Jeff Gordon Wins Rain-Delayed Race At Atlanta – Dale’s Daily Data

Even with a vibration issue late in the race, Jeff Gordon was able to hold off Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson, during the closing laps to win Tuesday's Sprint Cup race at Atlanta Motor Speedway -- a race delayed two days by Tropical Storm Lee.  Gordon led a race-high 146 laps for his third win this season and 85th career Cup victory putting him in sole possession of third place on the all-time winners list.

Johnson had chased down Gordon with 10 laps to go and ran side-by-side with him for the lead, but Johnson's car got loose several times during the last four laps and he was forced to settle for second, just 0.6 seconds back.

Tony Stewart, coming off a disappointing race last week at Bristol came in third and it kept him in 10^th
place in the standings with only one race to go before the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins.

Kurt Busch finished fourth, followed by Carl Edwards and Brad Keselowski.

Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman both clinched playoff spots and Keselowski has at least a wild card slot.  Only three positions have yet to be decided heading into Richmond.

Nobody won the $1-million Spring Summer Showdown bonus.  Because they were winners in the previous five races if either Keselowski, Marcos Ambrose, Kyle Busch or Paul Menard would have won the race – a million dollars would have gone to the driver, a fan and a charity.  Ambrose, Busch and Menard all finished outside the top-10.