Talladega, Ala. ? Jeff Gordon surged past Jimmie Johnson on the final lap at Talladega Superspeedway then held off his teammate Sunday to become the career victory leader at restrictor-plate tracks.

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.

It was Gordon’s sixth victory of the season. He led just one lap – the last one – to complete a season sweep at Talladega.

Johnson finished second, and Dave Blaney was third in the best finish this year for a Toyota driver. Title contender Denny Hamlin was fourth and was followed by Ryan Newman, who was leading late in his Dodge, and Casey Mears. Chase driver Kurt Busch was seventh, and Tony Stewart, who was in position to win this race very late, had two strategic moves backfire and was shuffled back to eighth.

This race blew open the Chase for the championship standings, as Gordon and Johnson positioned themselves for a Hendrick battle toward the title. Third-place driver Clint Bowyer finished 11th, but fell 63 points behind the leader.

Stewart, the two-time series champion, dropped 154 points out, and everyone else is more than 200 points behind.