Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Wednesday, September 7, 2011
(HAMPTON, GA) - Jeff Gordon picked up his 85th-career Sprint Cup victory, holding off teammate Jimmie Johnson to win Tuesday’s rain-delayed race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
With the win, the former Pittsboro, Indiana resident surpassed Bobby Allison and Darrell Waltrip for third place on NASCAR's all-time wins list and locked up a berth in the chase for the Sprint cup. Gordon is 20 victories behind second-place David Pearson and 115 wins behind Richard Petty on the all-time list.
Tony Stewart finished third and now holds a 23-point lead over Brad Keselowski for tenth place in points.
Nine drivers have locked up spots in the chase for the Sprint Cup following Tuesday's race in Atlanta. Johnson, Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick had already clinched berths before yesterday's race.
Gordon, Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman punched their tickets for NASCAR's postseason while Keselowski is in as a wild card, at worst.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. is ninth in points with Stewart three points behind him.
Denny Hamlin currently holds down the second wild card spot. Hamlin has one win and is twelfth in points.
The top ten in points automatically make the chase with two drivers making it in via wild card berths.
The wild cards go to the drivers with the most wins who rank between eleventh and 20th in points with point standings being the tiebreaker should there be a tie in the number of wins.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.