The victory was not without emotion and, at times, luck. The race started with a few mishaps which culminated with a 13-car pileup on the backstretch on lap 67, caused by contact between Matt Kenseth and Brian Vickers.
Gordon took the lead from Busch on lap 304 (out of 312) and managed to fend off Busch for the remainder of the race.
"God, it feels so amazing," said a very happy Gordon. "I can't tell you how amazing this feels. So thankful to Rick Hendrick, all that he does. It's been a long time, I know. I'm going to savor this one so much, but I've got to say thanks to the fans.”
"I mean not only the fans at home - I've been tweeting lately for the first time and all of the stuff that people have been saying, the motivation has been unbelievably inspiring. And then to see that crowd stick around to see my really lame burnout, because I stink at them, but they love that show. Man, we hope we can give them some more shows like that this year," added Gordon.
The top five finishers of the Sunday action include Kevin Harvick and Ryan Newman.
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