Bay Area born Jeff Gordon took another step into NASCAR's record books as he took home the checkered flag at Atlanta Motor Speedway for his 85th career win. The victory in the rain-delayed AdvoCare 500 moved Gordon past Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip into sole possession of third place on the all-time wins list. He trails only Richard Petty (200) and David Pearson (105) on the wins list. This marked Gordon's third victory of the season, so he still has a ways to go if he wants to catch Pearson.
Gordon dominated much of the race, leading for 149 of the 319 total laps. The race came down to the wire though as he outdueled teammate Jimmie Johnson and pulled away late as Johnson fishtailed coming around the final turn.
The victory moves Gordon past Kevin Harvick into fifth place in the Chase standings. While Gordon is locked into the race, next week at Richmond will be about further positioning within the final chase. Gordon trails Matt Kenseth by four points and Carl Edwards by five points.