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 definitely 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.”
