Gordon's late-season surge continues

Pit mishap proves costly for Stewart at Atlanta

HAMPTON, Ga. (AP) -- Jeff Gordon held off a strong challenge from Tony Stewart on Monday to win the rain-interrupted NASCAR Winston Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

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The Bass Pro Shops MBNA 500, which was halted by rain Sunday after just 39 of 325 laps, ended under a caution after pole-winner Ryan Newman was sent spinning into the wall with a tap on the rear bumper by Dale Earnhardt Jr. just as they battled for sixth place four laps from the end.

Gordon, who had gone 22 races without a win before taking the checkered flag Oct. 19 at Martinsville, has three wins this season and 64 in his career.

Gordon passed six-time Atlanta winner Bobby Labonte for the lead on lap 277 and stayed out front the rest of the way to earn his second victory in as many weeks.

	Tony Stewart led a race-high 109 laps. Credit: Autostock

Jimmie Johnson, who finished second to his car owner and Hendrick Motorsports teammate at Martinsville, was third. He was followed by Bill Elliott and Labonte, who faded after the final pit stops.

Series leader Matt Kenseth, who came into the race with a 240-point lead over Kevin Harvick, finished 11th. Earnhardt's sixth-place finish, combined with a 20th-place run by Harvick, moved Earnhardt to second place. He trails Kenseth by 258 points with three races remaining.

Stewart's crew had a problem with an air gun on a pit stop on lap 224. Stewart, who had been fourth, came out of the pits 17th and was 16th when the race restarted on lap 230.

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The defending Winston Cup champion appeared to have the fastest car on the 1.54-mile oval. He quickly caught the leaders, moving all the way to fourth by lap 267.

Gordon and Stewart made their final stops under green on lap 286 and Stewart came out second. He pressured Gordon as much as he could but was unable to catch the leader.

Stewart was about five car-lengths behind Gordon in the battle of Chevrolets when the last of 10 cautions waved on lap 322. With NASCAR no longer allowing drivers to race back to the flagstand on a caution, that ended Stewart's challenge.

"That's pretty impressive coming back from 17th place to second without a caution," Stewart said. "I'm pretty happy.

"If we hadn't come out 17th on that pit stop, we'd have won."

Considering how fast Stewart caught the leaders before the last pit stop, the four-time series champion said he was surprised to hold Stewart off.

"I was expecting him to catch me. I kept moving my line around, trying to get in front of him and him his air," Gordon said. "I had an awesome pit crew today. That's what won the race."