Gordon, who scored his 12th victory on a plate track, used the win to move back on top of the points standings with six races remaining in the Chase for the championship. He leads Johnson by nine points.

The four-time series champion had a horrible qualifying effort — he started 34th — and it mired him near the back of the pack for most of the race. He then suffered a late-race setback when he pulled out of his pit with a hose hanging from his car, earning a pass-through penalty that seemed to take him out of contention.

But Gordon is the best at working the draft, and he'd moved into the top 15 as the race neared its completion. With six laps to go, he was in the middle of a Hendrick Motorsports charge that saw Johnson, Gordon and Casey Mears surge to the front of the pack.

Gordon was stuck behind Johnson, though, and waited until the last lap to make a move toward the front. He finally jumped up high, and got a huge push from Tony Stewart to slide to the front. Johnson couldn't get by him again, and Gordon crossed the finish line for his sixth win of the season.

He led just one lap — the last one — to complete a season sweep at Talladega.

Johnson finished second, Dave Blaney was third in a Toyota and title contender Denny Hamlin was fourth. Ryan Newman, who was leading late in his Dodge, was fifth.