyre early on. Both drivers seemed to follow Gordon's plan of running at the back of the field but couldn't move up in the end.

Kyle Busch didn't finish the race after being collected by a spinning Bobby Labonte on lap 145 when he was hit by a mechanical problem. That triggered the 'big one' of the day, which involved at least 10 cars including two of the title contenders.

Martin Truex Jr was another Chase non-finisher after his engine blew up some 23 laps before Dale Earnhardt Jr's did the same on lap 136.

Juan Pablo Montoya ran well for most of the day and looked a threat for victory when the green flag waved for the last time as he was running third at the time. However he had to be happy with a 15th place finish, claiming his teammates blocked him in the final laps.

"I got a little bit shuffled out and my teammates, they were coming behind and closed the door," Montoya said. "They didn't help me, that was very helpful. But we finished. What else can you ask for at a place like this?"

Jacques Villeneuve finished a respectable 21st, running the entire race on the lead lap and keeping his nose clean to see the chequered flag. He had a problem changing gear on the last restart, which meant he was unable to stay with the pack in the end.

The Chase for the Nextel Cup is starting to take shape after four races with Gordon leading it by nine points from Johnson, and 64 from Clint Bowyer. Tony Stewart is now 154 points behind in fourth, while Kevin Harvick is fifth but already more than 200 points off from Gordon.

Pos  Driver                  Make        Laps
 1.  Jeff Gordon             Chevrolet    188
 2.  Jimmie Johnson          Chevrolet    188
 3.  Dave Blaney             Toyota       188
 4.  Denny Hamlin            Chevrolet    188
 5.  Ryan Newman             Dodge        188
 6.  Casey Mears             Chevrolet    188
 7.  Kurt Busch              Dodge        188
 8.  Tony Stewart            Chevrolet    188
 9.  Tony Raines             Chevrolet    188
10.  Reed Sorenson           Dodge        188
11.  Clint Bowyer            Chevrolet    188
12.  Johnny Sauter           Chevrolet    188
13.  Jeff Green              Chevrolet    188
14.  Carl Edwards            Ford         188
15.  Juan Montoya            Dodge        188
16.  Kasey Kahne             Dodge        188
17.  David Stremme           Dodge        188
18.  J.J. Yeley              Chevrolet    188
19.  Mike Wallace            Ford         188
20.  Kevin Harvick           Chevrolet    188
21.  Jacques Villeneuve      Toyota       188
22.  David Reutimann         Toyota       179
23.  Greg Biffle             Ford         176
24.  Elliott Sadler          Dodge        175
25.  Michael Waltrip         Toyota       175
26.  Matt Kenseth            Ford         171
27.  David Gilliland         Ford         167
28.  Kyle Petty              Dodge        161
29.  Robby Gordon            Ford         161
30.  Aric Almirola           Chevrolet    156
31.  Ken Schrader            Ford         152
32.  Joe Nemechek            Chevrolet    149
33.  John Andretti           Dodge        149
34.  David Ragan             Ford         146
35.  Bobby Labonte           Dodge        144
36.  Kyle Busch              Chevrolet    144
37.  Jamie McMurray          Ford         144
38.  Paul Menard             Chevrolet    144
39.  Brian Vickers           Toyota       144
40.  Dale Earnhardt Jr       Chevrolet    136
41.  Dale Jarrett            Toyota       136
42.  Martin Truex Jr         Chevrolet    113
43.  Jeff Burton             Chevrolet     91

Chase For The Cup - Points Standing:

Pos  Driver              Change  Points
 1.  Jeff Gordon           +1     5690
 2.  Jimmie Johnson        -1     5681  +  9
 3.  Clint Bowyer                 5627  + 63
 4.  Tony Stewart                 5536  +154
 5.  Kevin Harvick                5488  +202
 6.  Carl Edwards          +1     5485  +205
 7.  Kurt Busch            +2     5475  +215
 8.  Kyle Busch            -2     5430  +260
 9.  Denny Hamlin          +3     5428  +262
10.  Martin Truex Jr       -2     5390  +300
11.  Matt Kenseth                 5372  +318
12.  Jeff Burton           -2     5354  +336