NASCAR Atlanta Results: Jeff Gordon Takes Checkered Flag, Moves To Third On All-Time Wins List

Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson will each go down as one of NASCAR’s greatest champions. And on Tuesday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, both of them showed why.

Gordon and Johnson staged an epic battle for the lead over the final 10 laps as both fought loose cars, and it resulted in Gordon ultimately holding off his Hendrick Motorsports teammate for the 85th win of his fantastic career.

Only Richard Petty and David Pearson have more victories than Gordon, who is now third on the all-time Sprint Cup Series wins list.

“Oh my goodness,” Gordon said. “That was a lot of fun racing with him. I was slipping, he was slipping. A couple moments where I really thought he got us. What an incredible win.”

Said Johnson, who finished second: “What a lot of fun. To be that sideways at 180 mph, lap after lap, is a good time.”

Tony Stewart finished third – a major boost for his team and its Chase chances – and the team owner called it “big.”

“You never know what could happen next week,” he said.

Stewart is 23 points inside the top 10 and Dale Earnhardt Jr. (19th place on Tuesday) is clear of 11th place by 25 points.

Kurt Busch and Carl Edwards rounded out the top five, followed by Brad Keselowski, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin, Matt Kenseth and AJ Allmendinger.

Here is the top 10 in the NASCAR Atlanta race: