Unfortunately for Gordon it's been 48 races since his last NASCAR victory -- the longest winless drought of his Cup series career. Gordon started his 600th consecutive race from the 6th spot, but slipped to 9th after the first round of pit stops. He steadily worked through race traffic and back up to 5th before a round of green flag pit stops on lap 100. Although Gordon complained about the handling, he moved around Martin Truex Jr to take 4th on lap 120. A debris caution on lap 130 slowed the field and brought the lead lap cars to pit road. Gordon gained a spot on pit road and departed in 3rd place. He took the runner-up position from Jimmie Johnson after the restart on lap 137, just before Johnson spun coming off turn two to bring out the caution.

Gordon started 5th and worked his way up to 3rd on lap 9. A bump draft by Greg Biffle pushed Gordon alongside Kevin Harvick for the race lead on lap 11. Within three laps he fell to 13th after getting shuffled out of the draft. Gordon ran 14th when the competition caution slowed the field on lap 15. Gordon opted for four tires and restarted in 17th place. He was unable to make headway and dropped to 19th in the draft on lap 30. Gordon worked his way back into the top-10 on lap 46 as the handling seemed best on longer runs. He came to pit road for a green flag pit stop on lap 58. Gordon was on pit road when the caution waved for debris from J.J. Yeley's cut tire. Based on his spot on the track, Gordon was 2nd at the time of the caution. On the restart, Gordon got a push from Brad Keselowski on the outside line to take the lead. Two laps later A.J. Allmendinger spun off turn four and made contact with the inside wall.

On the restart, Keselowski jumped in front of Gordon to take the race lead. Two laps later, Gordon received a drafting push from Denny Hamlin to re-take the lead. Shortly thereafter, Juan Pablo Montoya pulled to the inside to take the lead. Gordon was shuffled back to 4th in the high line behind Hamlin. Gordon slipped to 14th on lap 80 after taking the inside line. By lap 86, he dropped to 19th battling a loose handling condition. At lap 100, Gordon moved back up to 13th but was distantly behind the lead drafting pack. He came in for a green flag pit stop at lap 101 and changed four tires. On lap 103, the caution for Kyle Busch's wall contact trapped Gordon a lap down. However, Gordon stayed on the track during the round of pit stops and received the wave around to get back on the lead lap. Gordon restarted in 5th with 50 laps to go. With 47 to go, Gordon moved to the high line and took the lead with drafting help from Jeff Burton. Two laps later Burton took the lead from Gordon who fell to 5th.

With 43 to go, David Ragan, Jamie McMurray, and Martin Truex made heavy contact in turn four to bring out the caution. Gordon came to pit road for tires and restarted in 8th place. He was running 7th when the caution waved with 25 laps to go for David Stremme's wreck. Gordon came to the pits for tires and restarted in 5th place. With 11 laps to go, Gordon masterfully made his way through an 18-car melee in turn 3 which began when Kurt Busch and Jeff Burton made contact. A 20-minte red flag delay for track clean-up followed. Gordon came to pit road for four tires and restarted in 6th place. Gordon moved to 3rd behind Clint Bowyer and Kevin Harvick in a drafting line. With 4 to go, Gordon passed Harvick to take 2nd place behind Bowyer. He then dove low on the track to the take the lead with 3 to go. However, with 2 to go, Harvick gave Bowyer a drafting push down the backstretch to pass Gordon. He slipped back to 4th before a wreck involving Sam Hornish slowed the field just before the leaders took the white flag. On the green/white/checker restart, Gordon lined up behind Bowyer. Gordon gave Bowyer a push and then looked to the outside. Bowyer made contact with Gordon on the backstretch which broke his momentum. Gordon then lined up behind Kahne and tried to pass his future Hendrick Motorsports teammate ahead of Harvick. At the finish, Harvick held off Kahne and Gordon to take the victory.

With the 3rd place finish, Gordon moved up to 2nd in the points standings -- though he trails by 50 Chase points to Denny Hamlin and Jimmie Johnson. It was Gordon's best finish at Daytona since winning in February 2005.

JG post-race comments

"I'm just happy to survive one of these restrictor plate races. It's been a while since we've done that. We had a pretty good night, car drove good, especially on the long runs, and we avoided the big ones and got ourselves in a good position to win the race. Got out in front, and I felt like I had a pretty good handle I liked being up front while those two guys were lined up; we were good. But once they split down, one and two, they kind of faded, and I didn't know I thought they were passing one another, and instead they lined back up and I was just a sitting duck. At that point it was just about the restart, and got a good restart, was pushing Clint, and I don't know what happened. It just seemed like he was riding the brakes, and we weren't going anywhere. So I went to pass him, and that kind of just messed up our momentum to really have a shot at winning, so we're pretty happy to finish third."

Q. Could describe your last two laps there.
"I was pushing the 33. I mean, we got a great start, and I gave him a big shove, and I think maybe he was afraid that he got too big of a shove or something and it seemed like he let off the gas or got on the brakes. I hit him again, and you know, again, until I talk to Clint and try to find out what happened but these cars got a lot of drag in them with the spoilers, so maybe it was just the car was just dragging down that much when I was trying to push him. But I felt like that last time I was coming up on him too fast and I needed to go. So I went to the outside of him. I think when I went to the outside of him, the 29 and the 9 pretty much cruised right on by, and then it was just trying to get the momentum back down the back straightaway. The 31 pretty much got by me, but I was able to get to his quarterpanel and get right back by him and finish third."

Q. How relieved do you feel to get out of here with a top three?
"We've been in so many of those wrecks here recently on restrictor plates that our good stats that we've always had on the restrictor plates have been going down fast. So this was a nice way to rebound. Yeah, the 18 and 42 got together right in front of me. I just avoided that one. The other one, I don't even know how I avoided it, the one where Burton was a pinball and they were all wrecking. I just dove to the apron and just did a big slide. I don't know how we didn't have more damage. But we were one of the few cars that made it through there. And then the rest of them were in my mirror, like Kasey was saying."

Q. You move into second place in points. What does this do with the time, the races ticking down right before the Chase?
"I'm second? Really? I don't believe it... I mean, I'm excited that we're second in points, but I'll be honest with you, all I look at is where we are with wins right now. When you're positioned well in the Chase, like we are currently, then it comes down to wins and being seeded for when that Chase comes around. I think these top fives that we've had here recently build momentum to get us an opportunity to get us those wins. So that's really more what's on our mind right now. It's about what we've got to do to win a championship. I feel like we've got to get a few wins before that Chase starts. But it certainly helps when you're further up in the points because it gives you that opportunity to take more chances and try more things to make sure that you either get those bonus points or that you're the car to beat when the Chase comes around."

Q. You've been a part of a lot of wild races, but where does this one rank in terms of restrictor plate craziness?
"I'm starting to get used to the fact that every race we go to is basically bumper cars at 190 miles an hour. My favorite part of the race to be honest was the first half when we were spread out, and while it might not be as exciting for the fans, it's awesome as a driver to be out there knowing you're making a difference in how you drive the car, the team is making a difference how they set up the car. The pit stops under green, to me that was just a blast out there racing in those long runs, managing tires, all that stuff. That's what I love about the older surface. But when it comes down to the end, you pretty much know that it's not going to end like that, that you're going to have cautions and double file restarts, and it's just hold on tight. For me, honestly, tonight, other than after I made Clint Bowyer mad, which what's new, I'm making a lot of guys mad these days, but he ran into the back of me so hard down the back straightaway because I know he's mad at me, plus I know he's trying to get us going. Other than that it was a pretty uneventful green white checkered compared to some others I've seen. I'm sure that's not quite the case for guys that were behind me."