Gordon started 17th and moved up to 15th within 5 laps. However, the handling became looser and Gordon dropped back to 19th on lap 17 when Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin passed. He re-assumed the 18th position from Hamlin on lap 20. The first caution waved on lap 26 for Scott Speed's wreck on the frontstretch. The lead lap cars came to pit road with Gordon dropping to 22nd after a four tire change. Within five laps of the restart, he moved back up to 17th. Lap 39 brought out the caution for a spin involving Marcos Ambrose and Paul Menard. Pit stops followed with Gordon opting for 2 tires which dropped him out of the top-20. On the restart, Gordon moved up to 16th within four laps by taking a spot on the outside of Denny Hamlin. On lap 70 he passed Ryan Newman for the 14th position. Gordon stayed out during a pit stop cycle to lead lap 111 before coming to pit road.

Gordon moved up to 10th before a debris caution at the halfway point. The lead lap cars came to pit road with Gordon exiting in 9th place. He ran in 9th for the balance of the fuel run before taking 8th from Kurt Busch on lap 190. A caution for Mark Martin's cut tire with 94 laps to go brought the leaders to pit road. Gordon picked up two spots and departed in 5th place. He moved to 4th when Carl Edwards spun Denny Hamlin in turn four with 86 laps to go. Gordon pushed Tony Stewart into the lead on the restart and settled into 3rd behind Stewart and Clint Bowyer. Gordon took the runner-up spot from Bowyer with 80 to go. Two laps later Kurt Busch spun in turn two. That set off a chain reaction of spinning that collected Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson. Gordon came to pit road to top off the fuel to ensure he could make it to the finish. He restarted in 8th with 71 laps to go.

Matt Kenseth's wall contact with 66 to go brought out the caution -- which Gordon needed to see to be safe to the end on fuel. Gordon moved up to 4th place for the restart with 63 laps to go. Three laps later, Bowyer took the spot from Gordon. A caution for Joey Logano's spin with 59 to go slowed the field. On the restart, Dale Earnhardt Jr took 5th. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin passed Gordon for position with 46 laps to go, sending Gordon back to 8th. On the final lap, Gordon picked up two spots after Stewart and Jeff Burton ran out of gas. He finished 6th and moved up three spots in the series standings to 5th. However, his gap to the leader increased from 60 to 75 points.

JG post-race comments

"I think that's taking advantage of our experience of being in the Chase and being in championships in the past. We just fought it out. That's what we do best. We just never give up. I thought (crew chief) Steve Letarte called an awesome race. We probably could have made an adjustment that last time we came in to do a gas and go, because I was a little bit tight on that run but there at the end we just didn't quite have the car but still sixth, and we didn't want to gamble on the fuel like those other guys did. We gave up a couple of spots on the track but made them back up with fuel."

YOU JUMPED UP THREE SPOTS IN THE POINTS TO FIFTH, LOOKING AHEAD TO DOVER HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR CHANCES?
"I was hoping we were not going to lose any more points to somebody like (Denny) Hamlin and close the gap overall to first, but we lost some to him; but I felt like we made some big gains. It was just a really solid day for us and that's what we need to do."

A PRETTY SOLID DAY TO GET THIS THING ROLLING.
"It was. It wasn't our best day but I felt like we really brought the No. 24 car home in the best position we possibly could. We had some high hopes when we got up there to third or fourth; even to second at one time, but I think Steve (Letarte) called a great race. He didn't want to risk the fuel and it just wasn't worth it. We did a gas and go and probably just needed to make one adjustment on that last set of tires; we got real tight there at the end, but when those guys didn't make it on fuel it definitely made us feel that much better about the call that Steve made and come home sixth. It was still a good points day for us."

YOU MENTIONED YESTERDAY THAT YOU CAN'T WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP HERE, BUT YOU CAN CERTAINLY LOSE IT. YOU DID A GREAT JOB HERE TODAY.
"I felt like our goal coming out of here was a top five. We ended up sixth, so we're close. It's not our best track in the Chase and we finished better than we did, well I guess better than the last time we were here, but we still finished really solid and we're looking forward to going to Dover and some other tracks that we feel like are stronger for us."

SEEMED LIKE THE THEME WAS TAKING CHANCES WITH FUEL OR WITH RUNNING INTO ONE ANOTHER.
"I think that's just sort of what happens with the Chase. I think everybody gets excited and the intensity builds up and it pushes guys to be a little bit more risky. But for us, we realize that we still have nine more races to go. I just don't think you can win it here this weekend. You've got to make sure that you get everything out of your car and your team and we did that today."

DID IT SEEM LIKE THERE WAS A LOT OF WILD DRIVING OUT THERE OR OVER-DRIVING, OR DOES THIS TRACK JUST LEND ITSELF TO THAT?
"It's a tricky place on restarts. And it's very tough to pass. I saw some guys fighting hard for position like what we see is pretty typical on double-file restarts, but you've got to realize that a lot of those guys that were battling were Chase contenders. And I think that maybe sometimes they pushed a little bit too hard."

DOES IT PAY OFF MORE TO BE CAUTIOUS IN YOUR ESTIMATION, WHETHER IT'S WITH THE FUEL OR TAKING CHANCES IN THE TURNS?
"Well, I don't think we played it cautious today. I just feel like Steve looked at whether or not it was worth gambling. That's what we do every weekend, you know? We came into this race this weekend saying we can certainly lose this championship this weekend; we can't necessarily win it. We've got to go and grind it out and work hard and put out that kind of effort for 10 weeks. That's what's going to win the championship for us. I feel like that's the race that we really played today."

DID CLINT BOWYER HAVE THE BEST CAR ALL DAY? WAS THERE EVER ANY QUESTION ABOUT THAT?
"He was strong. Obviously Tony (Stewart) had it, had he not run out of fuel. So he had a strong car but wow, Clint was really fast. I'm proud of him. I like Clint a lot. I think he's a great race car driver and a really good guy. He earned this one today. They worked hard to get here and he was fast all weekend. It kind of reminds me of a few years ago when he won this race in '07. We know the Childress cars are going to be tough and I think this is probably the strongest track in the final 10 and this might give him some momentum to be even stronger for the next nine (races), but we've got to look at the ones that are strong for us too."

DID YOU LEARN ANYTHING ABOUT THE FIELD IN ITS ENTIRETY TODAY ABOUT THE WAY THIS ARE MOVING FORWARD?
"It's one race, man. There is a lot more racing left to go. We've seen all this stuff in the Chase before. It's still fun to talk about. To me it's not anything out of the ordinary."

JIMMIE JOHNSON AND TONY STEWART ENDED UP BACK IN THE PACK, BUT THEY DIDN'T LOSE THE CHASE TODAY.
"Teams like the No. 48 are so good at rebounding; you can't ever count those guys out. For us, our strengths are how consistent we are. And we haven't won a race yet this year. So while we're trying to win races in these final 10, we can't necessarily just expect it to happen; maybe like some other guys might be feeling. So we can't afford to go out there and have a 25th place finish today."

For Jeff Gordon, it was a frustrating night where he was never a factor for the race lead. Gordon started 22nd battled handling issues at the outset. He dropped to 25th by lap 30. David Reuttiman's spin on lap 54 off of Kurt Busch's front bumper brought the caution flag. The lead lap cars came to pit road with Gordon opting for chassis adjustments. Gordon restarted in 28th and quickly moved up to 27th around Dale Earnhardt Jr. Two laps later he moved into the 25th position. At the 100 lap mark, Gordon had advanced to 21st place, but was complaining about the handling of the car. On lap 141, race leader Denny Hamlin put Gordon a lap down. Three laps later the caution waved after Terry Labonte made contact with the wall after cutting a tire.

Gordon came to pit road and restarted 18th. He was in position for the free pass if a caution came out, but was passed for position by Regan Smith on lap 160. Gordon re-took the spot from Smith 10 laps later. On lap 226, light rain began falling to bring out the caution. Gordon was awarded the free pass and got back on the lead lap. With 73 laps to go, Gordon came in for a perfunctory pit stop. He made a late race charge up to 14th, but the laps wound down too quickly. Gordon took 13th from Matt Kenseth with 21 laps to go, and passed Jeff Burton for 12th two laps later.

Gordon has driven plenty of special paint schemes on the #24 Chevrolet during his NASCAR career. But Sunday night's paint scheme at Atlanta Motor Speedway might have topped the list. The Jeff Gordon Children's Foundation scheme was designed by his 3-year-old daughter Ella (with help from Sam Bass). The paint scheme highlight's Gordon's foundation during childhood cancer awareness month.

Gordon started 18th and moved up four spots in the opening 10 laps. He moved to 12th on lap 17 but a loose handling condition hindered his forward progress. Gordon fell to 14th on lap 30 and came in for a green flag pit stop on lap 52. He ran in 18th after the cycle of pit stops. Gordon moved up to 15th on lap 75. A green flag pit stop on lap 97 cycled through with Gordon holding 15th at the 100-lap mark.

The handling improved and Gordon took 12th on lap 114. The first caution waved on lap 133 for debris in turn 2 (ie. Dale Earnhardt Jr going a lap down). Pit stops followed with Gordon exiting in 11th place. Gordon entered the top-10 on lap 141 with a pass on Jamie McMurray on the restart. The second caution waved on lap 144 for Denny Hamlin's blown engine. The leaders came to pit road with Gordon exiting in 6th place. One lap after the restart, Ryan Newman wrecked Greg Biffle in turn three. Biffle's spinning car collected Elliott Sadler in the melee.

Gordon slipped to 7th on the restart when Kyle Busch passed. However, Gordon re-assumed the 6th position from Busch on lap 167. He moved into the top-5 with a move around Kasey Kahne on lap 169. Gordon passed Martin Truex for 4th on lap 184 as he closed in on Tony Stewart and Jimmie Johnson at the front of the field. The handling began going away as Kevin Harvick took a spot from Gordn on lap 194. A caution for David Ragan's spin on lap 201 brought the leaders to pit road. Gordon picked up a spot on pit road and restarted in 4th on lap 209. However, almost like clockwork, he fell to 8th on the restart. However, unlike the previous restarts where Gordon's car came to life during the run, he continued to fade through the field. He fell out of the top-10 on lap 223, and slipped to 12th on lap 226.

Gordon's hopes for a victory faded on lap 230 when he dropped to 15th and complained of a complete lack of grip. Gordon came to pit road just before Kevin Harvick's cut tire brought out the caution flag. Gordon rolled through pit road without stopping to stay on the lead lap. He came to pit road under caution for fuel, tires, and a chassis adjustment. He restarted in 20th place with 62 laps to go. Gordon stayed out during a caution period for Scott Speed's blown engine and moved up to 2nd place. However, he was no match for the field on four tires and he faded to 7th within two laps of the restart. A caution for Brad Keselowski's cut tire with 27 to go brought the lead lap cars to pit road. Gordon exited in 10th place.

A debris caution with 22 laps to go brought Gordon to pit road for adjustments. He restarted in 12th place with 19 laps to go. He dropped a spot in the final laps and came across the finish line in 13th. He remained 2nd in the series standings with one more race before the season-ending Chase for the Championship begins in mid-September.